Princess bestows name on baby

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has graciously bestowed on the newborn boy of a flood victim the name of "Uthok" (Water), a source said yesterday.

Piratrak Butkhot, 35, and her family moved to a shelter at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy on October 28.

On November 3, the Princess visited the shelter and accepted the pregnant evacuee as a patient under her patronage. The boy was delivered on November 9 and received the name "Uthok".

Overwhelmed by the Princess' generosity, Piratrak yesterday vowed to raise her son as a good citizen of Thai society. Uthok is her third child.

As her home in Pathum Thani's Lam Lukka district was still flooded and the shelter wasn't suitable for recovering from childbirth, Piratrak was allowed by the academy's hospital director, Weerat Ketsakhon, to remain at the hospital a while longer.