Last batch of tamarind trees removed from Sanam Luang for royal cremation site

BANGKOK, April 25 (TNA) - Arborists have relocated the last batch of 30 tamarind trees from Bangkok's Sanam Luang ceremonial ground to allow more space for the construction of the royal crematorium of late His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. On Tuesday, the team of arborists from Nong Nooch Pattaya Garden & Resort in the eastern seaside Chon Buri Province and environmental officials from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) trimmed the tress and moved them out by 10-wheeled trucks to tree nurseries in the capital's neighboring Pathum Thani and Nakhon Nayok Provinces. Earlier, 14 tamarind trees were moved to another nursery in Saraburi Province. Khampol Tansatja, the owner of the Nong Nooch Pattaya Garden & Resort, told journalists that he expected about 90 per cent of all the 44 trees would survive and could be brought back to the Sanam Luang ceremonial ground after the royal cremation ceremony, set in October 2017. Meanwhile, officials from Plant Genetic Conservation Project under the Bureau of the Royal Household did stem cuttings of these trees for growing at the Chitralada Palace and Chatuchak Park in the capital. More than 750 tamarind trees have encircled the Sanam Luang ceremonial ground outside the Grand Palace, many of them are more than 200 years old. (TNA)