Honours
Bhutan: -
The Royal Red Scarf (17 December 2012). [3] [4] -
National Order of Merit [in Gold] (17 December 2014). [3]
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Dasho Sonam Kinga (born 6 June 1973 [1] ) is a Bhutanese politician and researcher at the Center for Bhutan Studies. He played the monk in the 2003 film Travellers and Magicians , for which he is also credited as a dialogue coach.
Sonam Kinga obtained his Ph.D. and MA in Area Studies from Kyoto University, Japan, BA in English Honours from Sherubtse College, Bhutan and I.B (Diploma) from Lester B. Pearson College, Canada.
He started his career as a Publication Officer at the Curriculum Division of Ministry of Education in 1998. Later, he worked as Research Officer with the Centre for Bhutan Studies, Senior Program Officer with Save the Children US, Thimphu and Executive Editor for Bhutan Observer (private newspaper).
After his election to the National Council during the historic parliamentary elections of 2008, [2] he served as the deputy chairperson between 2008 and 2013. He also served as Chairperson of the Good Governance Committee and House Committee. He was the Chairperson of the National Council from May 2013 to May 2018. [1]
An academic, his research and publications have focused on Bhutanese history, society, politics and culture. He is primarily interested in state-society relations in Bhutan, state rituals and oral literature. He is a Faculty Member at the Royal Institute of Governance and Strategic Studies.
Bhutan: 
The Royal Red Scarf (17 December 2012). [3] [4] 
National Order of Merit [in Gold] (17 December 2014). [3] 
"Druk Tsenden" is the national anthem of Bhutan. Adopted in 1953, the lyrics were written by Dolop Droep Namgay and possibly translated into English by Dasho Gyaldun Thinley. The accompanying music was composed by Aku Tongmi.
Sherubtse College is the first accredited college in Bhutan, founded in 1966 by a group of Jesuits under the leadership of Father William Mackey. The college was affiliated to the University of Delhi by a special act of the Indian parliament.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts. Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia.
Ngawang Namgyal and known colloquially as The Bearded Lama, was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation-state. In addition to unifying the various warring fiefdoms for the first time in the 1630s, he also sought to create a distinct Bhutanese cultural identity separate from the Tibetan culture from which it was derived.
Gross National Happiness (GNH), sometimes called Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH), is a philosophy that guides the government of Bhutan. It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population. Gross National Happiness Index is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan, enacted on 18 July 2008.
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked South Asian country, which is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous country, Bhutan is known locally as "Druk Yul" or "Land of the Thunder Dragon", a name reflecting the cultural heritage of the country. The exonym Bhutan likely derives from the Prakrit hybrid word Bhŏṭṭaṃta, a name referring to its geographical proximity to Tibet (Bhŏṭṭa). Nepal and Bangladesh are located near Bhutan but do not share a border with it. The country has a population of over 727,145 and territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi) and ranks 133rd in land area and 160th in population. Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. Vajrayana Buddhism is the state religion and the Je Khenpo is the head of state religion.
Prince DashoJigyel Ugyen Wangchuck is a Bhutanese prince. Born as the second son of the King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck, he was the heir presumptive to the throne of Bhutan until 5 February 2016, when his nephew Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, his older half-brother and current King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck's son, was born.
The Bhutan Observer was Bhutan's first private bilingual newspaper. It was launched as a private limited company by parent company Bhutan Media Services (BMS), and began publishing on June 2, 2006, in Thimphu. Its Dzongkha edition was called Druk Nelug, and the newspaper maintained an online service in English until 2013.
Chagri Dorjeden Monastery, also called Cheri Monastery, is a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan established in 1620 by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, the founder of the Bhutanese state.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Bhutan face legal challenges that are not faced by non-LGBT people. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in Bhutan on 17 February 2021.
The development of Bhutanese democracy has been marked by the active encouragement and participation of reigning Bhutanese monarchs since the 1950s, beginning with legal reforms such as the abolition of slavery, and culminating in the enactment of Bhutan's Constitution. The first democratic elections in Bhutan began in 2007, and all levels of government had been democratically elected by 2011. These elections included Bhutan's first ever partisan National Assembly election. Democratization in Bhutan has been marred somewhat by the intervening large-scale expulsion and flight of Bhutanese refugees during the 1990s; the subject remains somewhat taboo in Bhutanese politics.
The Druk Gyalpo is the head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as Drukyul which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as Druk Gyalpo, the Bhutanese people call themselves the Drukpa, meaning "people of Druk (Bhutan)".
The Constitution of Bhutan was enacted 18 July 2008 by the Royal Government of Bhutan. The Constitution was thoroughly planned by several government officers and agencies over a period of almost seven years amid increasing democratic reforms in Bhutan. The current Constitution is based on Buddhist philosophy, international Conventions on Human Rights, comparative analysis of 20 other modern constitutions, public opinion, and existing laws, authorities, and precedents. According to Princess Sonam Wangchuck, the constitutional committee was particularly influenced by the Constitution of South Africa because of its strong protection of human rights.
The Dorji family of Bhutan has been a prominent and powerful political family in the kingdom since the 12th century AD. The family has produced monarchs, Prime Minister of Bhutan, Prime Ministers, Dzong lords and governors. The fourth king of Bhutan Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, as well as his son the current fifth king of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, are also members of the Dorji family and therefore also descendants of the royal family of Sikkim. The Dorji family is also the holder of the Bhutan House estate in Kalimpong, India.
The National Order of Merit was founded by King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck on 7 November 2008.
Lopen Karma Phuntsho is a former monk and Bhutanese scholar who specialises in Buddhism, Tibetan & Himalayan Studies and Bhutan, and has published a number of works including eight books, translations, book reviews and articles on Buddhism, Bhutan and Tibetan Studies. His The History of Bhutan has been called "the first book to offer a comprehensive history of Bhutan in English" and received Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award in 2015.
Neten Zangmo is a Bhutanese government official and politician. She headed Bhutan's Anti-Corruption Commission, and was bestowed with the title of Dasho in 2009. On 29 May 2017 she became leader of Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party. She resigned the position on September 16, 2018, the day after the party failed to make the first round of voting to compete in the general election, but it took nearly two years for the BKP to accept her resignation. The party founder, Sonam Tobgay, told Bhutan Broadcasting Service that it would be difficult to replace Zangmo, who he considered the party's biggest asset. "Within the BKP family, we have high respect for her and also have expectations from her.”
Tandi Dorji is a Bhutanese politician who has been Foreign Minister for Bhutan since November 2018. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, since October 2018.