Royal Thai Embassy joined hands with Ministry of Religious Affairs of Myanmar in organizing the annual ceremony to offer royal kathin robes from H.M. King BhumibolAdulyadej of Thailand on 27 October 2013.  This year, MettawadiHinthada (Parahita) Monastery in Yangon was chosen to receive the royal kathin robes.

H.E. Mr. BandhitSotipalalit, Chairman of Thailand-Myanmar Association for Friendship, was a representative from Thailand to present the royal kathin robes to SadamajawtikadazaBahdantaSilananda, Abbot of the Monastery, in the presence of 28 highly revered Myanmar monks from various monasteries. H.E. U Soe Win, Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs, and over 300 Thais, Myanmar, and other Friends of Thailand, joined in to grace this special occasion. H.E. U Soe Win, as the representative of the Myanmar Government, expressed gratitude to H.M. the King of Thailand and the Royal Thai Government for continuously hosting this auspicious ceremony for over a decade, emphasizing the cordial relations between the two countries.

With the kind support of Thai companies in Thailand and Myanmar, as well as all attendees, a charity fund of over 2.7 million baht, or over 83 million kyats, was raised for the Monastery.  In addition, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, through Thailand-Myanmar Association for Friendship and Royal Thai Embassy, has built a training room at the Monastery, equipped with educational toys from Plan Toys (Thailand), and a full-fledged playground for children.  This material support was aimed for nearly 500 orphans taken care by the Monastery for their physical health and recreation.  On the Myanmar side, H.E. U NyuntSwe, Chairman of Myanmar-Thailand Friendship Association, provided 100 tin boxes to novices and orphans to keep their personal belongings.

Before the royal kathinceremony, H.E. Mr. PisanuSuvanajata, Ambassador of Thailand to Myanmar, joined Thailand-Myanmar Association for Friendshipin the ordination ceremony of 50 novices.  These children are orphans under the monastic care, and now being under monkhood, will be given an opportunity to learn Lord Buddha’s teaching, practice disciplines, and study other worldly subjects.

Earlier on 26 October 2013, Thailand-Myanmar Association for Friendship and Royal Thai Embassy jointly organized the annual friendship kathin robe offering ceremonyat Thailand-Myanmar Friendship Monastery in Yangon. Over 100 Thai and Myanmar friends joined this merit making with more than 500,000 baht, or over 15 million kyats, raised for contribution to the Monastery.

At both events, Bangkok Hospital and Tony TunTun Hair Salon shared the merits by offering free medical check-up and haircut to over 300 people from surrounding communities, while Myanmar CP Livestock provided free lunch at the Mettawadi Monastery.  It was the first time that Bangkok Hospital and Tony TunTun Hair Salon participated in joint Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of the Embassy.

Since 1995, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand initiated the so-called Buddhist pilgrimage by dispatching high-level delegations to offer royal kathin robes from H.M. the King to monasteries in 11 DheravadaBuddhist countries to further enhance bilateral relations through cultural diplomacy.  The royal kathin robe offering ceremony has been successful in bringing goodwill from Thailand to our friends, as demonstrated by their warm welcome and full support, as well as to fortify Buddhism which is a shared value of Thailand and Myanmar.