The recently completed Rama IX throne hall will hold its first official function today as His Majesty the King hosts a banquet for the visiting foreign royals.

The Borommaratchasathit Maholan Throne Hall is an extension to the Chakri Throne Hall that was built by King Rama V in the Grand Palace compound.

Matichon Newspaper reported that Kriengkrai Visavamitr, a senior official at the Bureau of the Royal Household's Royal Chamberlains Division, said the new hall was very spacious as it consisted of three rooms: the "yellow" central room, the "blue" eastern room and the "green" western room.

Once completed, His Majesty officially named the hall Borommaratchasathit Maholan Throne Hall, the paper reported Kriengkrai as saying.

The Chakri Dynasty group of buildings within the palace compound consists of many throne halls, including the Amornpimanmanee Hall, to the west which has the beautiful Suan Sawan (Heavenly) Garden on the roof-deck.

Matichon reported Kriengkrai as saying that while the Chakri Throne Hall was designed by a foreign architect, the new throne hall was designed by the bureau's architects.

Construction began many years ago but was put on hold due to the country's economic crisis, Kriengkrai said, adding it was restarted on March 1, 2004, with the building completed recently.

The reason why the new hall was built is because previously, receptions for visiting foreign royals occupied two separate halls in the Chakri Throne Hall - the central hall and the Moonstarn Baromasna Throne Hall, the paper said.

This arrangement meant that while His Majesty would be seated in the central hall, guests would be seated in the adjacent Moonstarn Baromasna Throne Hall.

This was because the Chakri Throne Hall could only seat about 80 people.

"His Majesty was concerned that the separation of seating was inappropriate ... but how could we put 140 people into a space with a capacity for 80? So, we saw the need for this new, more spacious throne hall," the paper quoted Kriengkrai as saying.

The new throne hall also has a cellar to accommodate the preparation and cooking of food with a refrigerated room and a lift to deliver the food to the guests above.

The paper reported Thanphuying Putrie Viravaidya, His Majesty's deputy principal private secretary, as saying construction of the new throne hall went through four national crises that put it on hold four times, but finally it was completed.

The budget came from His Majesty's personal fund from entrance fees to the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha Temple, Thanphuying Putrie said.

Although His Majesty was not keen on the idea [of building a new throne hall], royal court officials agreed it should be built to mark the 60th anniversary of His Majesty's accession to the throne, Thanpuying Putrie said.