Pomp and Ceremony - A Princess on Phuket!

She is one of Thailand's hardest working Princesses! HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is the King's third daughter, never married she works tirelessly, especially now as the King and Queen are older and travel less.
This week she flew down from Bangkok and officially opened SOS Children's Village, a new orphanage which is in our neighbourhood. Watching the tidy up and decorating that went on ahead of her visit lead us to watch her arrival. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures of the princess unless accredited, but here are some of the morning's happenings.

A display at the temple entrance with a picture of the Princess, bunting lined the bridge entrance.

The temple across the road from SOS Children's Village all decorated.

The band awaits the arrival of the Princess.

Will she remember the day the Princess visited?

The red carpet goes down and the royal parasol to shield the princess from the heat of the sun is readied.

Flower offerings for the Princess from the children at the orphanage, having just been blessed at the temple.

Phuket has a strong naval presence and the whites of dress uniform look very smart.

Through the gates.

Must check to see if this is the Princess's own Royal standard gently waving in the breeze.
No, it doesn't appear to be her standard from my brief research, does anyone know what this flag is?

Invited dignitaries wait.

The very well connected seated under the same tent as the Princess.

All and all it seemed to go smoothly and I did catch a fleeting look at this very hard working royal Princess.

A little about SOS Children's Villages from their site. This new village was built as a result of the tsunami when a number of children in the surrounding provinces lost their families.

Whilst on a state visit to Austria in 1968, Queen Sirikit of Thailand visited SOS Children's Village Wienerwald in Hinterbrühl near Vienna and was immediately deeply impressed by Hermann Gmeiner's idea of giving orphaned and abandoned children the security of a family. After her return to Thailand, the SOS Children's Village Association of Thailand was founded in 1971 and became a member of SOS-Kinderdorf International. Construction work started on SOS Children's Village Bangpoo, near the capital Bangkok in 1972, and in 1974 the first SOS families were able to move in. The plot of land for this SOS Children's Village had been provided by the first president of the Thai SOS Children's Village Association, Mrs. Thanpuying Somsri Charoenrajapark. There is an SOS Kindergarten attached, which is also open to children from the neighbourhood.

Since then, more SOS Children's Villages have been built in Hatyai and Phuket, in the south and Nongkhai, in the north of the country. The first SOS Youth Facility went into operation in 1981. Here, the youths who have outgrown the SOS Children's Villages are helped towards being able to live on their own and assisted in finding jobs.

At present there are five SOS Children's Villages in Thailand, three SOS YouthFacilities and five SOS Kindergartens.

SOS Children's Village Phuket has been constructed on a piece of land near the main road towards Phuket City. It is about 6 km from the town centre and 5 km from the beach. Half the plot of land was donated to SOS Children's Villages by the Bankers' Association of Thailand for free. It is located in a middle-class neighbourhood with mostly one-family homes. Next to the property, there is a Buddhist temple. A famous private school is very close, and the nearest public school is at walking distance (about 1.5km away).

The SOS Children's Village consists of twelve family houses where up to 120 children can find a new home, the village director's house, a house for the so-called SOS aunts (women training to become SOS mothers and family helpers who support the SOS mothers and fill in for them when they are sick or when they go on holiday), a service building and a community house with a medical room, a store and an administration area.

There is also an SOS Kindergarten with three classrooms for up to 75 children. The kindergarten includes a multi-purpose hall that can be used for functions of both the kindergarten and the SOS Children's Village. The SOS Kindergarten is open to children from the SOS Children's Village and from the neighbourhood.