At least Bt30m expected to be spent on underwater wedding ceremony in Thailand

BANGKOK, February 13 (TNA) - More than 30 million baht is expected to be circulated during Thailand's annual underwater wedding ceremony 2014, held in the southern Trang Province from February 10-12 to mark the St. Valentine's Day. A total of 32 couples, 27 of them are Thai and the remaining five are foreigners from France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China and the United Arab Emirates, were warmly welcome to Trang's underwater wedding ceremony and related activities 2014. When they arrived in Trang on February 10, they were received, at Trang Airport, by a drum procession, led by Trang Governor Somsak Parisuttho Hemthanon and Chairman of Trang Chamber of Commerce Salil Totubtiang, and were presented wedding garlands as a warm welcome to Thailand's underwater wedding ceremony 2014, the 18th of its kind since 1997. After the welcoming ceremony, the couples traveled to the Peninsular Botanical Garden (Thung Khai) in Yan Ta Khao District to each plant eaglewood tree, one of fragrant woods found in Thailand. T he traditional Thai wedding ceremony was then organized for them on the same day at Tubtiang Garden, followed by a grand procession through Nakhon Trang Municipality’s streets. On February 11, the participating couples divided into two groups, the first one of 26 couples with no diving activity and the other of six couples who were led to the Kradan Island in Kantang District to dive several metres deep to sign their marriage certificates under the Andaman Sea. According to the provincial chamber of commerce chair, over 30 million baht was projected to be spent during this year's globally-famous underwater wedding ceremony in Trang. A total of 514 couples, 432 are Thai and 82 are foreigners, from over 30 countries have participated in Thailand's annual underwater wedding ceremony over the past 18 years.(TNA)