Growing crowds wait for Thai King's visit to Ayutthaya

BANGKOK, May 25 (TNA) - Crowds of people have kept pouring to Thung Makham Yong in Thailand's central Ayutthaya Province since early Friday morning, waiting to catch a glimpse of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is scheduled to visit the area later in the day. Police forces and other concerned authorities are imposing strict security measures, to the highest level, to manage the huge crowds and to ensure order. Accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the revered Thai monarch is scheduled to leave Siriraj Hospital at 4.30pm (local time) and are expected to arrive in Ayutthaya at around 5.20pm. Preparations for various activities to welcome Their Majesties the King and Queen and the Princess have been complete, including an evening light and sound show and a folk boat procession. Their Majesties the King and Queen and the Princiess will pay homage to the statue of late Queen Srisuriyothai, a royal Thai heroine, before enjoying other activities. Thung Makham Yong is a location of the ‘monkey cheek’, a water management royal project, initiated by His Majesty the King to retain and divert flood water. It is also an area where His Majesty the King harvested rice from a royal experimental rice field for the first time on May 14, 1996. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has announced that she will donate a seven-rai rice field, worth 20 million baht, at Thung Makham Yong to His Majesty the King on behalf of the Shinawatra family when the beloeved Thai monarch visits the area. Today's visit will be His Majesty the King’s first long-distance trip outside Bangkok since he was admitted to Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital on Sept 19, 2009 with symptoms of fever, lung inflammation and fatigue. The revered Thai monarch has recovered well but has remained at the hospital ever since to regain his strength.(TNA)