Police ordain as monks to pray for Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha

Police officers and local men ordained as monks at Bang Phlee Yai Klang Temple in Samut Prakan province near Bangkok yesterday to make merit and pray for the recovery of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati.

In total, 49 police officers and local men took part in the ordination ceremony. The group will observe 227 rules for monks outlined in the Vinaya for 15 days before exiting the monkhood and returning to their normal lives on February 3.

The monks will dedicate the merit generated from their Buddhist practice to the recovery of the princess.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha has been hospitalised due to a heart condition since December 15. Princess Bajrakitiyabha reportedly passed out while she was training her pet dog to compete in the Thailand Working Dog Championship by the Royal Thai Army in the Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima.

The latest update from the palace was a statement issued on January 8 stating that the princess remains unconscious. The doctor continues to provide medicine and use equipment to support the function of the princess’s heart, lungs, and kidneys.

Prayers for the princess’s recovery have been observed nationwide. Government departments, private organisations, and religious organisations have all conducted ceremonies to pray for the princess’s health.

Yesterday, police officers swapped their uniforms for saffron robes in a group ordination ceremony at Bang Phlee Yai Klang Temple, including the deputy commissioner of the Chon Buri Provincial Police, Korrawat Hanpradit, and the superintendent of Bang Phlee Police Station Wiroj Tatso.

Aside from the group ordination, the temple also invited lay Buddhists to the ceremony and instructed them to observe eight Buddhist precepts. The ceremony aimed to send blessings and good wishes to the princess and also improve participants’ hearts and minds.

The Bhumisiri Mangkhalanusorn Building at the Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital continues to welcome people who wish to leave tributes and pray for the princess.