Wednesday, August 19, 2009

HM the King in great shape, says Queen

       Her Majesty the Queen says His Majesty the King is hale and hearty and remains dedicated to working for the good of his people.
       The Queen yesterday talked about the King's health during her birthday address to a gathering of cabinet ministers, senior government officials and members of the public who went to the Dusitdalai Pavilion inside the Chitralada Palace to wish her well on the eve of her 77th birthday today.
       She was accompanied by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and other members of the royal family
       The Queen said the King now lived at Klai Klang Won Palace in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district where he benefitted from a healthful climate.
       The King is healthy, exercises regularly by walking and can perform his duties such as receiving foreign guests and inspecting royal projects in Hua Hin, the Queen said.
       She said it is now impossible for the King to work as hard as he did decades ago when he was strong and vigorous,although he has always followed the progress of projects to help ease the plight of the people, particularly measures to deal with floods.
       "His Majesty cares very much about his people. He is concerned about flooding and is looking for ways to prevent it," the Queen said.
       She said in the past when the King travelled long distances to visit people in remote rural areas, he always drove himself and carried maps wherever he went to examine geographical details.
       His Majesty visited people in all regions of the country to see for himself their hardships so he could think of ways to help them according to their varying needs.
       His Majesty has initiated more than 3,000 royal projects aimed at improving the livelihood of people in all regions and has continued to work for the good of the people for almost 60 years.
       "His Majesty said he was delighted when he learned his people were happy,"the Queen said.
       The Queen also spoke about a project to make artificial reefs off the coast in Pattani's Mai Kaen district.
       The project was introduced after local people complained to Her Majesty about depleted fish stocks in the sea.
       She said the project had now become a success and the artificial reefs were home to an abundance of marine life with rare fish species beginning to reappear.
       Her Majesty asked Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the relevant government agencies to support the project to create artificial reefs in other provinces in the South.
       She also talked about the nutritional value of rice which is widely recognised and urged more consumption of the grain.
       At one point of her hour-long speech,the Queen praised villagers for their remarkable artistic skills in making exquisite traditional handicrafts which are now on show at the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall.
       The Queen said the handicrafts were described by foreign visitors as "worldclass".

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