BANGKOK, Dec 5 – Thais performed merit making across the nation to mark HM the King’s 86th birthday today, which is a national public holiday and Father’s Day in Thailand.
Buddhists gave alms for 2,000 monks at Buddhamonthon, a Buddhist park in the west of Bangkok,
A candle-lighting ceremony to mark the king’s birthday will be held at the park in the evening.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) also held the merit-making ceremony at Sanam Luang this morning. Some 4,000 city hall staff are scheduled to form a human line reading “Long Live the King” at 4pm before lighting candles to demonstrate their great love and loyalty to the monarch.
In the southern province of Surat Thani, about 5,000 residents, wearing yellow shirts as the colour of the king’s birthday, gave alms to 99 monks at the governor’s residence. And 860,000 fish were released into the river to honour the auspicious occasion.
In the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket bordering Cambodia, similar activities were held.
Meanwhile, Dusit Poll released its survey on “What Thai People Wish To Do For The King”, finding that 54 per cent of the 1,660 respondents said they wanted bickering to be stopped and replaced with unity.
Some 20.8 per cent of those polled said they wanted to be a good citizen, while 13.5 per cent said they wanted to do good deeds for the country’s benefit.
A majority–77.41 per cent of the respondents–said they believed the political turmoil has subsided on the king’s birthday as people want to pay homage to His Majesty who is the centre of the nation.
