On 31 October 2015, H.E. Mr. Prachuab Chaiyasan, President of the Thailand-Vietnam Friendship Association, as head of the Thai delegation, presided over the Offering Ceremony of His Majesty the King’s Kathin Robe to the congregation of monks at Huyen Khong Son Thuong Temple, Thua Thien-Hue Province, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 

 

            Also present at the ceremony were H.E. Mr. Panyarak Poolthup, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Thailand to Vietnam, Miss Panpimon Suwannapongse, Thai Consul-General in Ho Chi Minh City, Mrs. Linna Tangthasiri, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Information, as well as important figures from the Vietnamese side, such as, Mr. Hoang Trong Binh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front of Thua Thien-Hue Province.  In total, over 800 Thai and Vietnamese Buddhists, Vietnamese Thais and monks attended the above-mentioned ceremony while over 100 people participated in the ceremony to celebrate the Royal Kathin Robe on 30 October 2015. 

 

            The Royal Kathin Robe Offering Ceremony at Huyen Khong Son Thuong Temple was a part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs annual project to promote constructive interactions between Thais and Vietnameses through Buddhism.  The overwhelming participation of peoples from Vietnam and Thailand, including Laotian monks invited to the ceremony, considerably reflected close ties and connectivity within the sub-region. The donation which came from His Majesty the King, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Thai Embassy in Vietnam, the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as Thai and Vietnamese Buddhists amounted to approximately 1,209,774 Baht.