THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Bhakdibodin Building likely venue for PM to receive royal command on appointment

Bhakdibodin Building likely venue for PM to receive royal command on appointment

THE BHAKDIBODIN Building at Government House, often used for state receptions, is expected to be the venue for the new prime minister to receive royal command of appointment.

The Senate and House of Representatives will choose a premier on Wednesday, the day selected by new Parliament President Chuan Leekpai.
Government House’s Social Protocol Division met last week to begin preparations for the ceremony and decided that the Bhakdibodin Building would be the best location. It will take at least two days for the venue to be prepared. 
Prime ministers in the past have received their royal commands at their homes, their party headquarters, or at Government House. 
The Bt137-million Bhakdibodin Building was officially opened in late August 2017 as part of an initiative by incumbent Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha, who thought state officials should have a more suitable place to receive foreign dignitaries.
Prayut chose the name Bhakdibodin – which means “loyalty to the King” – from among 20 suggested by the Fine Arts Department. 
The building, seen below, is Neo-Venetian Gothic in architectural design, in harmony with the nearby Thai Khu Fah Building, and is painted yellow, the colour associated with His Majesty the late King Bhumibol’s birthday. It is adorned with a giant golden dome. 
 The ground floor of the two-storey building features three reception rooms – the main room with a capacity for 150 people, the gilded 10-person Thongthara Room, and the blue-and-pink Wanasiri Room able to accommodate eight people. 
All are decorated with portraits from Her Mother the Queen Mother Sirikit’s Support Foundation.
Bhakdibodin is Government House’s first new building erected since 2001, when edifices were opened for the Cabinet Secretariat and Office of the National Security Council, during Chuan’s tenure as prime minister.
 

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