Thailand to celebrate Queen’s 81st birthday

BANGKOK, August 11 (TNA) - Thailand prepares to celebrate the 81st birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on Monday, which is also Mother’s Day, with thousands to throng the streets for live concerts, fairs and other street events as the nation throws itself a massive party. Bangkok hotels and government offices were seen decorated with royal flags and the Queen’s portrait, with many offering places for the public to pay their respects to the monarch. In rural areas, the less fortunate people had found themselves overwhelmed by charity offers in honour of the Queen’s Day, with many doctors and nurses providing free checkups for the public, including at the southern Trang Hospital. This year’s big event also involved the selection of 20 outstanding mother-child pairs to help in promoting family tourism, a joint campaign between the Phang Nga Tourism Business Association and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Among other highlights of this year’s celebration would include a 182-kilometre charity cycle event, in which cyclists would make their journey through Nakhon Sawan, Chai Nat and Uthai Thani, before ending across Chao Phraya River in the Bangkok capital.