This coming weekend (4-6 May), nearly two and a half years after he became the King of Thailand in Bangkok, Maha Vajiralongkorn will be crowned king with lavish multi-million dollar ceremonies. According to the Thai media, the costly ceremonies will cost as much as $ 31.2 million.
Between the 4th and 6th of May, a series of complicated ceremonies will take place during the first coronation in Thailand for nearly 70 years. For many Thais, it will probably be the first and only coronation in their lives.
The excitement about it is widespread and well felt throughout the country, as many Thais, especially royalists and government officials, have been wearing yellow shirts since the beginning of April, the color associated with royalism in Thailand.
It is estimated that as many as 200,000 Thais from all over the country will arrive in Bangkok and gather there to attend the 6.7-kilometer procession and take a look at their newly-crowned King.
The 66-year-old Maha Vajiralongkorn became king when his father, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was highly respected and dead in Thailand, died on the throne in October 2016 after seven decades.
Maha Vajiralongkorn attributed the reason for the initial delay of his coronation to the mourning for his deceased father, who was deeply revered throughout the country not only as a father figure but also as a moral authority.
Since Thailand has a predominantly Buddhist population with some Hindu influences, the ceremonies, most of which will be held at the Grand Palace in Bangkok and broadcast live on television, will be a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu rites. They correspond to a belief that the Thai kings are a reincarnation of Vishnu, a Hindu god.
The king is crowned on May 4, a day before the anniversary of the coronation of his father Bhumibol on May 5, 1950, with a 7.3-kilogram, multi-level crown of gold and diamonds.
Unlike in the West, however, the centerpiece of the coronation will not be the award of the crown itself. Instead, according to the long Thai tradition, the new king is crowned with a bathing rite and an anointing.
As part of the first and most important coronation rite, Maha Vajiralongkorn participates in a cleansing bath in which the holy water collected from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand is poured through a canopy over his head to give him sovereignty. Many fanfares of drums, trumpets and traditional Thai music will be played in the background.
The water for the King's cleansing bath is collected on five major rivers, namely:
Chao Phraya,
Bang Pakong,
Pasak,
Ratchaburi
and Petchaburi.
The water is also collected from four other "holy" lakes in the province of Suphan Buri. The water for the King's cleansing bath was collected on 6 April.
The water for the anointing was collected on 18 and 19 April together with the water from the Grand Palace from 107 springs in 76 provinces across the country.
The anointing will take place in the Paisarn Taksin Throne Room, attended by the Prime Minister, the President of Parliament and six selected members of the royal family.
Then he will sit on an octagonal throne to be anointed with water from more than 100 springs from all eight directions, before being presented to the people with the nine-step white umbrella, the most important element in the group of royal regalia and the symbol of a sacred king becomes.
After the king has been crowned on another throne, he will take an oath before he resumes his residence at the Grand Palace in another rite.
On the following days, the king will welcome the public twice. First, a parade where the king will sit on a litter carried by soldiers. The second time he will greet the public and the Thai people on the balcony of the palace.
According to the Thai press, no foreign royal family members have yet been invited. However, on the last day of the ceremonies, the new King will also grant a royal audience to the certainly numerous foreign diplomats who are expected.
The crowning of the Thai king will be in confusion and uncertainty over the country's policy, as the Electoral Council (EC) has not yet announced official results of the March 24 election, the first election since the 2014 military coup.
Already in March, Maha Vajiralongkorn had ordered that his coronation ceremony from 4 to 6 May should be thrifty and in line with the royal tradition.
During the royal coronation ceremony of Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), several streets in the capital Bangkok will be closed to traffic for five days. The Ratchadamnoen, Sanam Chai and Maharat streets are among the more than 30 streets to be closed to all traffic from 2 to 6 May (King Maha Vajiralongkorn's coronation time).
Sources: Thailand Tip, Thai Media, welt.de, watson.ch