Thai Consul General, center, cutting the National Day cake with other Consuls General. Saudi Gazette The Thai community of Jeddah celebrated the 84th birthday of their King Bhumibol Abulyadej also known as Rama IX, and the National Day of Thailand yesterday at Park Hyatt. The evening was chaired officially by the Consul General of Thailand Chalee (Ali) Sakolvari. The diplomatic soiree was attended by scores of representatives from different countries, Saudi representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, businessmen and journalists. In his welcome speech the Consul General explained how significant the Thailand King's birthday is to the Thai people. He further stated that the National Day of Thailand is also the celebration of His Majesty King Bhumibol and ‘Bhumibol' in Thai means ‘The strength of the land' . “The 84th birthday of our King is also all the more important for us as he completes the seventh cycle of a life time. This highlights the King's achievements and developments ranging from education and public health to irrigation, farming, crop substitution and flood alleviation apart from the late Royal Rain Making Project designed for the drought affected regions,” Sakolvari expounded explicitly. “On behalf of the Thai people around the world and in addition to the Thai expatriates I would like to address our deep gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz for patronizing and sustaining this year's Haj season with utmost smoothness. It is worth mentioning here that King Abdullah has sponsored some 70 Thai pilgrims this year, from all walks of life, who were warmly and generously welcomed by the authorities here. Nobody can deny the great support and the services provided to all the hajis including approximately 13,000 Thai pilgrims this year. They were mostly from the southern part of Thailand where some 10 million Muslims live,” he said. After the speech, national anthems of both the countries were played followed by Consuls General of different countries taking part in cutting the National Day cake with Sakolvari. __
