Riverside people invited to decorate houses to welcome royal barge procession

BANGKOK, July 11 (TNA) - The Royal Thai Navy has invited people living along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, through which a royal barge procession will pass late this year, to beautify their houses to welcome the royal activity. Deputy Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Chongkol Meesawat made the invitation on Thursday, advising that apart from decorating their houses, the riverside people should also be dressed politely to welcome the 52-barge royal procession, in which Their Majesties the King and Queen will be aboard the leading barge, the Suphannahonga Royal Barge, to offer Kathin robes to Buddhist monks at the Temple of the Dawn, after this year's three-month Buddhist Lent period in mid-October. Earlier in the day, Thai Navy Chief Admiral Luechai Ruddit presided over a deity worship ceremony for royal barges at the Museum Thailand, located at Tha Wasukri Pier in the capital's Samsen area, as part of the Royal Thai Navy's preparations for the 4.2-kilometer royal barge procession of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the first of its kind in the country's present King Rama X reign, set to be operated along the Chao Phraya River on October 24, from Tha Wasukri Pier to the Temple of the Dawn. According to the Thai navy commander-in-chief, a total of 2,200 navy officers will play the role of oarsmen in the royal barge procession and they have conducted rehearsals since July 8, before joining in full-formed rehearsals with the royal barges during August 22-October 21. "There will be a dozen of full-formed rehearsals of the royal barge procession as of August 22, two of them will be virtual ones, from Tha Wasukri Pier to the Temple of the Dawn", the navy chief said. According to the Thai navy chief, all the royal barges will be moved to be kept at the Royal Thai Navy Dockyard in late July, after repair and decoration tasks, conducted by the Fine Arts Department, are finalized. The upcoming royal barge ceremony will be the last activity of the Royal Coronation ceremonies of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, or King Rama X, most of them were held during May 4-6. (TNA)