Pattaya-area volunteers are doing their part for HM the late King’s upcoming cremation by creating artificial flowers to be used in the ceremony.
Ponchanok Seangkaew, head of the Artificial Flowers for Dad club, led an April 10 work session at Photisampan Temple to create some of the 10,000 flowers needed for the Oct. 23 ceremony in Bangkok.
She said while artificial flower creation is a traditional Thai art that many people, mostly women, know, the club took extra effort to be sure it was making its flower to the rigid requirements of the Royal Household Bureau.
Ponchanok said the volunteers got support from the Bang Sai Royal Folk Arts & Crafts Center and traveled to the Nam Jai Mai Tee Hospitality Center at Sanam Luang for lessons in making the flowers. Others took additional lessons on the internet.
The biggest challenge was finding the right materials, particularly the corn husks used as the foundation of artificial flowers, Ponchanok said.
The group meets each Friday at the temple as they continue to finish the flowers they will send to Bangkok later this summer.
