BANGKOK, Sept. 4 -- Queen Elizabeth II will view a procession of royal barges and preside at the opening of new British Council offices in a state visit to Thailand in late October, the British Embassy said Wednesday. The embassy said the queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, will visit Thailand Oct. 28-Nov. 1 as guests of Thailand's King Bhumipol and Queen Sirikit.
Official functions the British queen will include a state banquet hosted by the Thai royal family Oct. 28 at the Chakri Throne Hall of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the embassy said. The following day the British queen and the duke of Edinburgh are scheduled to attend a lunch hosted by the Thai prime minister at the Bank of Thailand and view the royal barge procession. The procession is part of year-long celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Thai king's accession to the throne. Among the boats to pass in review during the procession along Bangkok's Chao Phya River will be the new Narayana Song Suban Ratchakan Thi IX, the first royal ceremonial barge to be constructed in Thailand in more than 80 years. The barge was elaborately carved by artisans from the Thai Fine Arts Department at a cost of $520,000 and will be powered by rowers from the Royal Thai Navy wearing traditional costumes. The British queen is also scheduled to open the new British Council offices on the Bangkok campus of Chulalongkorn University and visit the Bank Pa-In Palace and Siriyalai Villa in Ayutthaya Province.
