Meeting their subjects
King and queen in first official public appearance
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida waving and greeting well-wishers with the monarch’s children (from left) Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti and Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol from the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall of the Grand Palace as they grant a public audience on the final day of his coronation in Bangkok.
BANGKOK: Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida appeared on the Grand Palace balcony to greet and thank the public on the last day of his three-day elaborate coronation.
In their first official public appearance together as king and queen yesterday, the royal couple waved at tens of thousands of people congratulating them from a nearby park, with the royal anthem being played and a gun salute being fired in the background.
Supporters in yellow shirts, the colour associated with royalism, waved Thailand’s national flag and the royal flag while cheerfully chanting: “Long live their Majesties.”
The loud cheers were followed by junta leader Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s pledge of allegiance to the royal couple and the king’s speech.
“I and the queen are full of joy to see the people so generously come in unison to express their well wishes on the occasion of my coronation,” King Vajiralongkorn said.
“May everyone be happy and successful in what you wish for,” he said at the conclusion of the speech.
Many people arrived hours before to reserve their spots in the restricted area and were seen in hats and umbrellas to fend off the scorching summer heat.
Some reportedly fainted, prompting medical staff to spray the crowd with water.
“I arrived at 4am. My children drove me last night. “I didn’t get to sleep at all,” said Yee Sapngoern, a 65-year-old farmer who travelled 100km from the western province of Ratchaburi.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t miss it,” she added.
The much-delayed coronation came two-and-a-half years after Vajiralongkorn ascended the throne when his late father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died.
It was Thailand’s first coronation in nearly 70 years.