Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn won the hearts of all the residents of Uthai Thani when she paid a personal visit to a royal temple to perform a “wien thien” or walking in circle around the “ubosot” or chapel to celebrate the Asalha Puja day on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, she visited the local market in this quiet town in lower northern Thailand and also called on her classmate since she was a former student at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Arts.
Her classmate, Assistant Professor Dr Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, was former dean of the Faculty of Arts. His parents have a gold shop in the town.
As the princess arrived in the town, she helped Dr Propod’s parents sell gold ornaments to customers who flocked to buy after hearing the arrival of their beloved princess in the town and was at the gold shop “Mae Kim Sien” of her close classmate.
It was not the first time that she visited the shop and helped sell gold ornaments to customers. During the previous years, the princess also came at the shop personally and helped in selling gold.
The humble princess was also said to call her classmate’s mother “Mom” as she visited Dr Propod’s family’s goldshop in the market.
Her unexpected visit on Tuesday drew hearts from all local residents who not only widely shared pictures of their beloved princess in blue colour, on the social world picking necklace from showcase to customers, and of her walking in the market, but also pictures of her down-to-earth smilingly talking with the aged people and vendors at the market.
At night, she went to Wat Thungkaeo temple and joined the candle lit procession with other people to walk in circle around the chapel to celebrate the Asalha Puja day.
Asalha Puja day is significant because it commemorates the first Dharma discourse given by the Lord Buddha to his first Buddhist monk, and thus constituting the birth of the Triple Gem of Buddhism; namely, the Buddha, the Dharma or his teachings, and the Sangha or his disciples.
