Special Gifts to Be Presented to His Majesty the King of Thailand for His 84th Birthday

The Thailand Government will host a garden party in celebration of His Majesty the King’s 84th birthday anniversary at Government House on December 7 at 6:00 p.m today.. On this occasion, the Government will present three special gifts to His Majesty in commemoration of the Celebrations on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King’s 7th Cycle Birthday Anniversary 5th December 2011.

The first gift is a miniature throne built by the Office of Traditional Arts, Fine Arts Department, as a model of the octagonal throne, “Atthathit Uthumphon”. It is 8 inches wide and 17 inches tall, made of fig wood, known as madua uthumphon, under a white umbrella of seven tiers. The original throne is found at the Baisal Daksin Hall in the Grand Palace compound. It is where His Majesty seated himself to receive consecrated water offered by Members of Parliament and a Brahmin in the Coronation Ceremony on 5 May 1950. He attended the ceremonial bathing rites of purification and anointment at a pavilion before proceeding to the Baisal Daksin Hall, where he sat on the Atthathit Uthumphon throne. 

The second gift is a fund for the Rajaprajanugroh Foundation (Royal Foundation for the Welfare of the People), which was set up with His Majesty’s seed fund of three million baht on 23 August 1963 to relieve victims of natural disasters. The Foundation has been operating with government subsidies and public donations. It was established in the wake of a disastrous typhoon in southern Thailand in 1962.

The third gift is 7,000 copies of a commemorative book containing seven of His Majesty’s rare speeches given to well-wishers on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s birthday anniversary at Sala Dusidalai, Chitralada Villa, between 1991 and 1998. The speeches are in Thai and English, translated by His Majesty himself.