Latest news with #Suthida
09-05-2025
- General
An elaborate centuries-old royal ritual in Thailand's capital predicts a good year for farmers
BANGKOK -- Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn presided Friday over an elaborate annual ceremony that marks the start of the rice-planting season and honors the nation's farmers. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is held to read auguries that predict the farming conditions for the year ahead. As is usually the case, good times were predicted, even though Thailand's economy is sluggish. The King and Queen Suthida were sheltered from the bright sun by ornate umbrellas at the ceremony's traditional venue, Sanam Luang, or 'Royal Ground,' a large field near the Grand Palace in the capital Bangkok. According to Thai historians, the ritual goes back some 700 years. Then, as now, the cultivation of rice was central to the country's culture and economy, and the ceremony is meant to give encouragement to farmers as the new planting season begins. The ceremony was led by the highest-ranking civil servant in the Agriculture Ministry, serving as the Lord of the Ploughing Ceremony. In a colorful traditional costume, he chose from a selection of cloths, and the one he picked was interpreted to signify satisfactory rainfall and an abundant harvest. In the ceremony's second stage, he anointed the heads of two 'sacred' oxen, who then pulled a plough around a section of the field several times, as he scattered seeds at the front of a small procession with more traditionally garbed participants. The two oxen, called 'Por' and 'Piang' — which together mean 'sufficiency' — then chose from a selection of food offered by Brahmin priests. The foods chosen were water, grass and liquor, which symbolize adequate water supplies, abundance of food supplies and what was interpreted as good international trade, respectively. After the departure of the king and queen, onlookers sprinted onto the field to collect the scattered seeds as souvenirs or to add to their own rice stores at home for a meritorious mix.
Belfast Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
Royal ritual in Thailand's capital predicts good year for farmers
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is held to read auguries that predict the farming conditions for the year ahead. As is usually the case, good times were predicted, even though Thailand's economy is sluggish. The King and Queen Suthida were sheltered from the bright sun by ornate umbrellas at the ceremony's traditional venue, Sanam Luang, or 'Royal Ground', a large field near the Grand Palace in the capital Bangkok. According to Thai historians, the ritual goes back some 700 years. Then, as now, the cultivation of rice was central to the country's culture and economy, and the ceremony is meant to give encouragement to farmers as the new planting season begins. The ceremony was led by the highest-ranking civil servant in the agriculture ministry, serving as the Lord of the Ploughing Ceremony. In a colourful traditional costume, he chose from a selection of cloths, and the one he picked was interpreted to signify satisfactory rainfall and an abundant harvest. In the ceremony's second stage, he anointed the heads of two 'sacred' oxen, who then pulled a plough around a section of the field several times, as he scattered seeds at the front of a small procession with more traditionally garbed participants. The two oxen, called 'Por' and 'Piang' – which together mean 'sufficiency' – then chose from a selection of food offered by Brahmin priests. The foods chosen were water, grass and liquor, which symbolise adequate water supplies, abundance of food supplies and what was interpreted as good international trade, respectively. After the departure of the king and queen, onlookers sprinted onto the field to collect the scattered seeds as souvenirs or to add to their own rice stores at home for a meritorious mix.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
An elaborate centuries-old royal ritual in Thailand's capital predicts a good year for farmers
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn presided Friday over an elaborate annual ceremony that marks the start of the rice-planting season and honors the nation's farmers. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is held to read auguries that predict the farming conditions for the year ahead. As is usually the case, good times were predicted, even though Thailand's economy is sluggish. The King and Queen Suthida were sheltered from the bright sun by ornate umbrellas at the ceremony's traditional venue, Sanam Luang, or 'Royal Ground,' a large field near the Grand Palace in the capital Bangkok. According to Thai historians, the ritual goes back some 700 years. Then, as now, the cultivation of rice was central to the country's culture and economy, and the ceremony is meant to give encouragement to farmers as the new planting season begins. The ceremony was led by the highest-ranking civil servant in the Agriculture Ministry, serving as the Lord of the Ploughing Ceremony. In a colorful traditional costume, he chose from a selection of cloths, and the one he picked was interpreted to signify satisfactory rainfall and an abundant harvest. In the ceremony's second stage, he anointed the heads of two 'sacred' oxen, who then pulled a plough around a section of the field several times, as he scattered seeds at the front of a small procession with more traditionally garbed participants. The two oxen, called 'Por' and 'Piang' — which together mean 'sufficiency' — then chose from a selection of food offered by Brahmin priests. The foods chosen were water, grass and liquor, which symbolize adequate water supplies, abundance of food supplies and what was interpreted as good international trade, respectively. After the departure of the king and queen, onlookers sprinted onto the field to collect the scattered seeds as souvenirs or to add to their own rice stores at home for a meritorious mix.
