Royal honour 'not cancelled'
Clarifying the absence today of the usual Coronation Day ceremony to bestow the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday that this did not mean the royal decoration itself would not be awarded this year.
"What has been postponed is the royal decoration ceremony at Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall at 5pm and another ceremony [that accompanies it] in which His Majesty the King pays respect to the ancestral kings at Prasart Phra Thep Bidorn for the following 30 minutes. That's all," Wissanu said. He said this was not the first year in which the decoration of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao had been bestowed at a time other than Coronation Day, May 5. "It has been reported that the decoration itself has been put off [this year]. To me, that's not right. What is correct is that the two ceremonies have been postponed," he said. "The absence of the decoration ceremony has no relation to the government whatsoever, because no Cabinet members have been awarded [the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao] this year," he said, without explaining. Wissanu's clarification followed his statement to the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that it would not be unusual if the King decided not to bestow the decoration this year.
|
