As the people from across the country flocked Sanam Luang in Bangkok, awaiting for turns to enter the Grand Palace to pay their last tribute to their beloved King in front of the Royal urn, the Royal Thai Navy yesterday also mourned and paid tribute to His Majesty at sea.
A naval fleet under the command of the flagship aircraft carrier, Chakri Naruebet, sailed in the sea at Sattahip naval base in the Gulf of Thailand yesterday, in remembrance of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Over 4,000 sailors on board the flagship carrier participated in the joint singing of the Royal Anthem with accompaniment from the Royal Navy Orchestra.
This spectacular event saw three warships made up the flotilla.
The flagship was named and blessed by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej during the inaugural launch in 2007.
In other parts of the country, several activities were held to honour the belated King.
In Surin province, today was the second day of the ceremony to mourn the King.
A total of 189 elephants performed the mourning of His Majesty in front of thousands of both local and foreign tourists.
The event was jointly hosted by Surin and Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Normally Surin will host the famous elephant show this month.
However as the country is still in the mourning mood, the show was toned down with no entertainment activities, but elephant parades and show of elephants paying tribute to the King.
Local people and tourists then joined together to sing the national anthem at 8.00 am .
Yesterday, as the Royal Anthem was being sung, all the animals laid down in unison which made for a memorable spectacle.
The event closed with a ceremonial feeding of the elephants with more than 30 tons of fruits made up of bananas, pineapples, watermelons and jicama or yam beans.
