Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is widely admired as a devoted educator, scholar, and advocate for human development. From an early age, Her Royal Highness was inspired by accompanying His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on rural development missions across Thailand, witnessing firsthand the challenges faced by children and families in remote communities. These early experiences shaped Her Royal Highness’s lifelong commitment to improving education and quality of life of the underprivileged.

In honor of HRH’s contribution, devotion and commitment as a teacher and to education, the Princess Maha Chakri Award was established on the occasion of HRH’s 60th Birthday Celebration in 2015, recognizing outstanding teachers and promoting the teaching profession. The award is given every two years to teachers who change students’ lives and make significant impacts to the community. The award serves as a means that enables these outstanding teachers to help other teachers and students. Currently teachers from 14 countries in which HRH has implemented developmental projects are selected to receive the award, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and Thailand.