Well-wishers across the country celebrated the birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who turned 60 on Thursday.
Many people wearing purple, the colour representing Saturday, the day the princess was born in 1955, flocked to Sala Sahathai Samakhom at the Grand Palace in Bangkok and to select places in other provinces arranged for Thais to write birthday messages to Her Royal Highness.
People from all walks of life were looking forward to today and it was even more special this year, as it also marks her fifth cycle of the Thai calendar, with morning activities starting with alms offerings to monks in every province, including the insurgency-battered southern border provinces.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn led Thais to write well-wishing messages for Princess Sirindhorn. The couple was joined by other cabinet members, their spouses and regular citizens, one of them Somyot Sripanpring.
The 55-year-old from Kamphaeng Phet province fulfilled his dream to show his respects to the princess by walking from his home in Muang district on March 20 and arriving at the Grand Palace at 3am today.
"I was determined to walk from my home to pay respect and write in the best-wishes book for Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn today," he told Radio Thailand. "I wish the princess good health and a happy birthday."
Many queued at banks to exchange money for commemorative banknotes especially designed by the Bank of Thailand to celebrate the birthday.
At the Supreme Command, soldiers in purple participated in card stunts in the form of No.60 in Thai to mark her birthday. Staff from the Udon Thani Municipality office also performed the same card shows at Nong Prachak in the northeastern province.
The princess celebrated her birthday by releasing 590,000 fish into the Chao Phraya River at Wasukree Pier.
Her dedication to a better life for all Thais is recognised by other countries, including the United States, as US Secretary of State John Kerry sent her a birthday message on behalf of President Barack Obama and American citizens.
"Her Royal Highness has admirably devoted her life to the service of the Thai people. She is a generous patron of her country's poor, supporting development projects in education, health, hygiene, water resources, and agriculture. She is also an accomplished scholar, and for much of her life has been a dedicated teacher of history for her country's emerging leaders,'' he said in the message.
"We wish Her Royal Highness all the very best on this auspicious occasion, and reaffirm our friendship and express our support for the Thai people,'' he wrote.