Royal Barge Procession

06, February 2012

At the present, only on the very special occasion that people would get a glimpse of the Royal Barge Procession. It is the ceremony that has long history counted back to 700 years into the past. At that time, the Royal Barge Procession was conducted more often as it was also convenient to travel by water.

In that era, the number of exquisitely crafted barges had reached 200. Nowadays, the procession is comprised of 52 barges with 2,200 oarsmen. The last time the Royal Barge Procession took place was in 2007 for the Royal Kathin Ceremony at Wat Arun on 5 November 2007, which coincided with King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 80th Birthday.

In 2011, the Thai government had again planned another Royal Barge Procession, which was going to be the 17th time in the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, for the Royal Kathin Ceremony on the occasion of the King's 7th cycle, 84 years old. However, due to the flood that struck Thailand severely since July, the ceremony has been postponed without new arrangement until today. But the preparation remains ready, everything is already on standby.