The final day of Songkran in Bang Saray got the “royal” treatment when water warriors participating in the city’s wan lai festival found themselves battling King Taksin the Great.
Well, not the 18th century monarch, but Nit Paen-gnam from Chantaburi who dressed up like the last king of Thonburi.
The 50-year-old Nit wore a 1760s-era military uniform and paraded along major roads in the Sattahip sub-district. Thai New Year’s revelers put their arms to take selfies with the “king” who liberated Siam from Burmese occupation.
Nit said he is a former theater actor and felt a strong bond of loyalty with King Taksin, as he played him in several plays. His intention was to show people that loyalty lives on and to remind others what King Taksin sacrificed for all who live in Thailand today.
