Late King’s birthday marked by alms, volunteering
Centre launched to promote awareness
People across the country from all walks of life made merit and took part in a wide range of volunteering activities in remembrance of the much-revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej yesterday, on the occasion of his birthday.
Dec 5 is also Father’s Day and National Day in Thailand while The United Nations has declared it World Soil Day in honour of the late king, who was devoted to developing and conserving soil resources.
In Bangkok yesterday morning, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn led government officials and people giving alms to 500 Buddhist monks at Sanam Luang to pay tribute to the late king.
Gen Prayut later presided over the opening ceremony of an exhibition honouring the universally respected King Rama IX. The exhibition runs until Sunday.
In Kanchanaburi, an alms-giving ceremony was held in front of the provincial hall.
Local officials, police, soldiers and members of the public offered alms to 50 monks.
At 8am, provincial governor Jeersak Phumsawat officiated at a ceremony that saw a tray of flowers placed in front of a portrait of King Bhumibol and led officials and people to sing the royal anthem in honour of the late king.
At Surasri military camp in this western province, more than 1,000 soldiers, local leaders and ordinary people served as volunteers and engaged in activities to mark the late monarch’s birthday.
They cleaned up roads, trimmed trees and helped improve the landscape of public areas.
In Khon Kaen, more than 1,000 people and local officials, dressed in yellow, gave alms to 129 monks in front of the city pillar. Yellow is recognised as the late king’s birthday colour.
Governor Somsak Jangtrakul later led all participants to pay respects before a portrait of the beloved former monarch.
Maj Gen Somchai Khanpachai, commanding officer of the 23rd Army Military Circle in Khon Kaen, who participated in the event, said he wanted to see all Thais unite on this auspicious day for the growth and prosperity of the Thai nation.
In Pathum Thani, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Ratchasima, Phitsanulok and other provinces, crowds flocked to provincial halls yesterday morning to give alms and take part in other activities.
In Chon Buri, Pattaya police and volunteers joined hands in collecting garbage in the city and along its beaches.
Pattaya police chief Apichai Krobphet said this was aimed at paying tribute to the late king while also making Pattaya a more liveable city.
In Phuket, more than 2,800 people participated in the Rao Tham Khwamdee Duay Huajai (We do good deeds from our hearts) activity for volunteers.
They cleaned roads and trimmed tree branches.
Several coffee shops offered free food to those taking part in the activity.
In Hat Yai district of Songkhla, Khao Kha Moo Hed Hom shop, a popular store that sells rice with stewed pork leg, gave away 1,000 meals for free.
Thailand launched the Centre of Excellence for Soil Research in Asia (Cesra), the world’s first regional hub to promote sustainable soil management, to mark World Soil Day yesterday.
Located on an 800-rai plot of land in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Chong district, Cesra was established with an aim to promote sustainable soil management and a reliable exchange of soil data and information at the global and regional level via research and development as well as capacity building programmes, said Rapibhat Chandarasrivongs, assistant permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
The establishment of the centre was also in accordance to this year’s theme “Be a solution to soil pollution”, he said.
The country was earlier this year endorsed by the Global Soil Partnership, an inclusive arrangement comprising governmental organisations, academic, research institutions, civil societies, UN agencies, NGOs, private companies and donors, to host the regional centre for 24 countries.
The Land Development Department will lead the work to empower regional countries and local communities, raise awareness of soil resource care and stimulate discussion and action toward sustainable soil management among policy makers and the general public, he said. World Soil Day is held annually on Dec 5 to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has supported the formal establishment of the international day to celebrate and raise global awareness of soil. The day corresponds with the birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Ronald Vagas, FAO Global Soil partnership, said the Cesra action plan and activities would be finalised during the 5th Asian Soil Partnership meeting to take place during from Feb 26 to March 1 in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, Practical Action, a Bangladesh-based NGO working on soil care was the recipient of the first World Soil Day Award for hosting the best World Soil Day event held during the 2017 communication campaign “Caring for the Planet Starts from the Ground”.
The group was chosen from a total of 39 candidates from around the world including Chulalongkorn University’s exhibition on soil called “Din D” and Ratchaburi’s Khao Cha-Ngum Royal Study Centre for Land Degradation Development. The award is aimed at honouring individuals, communities, organisations and countries that organised remarkable and engaging World Soil Day activities or campaigns in the previous year.
Jong-Jin Kim, Deputy Regional Representative of FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, said about 33% of all soil was already degraded. Pollution was one of the 10 major threats to soil health. Growing cities produced mounds of garbage that end up in landfills with residues leaching into the soil and possibly endangering the water supply.
“One-third of the plastic produced globally ends up in our soils,” he said. “Plastic particles are polluting our soils, entering the food chain and the environment — and going into our oceans as has been so clearly and alarmingly seen in the news this year.” Mr Kim said prevention of soil pollution must be a top priority worldwide. Tackling the problem through education remains the best way to maintain healthy soils and ensure food safety, he said.
They are also essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 15 and SDG 2, the Zero Hunger Goal, in which Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is a UN FAO Special Ambassador for Zero Hunger.