Thailand holds bicycling event to celebrate king's birthday
Xinhua, December 11, 2015 Adjust font size:
Hundreds of thousands of people joined a bicycling event Friday to celebrate Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 88th birthday, which fell on Dec. 5.
In Bangkok, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn kicked off the event "Bike for Dad" at around 3:40 p.m. local time, leading high-ranking government officials, including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, as well as tens of thousands of Thais and foreign nationals in a 29-kilometre ride.
The crown prince started from the Royal Plaza and passed many places in Bangkok, including Erawan Shrine, Chulalongkorn University, Silom Road and Siriraj Hospital, before returning to the Royal Plaza.
Cycling was held in every province, with more than 6,000 participants in Surin Province, over 8,000 in Suphan Buri Province, and over 7,000 in Sukhothai Province.
Twenty-four members of the diplomatic corps in Bangkok also participated in the event.
On Tuesday, Chinese Embassy in Thailand donated 99 bikes to the event as a well-wishing message to the king.
Thai embassies in countries such as Japan, Australia and Egypt also organized cycling activities which were attended by Thais living abroad, according to media reports. Enditem