FLOWERS FOR THE LATE KING
The royal cremation ceremony of our beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej is five months away and many organisations are contributing to prepare a large number of dok mai chan (funeral cremation flowers) to be distributed to the public.
These sandalwood flowers are to be placed before the late monarch during the royal cremation ceremony, which is scheduled for Oct 25-29. The actual royal cremation will take place on Oct 26 at Sanam Luang. It has been declared a national holiday to allow the public to take part in the important event.
To give the public an opportunity to pay tribute to the King, several shopping malls are holding a series of sessions where everyone can volunteer to make flowers for the distribution.
Among them is those under the Central Group, which invites people to help create
dok mai chan in the shape of a daffodil, or
dararat in Thai, at CentralWorld, Central Embassy and all branches of CentralPlaza, CentralFestival and Central department stores daily from 10am onwards, as well as at all 19 branches of Robinson Lifestyle Center every weekend from noon to 8pm.
The activity is called “Dok Dararat Tan Jai
Tawai Dare Poh” and runs until Aug 31. It expects to provide up to 3 million flowers.
Also offering a major contribution are Siam Piwat, MBK and Siam Square Business Group, which offers a similar activity, inviting people to create the cremation flowers in the shapes of a rose, dararat and orange jessamine.
The sessions are running at Siam Paragon and Siam Discovery every Friday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm until July
16. They will also be held at MBK Centre between noon and 7pm from June 9 to July 9, in the basement of Wittayakit
Building (Chulalongkorn University Book Center) from June 23 to July 14, at the Amphitheatre Court, 3rd floor of Siamkit Building on July 21, at Chamchuri Square’s activity court on Aug 18, and at the Fashion Court of Siam Square One on Aug 25.