New national flag flown at Bangkok's Government House

BANGKOK, June 24 (TNA) - The new national flag on its new pole has been raised in front of the Santi Maitree Building in the compound of Bangkok's Government House, after the new flagpole was installed, as instructed by Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha, to demonstrate national unity. Special Branch police, stationed at the Government House, performed the flag-raising ceremony on Wednesday morning, while the prime minister stood for the national anthem in front of the Thai Khu Fah Building. The prime minister ordered the new 25-meter-tall flagpole and the new 5-meter wide and 7.5-meter-long flag to be a national symbol and represent national unity as those at other government offices. The Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning, under the Ministry of Interior, and the Fine Arts Department, under the Ministry of Culture, jointly designed and built the new flagpole in about two months. The new national flag can be run up manually or automatically on the pole, but its base has not yet to be decorated. The Fine Arts Department designed the new flagpole to be in line with the architecture of Thai Khu Fah and Santi Maitree Buildings in the Government House's compound. From now on, Government House police officers will raise the national flag daily at 8am and lower it at 6pm, as performed simultaneously at other government offices nationwide. (TNA)