This past Saturday was the cremation of the King’s sister, Princess Galyano. She actually died this past January (she was fairly old), but they didn’t cremate her until this Saturday because this was determined to be the auspicious day. Odd.
Friday all the teachers had to wear black, and there was a long 45-minute ceremony to commemorate her. There were speeches, kow-towing (bowing all the way down to the ground for several seconds in front of her photo), moments of silence, and music. It was quite a lovely ceremony, and a few Thais were in tears.
Due to this cremation, however, the entire city of Bangkok was expected to be in mourning all weekend. We were advised by school administration to wear black or dark colors on weekends, all bars and restaurants were closed, and you couldn’t buy alcohol anywhere. It’s strange – the entire city seemed to freeze this weekend.
I watched part of the ceremony on TV on Saturday morning and it was very elaborate. Hundreds of soldiers walking in procession, carrying the biggest urn I’ve ever seen (at least 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide), and the Royal family dressed to the nines in military-style wear. The traffic the ceremony created was some of the worst Bangkok has ever seen. Now the Princess is at last resting in her final resting spot, and Monday morning, Bangkok was back to business as usual.
Princess Galyano’s Cremation
