People in the greater Pattaya area honored the memory of HM King Rama IX with local ceremonies to pay homage and by doing good deeds on the third anniversary of his death.
As usual for a long holiday weekend, the roads leading into and out of town were jammed, with traffic moving at a snail’s pace both directions on Sukhumvit Road. The torrential downpours throughout the day added to the tailbacks. The sky was certainly crying for the memory of our beloved king.
This year, the day was a double holiday, as Auk Pansaa, also known as the ending of Buddhist Lent, also fell on Sunday, Oct. 13.
Live music and boisterous entertainment on Walking Street and other nightspots around town was canceled and, from morning until night, people went out of their way to do good for society.
Top Pattaya and Banglamung officials kicked off the commemorations with an early-morning alms offering and laying flowered wreaths, incense and bowing before a portrait of HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great.
At 7 p.m., Banglamung District Chief Amnart Charoensri led top Pattaya officials back to the district office for a candlelight vigil for the late monarch with.
Everyone stood and observed 89 seconds of silence, followed by singing “Phra Phu Song Pen Niran, the King who will live for eternity”.
On Jomtien Beach, Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome kicked off a beach-cleaning along three kilometers of Jomtien shoreline.
Other good deeds were done in the late King’s name throughout the area, including cutting grass, distributing food and drink, collecting garbage, and helping poor people and children.
In Sattahip, the Royal Thai Navy commemorated the second anniversary of the death of King Rama IX with a merit-making ceremony. Vice Admiral Wara Tankham, commander of the 1st Naval Area, opened the Oct. 13 ceremony at the Air and Coastal Defense Command in Sattahip.
Sailors and members of the public joined to give dried food and rice to the monks, whose number represented HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s age when he died in 2016.
In Sattahip, Sattahip District Officer Anucha Intasorn led government officers from 30 organizations to perform alms offerings of rice and dried foods to 89 monks from 9 temples, and later lay wreaths to pay loyalty in front an image of HM the late King Bhumibol the Great in front of the Sattahip District Office Community Hall.
Throughout the area, volunteers planted trees to restore the environment in the name of HM the late King Rama IX.
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