The King's Birthday in Thailand
by Peter Cummins on 5 Dec 2008
H.M. King Bhumibol Thailand SW
The 5th December is a most revered date for the Thai people - this year representing the King’s 81st birthday, since his birth in the Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts on Monday, December 5, 1927.
The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, founded to celebrate the King’s 60th birthday in 1987, has been held every year since, over the week of the Monarch’s birthday and, for the more recent celebrations, has featured a magnificent – and very colourful – sail-past by the racing fleet in front of a Royal Thai Navy frigate, the RTNS Chao Phraya.
Later in the day, at sunset, at Kata Beach, in front of regatta co-sponsor Mom Tri’s Boathouse, a huge crowd of sailors, event managers and supporters gather in a candle-lit ceremony, co-ordinated with thousands of such tributes Kingdom-wide in honour of the King.
In the glow of flickering candles, the crowds express the triple Thai 'Chai-Yo' for the King, sing the national anthem and wish King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great, 'A very Happy Birthday Your Majesty'
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