Leading the ceremony, which included the giving of alms to monks was Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong and his wife Mrs Sudawan, who is also the head of the Phuket chapter of the Red Cross.
Joining the occasion were Phuket’s three Vice Governors, the island’s highest-ranking police commanders, senior officials as well as members of the public and school children.
Later this morning, Governor Norraphat and Mrs Sudawan led an event at Phuket Rajabhat University, north of Phuket Town, where 86 scholarships were presented to students with good academic grades but their families lacking the funds to continue the children’s education.
The event at the university also included the signing of books of commemorations for Queen Sirikit. The books will remain open for the public to sign until late this afternoon. Other books of commemorations are available for the public to sign today at District Offices and at Puhket Provincial Hall.
With today also celebrated throughout the nation as Mother’s Day, a variety of merit-making activities are being held across the island, including a special blood-donation campaign, candle-lighting ceremonies and a host of corporate organised Mother’s Day events.
Today also coincides with an astronomical event, the Perseid meteor shower, as shooting stars become visible in the night sky after midnight tonight as the Earth passes through the long trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle.