Their Majesties are 'healthy for their age'
THEIR MAJESTIES the King and Queen are healthy for their age, clinical Prof Udom Kachintorn, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital, said yesterday while urging Thai citizens to welcome the Royal Family on their way from the hospital to Amari
The beloved monarch and members of the Royal Family will appear for an audience this morning to mark His Majesty’s 87th birthday.
Udom spoke while presiding over a merit-making ceremony yesterday, in which hospital staff gave alms to 88 monks and took an oath to be good civil servants. The hospital will organise activities to celebrate the occasion today, while an exhibition on His Majesty’s achievements will be held until December 16
Since yesterday evening, members of the public began gathering along the route, with many saying they would stay overnight to welcome His Majesty in the morning.
Meanwhile, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, on behalf of His Majesty, will preside over a ceremony on Sunday to present the “Thong Chai Chalermphol” victory flag to the military at the Grand Palace, Lt-General Bundit Boonyapan, chief of the Royal Thai Armed Forces’ Directorate for Civil Affairs, said.
Merit-making activities marking His Majesty’s birthdays were being held across the country yesterday.
In Rayong’s Muang district, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, which marked its 42nd anniversary this year, joined the Thai Red Cross Society in organising a blood donation event in which 100,000cc of blood was taken from some 400 workers at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate. In the province’s Pluak Daeng district, district chief Somchai Palanukhro led participants in planting 1,000 trees on land designated for a drug rehabilitation centre.
In Chon Buri’s Sattahip district, some 2,000 military officers and their family members offered alms to 87 monks at the Royal Thai Marine Corps.
In Chiang Mai’s Muang district, Governor Suriya Prasartbandit and Maj-General Sarayuth Rangsi, commander of the 33rd Army Circle, joined other officials and the public in a northern-style longevity ritual for the King at Wat Phra Singh. They also released 1 million fish into the Ping River and freed buffaloes.
In Prachin Buri’s Maung district, some 1,000 monks and about 2,000 students and members of the public attended a mass and meditation at King Ram V Monument Plaza that finishes today.
In Uthai Thani’s Maung district, Governor Somchai Lertpongpakorn led the pubic in the throwing of effective micro-organism mud balls and the pouring of 10,000 litres of effective-micro liquid into the Sakaekrang River as well as removing garbage and hyacinth from the waterway.
In Songkhla’s Muang district, 19 competitors in a lantern competition at Laem Samila’s Japanese Park showed off their creations.
They will be displayed until December 15 when the winners will be announced. The top prize is Bt50,000, while first runner up gets Bt30,000 and the second runner up gets Bt20,000.
In Nakhon Ratchasima’s Muang district, former deputy prime minister Suwat Liptapanlop led some 5,000 military officers, civil servants and members of the public in the planting of 9,587 Siamese Rosewood trees.
Chiang Rai businesswoman Daorung Danmajak, 50, and her family walked from Pathum Thani to Bangkok to express their best wishes for His Majesty at Siriraj Hospital. A Kamphaeng Phet native, Somyos Sripanpring, 58, walked from his hometown to Bangkok, while a 100-strong bicycle group and 130 supporters are riding some 1,000 kilometres from Songkhla’s Na Thawi district to Bangkok.
US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have also sent their best wishes to the monarch on the event of his birthday.
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