Winnipeg Free Press
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
An elaborate centuries-old royal ritual in Thailand's capital predicts a good year for farmers
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn presided Friday over an elaborate annual ceremony that marks the start of the rice-planting season and honors the nation's farmers. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is held to read auguries that predict the farming conditions for the year ahead. As is usually the case, good times were predicted, even though Thailand's economy is sluggish. The King and Queen Suthida were sheltered from the bright sun by ornate umbrellas at the ceremony's traditional venue, Sanam Luang, or 'Royal Ground,' a large field near the Grand Palace in the capital Bangkok. According to Thai historians, the ritual goes back some 700 years. Then, as now, the cultivation of rice was central to the country's culture and economy, and the ceremony is meant to give encouragement to farmers as the new planting season begins. The ceremony was led by the highest-ranking civil servant in the Agriculture Ministry, serving as the Lord of the Ploughing Ceremony. In a colorful traditional costume, he chose from a selection of cloths, and the one he picked was interpreted to signify satisfactory rainfall and an abundant harvest. In the ceremony's second stage, he anointed the heads of two 'sacred' oxen, who then pulled a plough around a section of the field several times, as he scattered seeds at the front of a small procession with more traditionally garbed participants. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. The two oxen, called 'Por' and 'Piang' — which together mean 'sufficiency' — then chose from a selection of food offered by Brahmin priests. The foods chosen were water, grass and liquor, which symbolize adequate water supplies, abundance of food supplies and what was interpreted as good international trade, respectively. After the departure of the king and queen, onlookers sprinted onto the field to collect the scattered seeds as souvenirs or to add to their own rice stores at home for a meritorious mix.
San Francisco Chronicle
09-05-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
An elaborate centuries-old royal ritual in Thailand's capital predicts a good year for farmers
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn presided Friday over an elaborate annual ceremony that marks the start of the rice-planting season and honors the nation's farmers. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is held to read auguries that predict the farming conditions for the year ahead. As is usually the case, good times were predicted, even though Thailand's economy is sluggish. The King and Queen Suthida were sheltered from the bright sun by ornate umbrellas at the ceremony's traditional venue, Sanam Luang, or 'Royal Ground,' a large field near the Grand Palace in the capital Bangkok. According to Thai historians, the ritual goes back some 700 years. Then, as now, the cultivation of rice was central to the country's culture and economy, and the ceremony is meant to give encouragement to farmers as the new planting season begins. The ceremony was led by the highest-ranking civil servant in the Agriculture Ministry, serving as the Lord of the Ploughing Ceremony. In a colorful traditional costume, he chose from a selection of cloths, and the one he picked was interpreted to signify satisfactory rainfall and an abundant harvest. In the ceremony's second stage, he anointed the heads of two 'sacred' oxen, who then pulled a plough around a section of the field several times, as he scattered seeds at the front of a small procession with more traditionally garbed participants. The two oxen, called 'Por' and 'Piang' — which together mean 'sufficiency' — then chose from a selection of food offered by Brahmin priests. The foods chosen were water, grass and liquor, which symbolize adequate water supplies, abundance of food supplies and what was interpreted as good international trade, respectively.
