National—
At 08:27 AM, on May 10th, 2024, His Royal Majesty the King and Her Royal Majesty the Queen participated in the Royal Ploughing Ceremony 2024 at Sanam Luang, Bangkok.
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony or Phuetcha Mongkhon in Thai is an ancient ceremony aimed at boosting morale and providing encouragement to farmers, highlighting their importance to the Thai economy. It is officially translated as the Harvest Festival.
The Harvest Festival has been practiced since ancient times, dating back to the Sukhothai era. During that time, the king did not personally plow the field but only presided over the ceremony.
In the Ayutthaya era, the king did not preside over the ceremony like in the Sukhothai era but performed meditation in silence for three days, appointing Chao Phraya Chanthakuman as his representative to perform the abdication, a practice that continued until the end of the Ayutthaya era.
During the Rattanakosin era, the Harvest Festival has been practiced since the reign of King Rama I. However, the person performing the ceremony was changed to Chao Phraya Ploetphai.
In the reign of King Rama IV, it was graciously pleased to have additional ceremonies including monks at all ceremonies until the present dates.
As for today’s ceremony, the cows ate grass, and drank water and liquor, as a result, the prediction is the harvest will be relatively bountiful this year.
