Several thousand people from various walks of life, mostly wearing yellow shirts, flocked to Sanam Luang this morning to celebrate His Majesty the King’s 72nd birthday, as members of the Royal Family, Privy Council, senior officials from the executive, legislative and judicial branches, senior military officers and members of diplomatic corps gathered in the Grand Palace to express their good wishes to the King.
About 1,000 officials participated in a procession to bring “sacred” water from Phra Chetuphon Temple to the Grand Palace, to be used in a ceremony to bless the King on this special occasion.
Merit-making ceremonies were also held in every province.
A 21 gun salute was fired by each of the three armed forces, as temples around the country sounded gongs while monks prayed.
Before the crowd of well-wishers at the Amarin Winitchai Throne Hall in the Grand Palace, the King delivered a speech, thanking all the people for their good wishes and the efforts to organise the grand celebrations to mark his birthday.
He reminded all those in high positions to perform their duties with one ultimate goal, which is to bring prosperity and sustainable progress to the country and happiness and genuine life security to the people.
