Bangkok: People across Thailand flocked to temples to pay respects and make merit for the new year, seeking blessings and good fortune. Meanwhile, in Sisaket province, merit-making ceremonies were held to dedicate blessings to brave soldiers.
According to Thai News Agency, the atmosphere at various temples in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province was filled with locals and tourists who had come to make merit and pay respects to Buddha on New Year's Day. Especially at Wat Phanan Cheong Worawihan, a large number of Thai and foreign tourists traveled to worship "Luang Pho To," the sacred Buddha image revered by the people of the city, and participate in ceremonies such as offering robes to the Buddha image, applying gold leaf to the statue, refilling oil lamps, and making offerings to monks for good fortune on New Year's Day. This resulted in traffic congestion along the road from Rojana Road turning left towards Wat Phanan Cheong.
In Takua Pa District, Phang Nga Province, residents continued the traditional "Floating Boat Ceremony to Ward Off Misfortune" on New Year's Day. This tradition, practiced for hundreds of years, aims to ward off evil and bring good fortune to individuals, families, and the village. They invited Phra Ajarn Khajorn Aphinantho, the renowned sermon leader and head of the Bo Hin Rae hermitage in Bang Muang Subdistrict, along with three other monks, to conduct the chanting ceremony. Villagers placed rice, dried food, flowers, incense, candles, as well as nail clippings, hair fragments, and pieces of clothing into the floating boat before parading it to Bang Sak Beach. They then threw rice grains into the boat, a tradition passed down through generations.
In Sisaket Province, at the traffic light intersection in front of the city's main shrine, Governor Anurak Thampramajitt participated in a merit-making ceremony by offering rice and dried food to 109 monks. This was done to bring good fortune on the first day of the Year of the Golden Horse and to dedicate merit to the brave soldiers and villagers who died in the clashes with Cambodia along the Thai-Cambodian border. The ceremony followed the Buddhist traditions of four indigenous ethnic groups: Khmer, Lao, Yer, and Kuy, with the hope that peace and stability would prevail in the country and that such tragedies would not happen again.