Sumet said the news was unexpected because he barely had time to take care of his two sons. He had sent them to a boarding school when they were young to let the education system that had trained him train his sons too.

Since he's been working for the good of society and the country all along, the award might have recognised his virtue in training people so they could follow in His Majesty's footsteps, he said.

Among the other 350 recipients nationwide are former Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Prasert Boonsong, former Fine Arts Department director-general Taveesak Senanarong and senior Chat Thai Party member Jongchai Thiangtham.

General Wanchai Reungtrakul - who leads the organisers for the 27th National Father's Day event at Suan Amporn in Bangkok on December 5 - said they also planned to present His Majesty with an anthology of introductory poems in his honour from 1980 until the present, with copies to be given to libraries.

General Charan Kullavanijaya, adviser to the event organisers, said many activities were planned in the run-up to National Father's Day, including a singing contest whose final round would be held next week.

Charan also asked people to buy canna flowers, the symbol of National Father's Day, for Bt100 a piece, Bt500 a bunch or Bt1,000 per tray, as the proceeds would be presented to His Majesty to be distributed to charities.