Thousands of couples get hitched on the Day of Love
Joined together: Thanat Prikpech and his wife, Wilai, swing back and forth from a rope at their wedding yesterday in Prachin Buri. They were among seven couples who incorporated rock-climbing into wedding celebrations held on Valentine’s Day.
|
|
|
A sweet sentiment swept through the country yesterday as couples walked hand in hand to register their marriages, including an 89-year-old man and his 86-year-old bride.
In Bangkok, 2,553 couples tied the knot at district offices. Bang Rak as usual was the most popular with 665 couples following the belief that the district's name, which means "love", would make for a propitious start to their new lives together. Another district in demand was Bang Sue because of its name of "honesty". However, Valentine's Day was bitter for 36 Bangkok couples who filed for divorce. All the Bang Rak newlyweds had the chance to compete for 10 gold marriage certificates. The office opened its doors at 8am with 140 couples already queued up, including the first pair who had arrived at 3am. Boonmee Boonrangsi, 47, and Yanika Thongphet, 35, who came all the way from Chanthaburi and reached the office at 4am, were the first to win a prize including life insurance worth Bt1 million and a coupon for a free physical examination at Phyathai Hospital. "I came here because I believed that the auspicious meaning of the district's name would make me lucky in love," Yanika said. The district also hosted a mass wedding ceremony in traditional Thai style for 26 couples, including five from abroad. Nakhon Ratchasima province hosted a group wedding joined by 68 couples, including the elderly, who had lived together without registering. The eldest attendees there were Mak Charoensuk, 89, and Aui, 86, who decided to make their 60 years of matrimony legal with the support of their families. Flower markets across the country were crowded and roses rang up the best sales throughout the day. Narathiwat Ratchana-kharin Hospital joined with the Red Cross to visit schools and government service units in Narathiwat to solicit blood donations as a Valentine present for victims of the southern unrest. Eighty couples exchanged their vows in an underwater group wedding ceremony off Trang before about 500 eyewitnesses. The annual event was broadcast live on Channel 11 and the Internet. The diving couples released corallimorps, giant clams, shrimp and giant crabs as their contribution to preserving and increasing the population of marine creatures. Traffic police in Chumpon handed out roses to drivers as part of a safe-driving campaign on lovers' day.
|
