Navy stages dress rehearsal of royal barge ceremony

The Suphannahong Royal Barge moves across the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok during the dress rehearsal on Tuesday for the coronation on Saturday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
The Suphannahong Royal Barge moves across the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok during the dress rehearsal on Tuesday for the coronation on Saturday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)

The grandeur of a royal barge graced the Chao Phraya River on Tuesday as the navy went through a dress rehearsal of part of the coronation ceremony for His Majesty the King this Saturday.

Sixty-four naval officers, mostly oarsmen, took part in the rehearsal, which started at 10am. They rowed the Suphannahong Royal Barge, decorated with full regalia, from the Naval Dockyard on the Thon Buri side of the river, 4.5 kilometres to the Ratcha Woradit pier, next to the Grand Palace on the other bank.

The 44.9-metre-long, century-old royal barge will be rowed to the Grand Palace on Saturday and moored there until May 6, during the coronation period, in honour of His Majesty the King.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced on Tuesday that the floral decorations along Ratchadamnoen Avenue would be completed on Wednesday. About 1.76 million pots of flowering plants, mainly yellow and white, are being used.

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Vocabulary

  • bank: a raised area of land along the side of a river (or canal) - ริมฝั่งแม่น้ำ
  • barge (noun): a long flat boat usually used on rivers and in ports - เรือท้องแบน, เรือบรรทุกลำเลียงขนส่ง
  • coronation: the crowning of a king or queen - วันฉัตรมงคล
  • grandeur: an impressive quality that a place, object or occasion has - ความสง่างาม
  • moor: to attach a boat, ship, etc. to a fixed object or to the land with a rope, or anchor it - ผูกเรือ, จอดเรือ
  • regalia: special clothes that you wear for a ceremony or official occasion - เครื่องหมายหรือเสื้อผ้าแสดงตำแหน่ง ยศหรือขั้น
  • row: to move a boat through water using oars (= long wooden poles with flat ends) - พาย

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