His Majesty the King yesterday presided over one of the largest gatherings of monarchs, addressing them with simple words that resounded in the splendour of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. Speaking at the formal welcome for royal guests from 25 countries around the world, the King emphasised that he had engaged in development work throughout his reign out of a sense of duty ''as a Thai person''.
''I would like to say to all of you that the fostering of a country is not the duty of any one person in particular. But it is the responsibility of all Thai people to do their duty to the best of their ability in order to preserve and develop the country so that it enjoys progress, security and happiness,'' he said.
''As a Thai person I therefore have the same duty as all other Thais,'' he added.
The King was responding to caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who had extolled his development work over the past 60 years.
The King and HM the Queen personally greeted the guests in the company of most of the members of the Royal Family.
The formal welcome preceded the procession of royal barges that was especially organised for the royal guests. The last such treat was for the heads of state who gathered for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in 2003.
The King did not travel by royal barge this time. The last time he did so was in 1999 during the celebration of his 72nd birthday, when he went by river to preside over the presentation of kathin robes to monks at Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn.
At the marble hall of the Italianate throne hall building, the King said: ''I thank the royal heads of state and members of various royal families for making the effort to take part in this celebration.''
The King and the Queen greeted each dignitary personally, starting with Prince Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Taimour Al Said of Oman and ending with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, who is the most senior royal guest according to the hierarchy of who has reigned the longest.
Attending the celebration are monarchs from 13 countries _ Brunei, Cambodia, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Qatar, Swaziland and Sweden.
Others are represented by royal family members or consorts. They come from Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Britain, Denmark, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Spain, Tonga and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Thaksin described the King as ''the soul of the nation'', ''a working king'' and ''the great development king of Thailand''.
''While all hearts in the kingdom rejoice on this unprecedented and most auspicious occasion, the affection and devotion of all Your Majesty's subjects from all walks of life, as demonstrated through various celebration activities, are testimony of the unity of Thais in paying homage to Your Majesty as our Beloved King and the soul of our nation,'' he said.
The King greeted the royal guests again on their arrival at the Royal Thai Navy Institute for the royal barge procession before leading them to the exhibition of his development work at the Royal Thai Navy Convention Hall.
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