The international edition of the Tipitaka, the Buddhist canon, was published by the Dhamma Society Fund under the Supreme Patriarch Patronage in 2005.

This year three copies will be given to the Maha Bodhi Society of India, the Theravada Association of Japan and the University of Lund in Sweden.

The royal presentation ceremony will be held on March 6 at the Vithes Samosorn Hall.

For this occasion, HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, Honorary President for the Presentation of the Tipitaka Worldwide, has graciously entrusted HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha to confer the Tipitaka on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for further presentation to the three countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh said the ministry was proud to have been given the opportunity to host this auspicious ceremony, as 114 years ago King Chulalongkorn Chulachomklao instructed the ministry to present the "Pali Tipitaka" in Siamese script as a gift of the Dhamma to 260 institutions in 30 countries around the world.

Published in 1893 by King Chulalongkorn, it was the world's first printed edition of the Tipitaka.

The presentation ceremony of the Tipitaka in Roman script follows in the royal footsteps of King Chulalongkorn, to share with all mankind an exalted intellectual heritage that dates back more than 2,500 years.

In the year 2005, which commemorated the 112th year anniversary of the publication of the Tipitaka in Siamese script, HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana led a pilgrimage to present the inaugural edition of the Tipitaka in Roman script to the President of Sri Lanka on 6th March 2005.

Since then many institutions worldwide have asked Thailand to give them the international edition of the Tipitaka.