Thai Buddhists commemorate 2,600th anniversary of the Lord Buddha’s enlightenment

BANGKOK, March 17 (TNA) - A large crowd of Thai Buddhists, dressed in white, gathered, again, here Saturday to give alms to 12,600 Buddhist monks to commemorate the 2,600th anniversary of the Lord Buddha’s enlightenment. The event was part of the ongoing One Million Alms-Giving Project, which has been running across Thailand's 77 provinces since 2008. The collected alms, more than 2,400 tons so far comprising mostly rice and other dried food items, have been given to Buddhist monks and the needy in the insurgency-plagued far South, as well as to flood victims. The purposes will be carried on. This morning's ceremony, organized on Phahon Yothin Road from Lat Phrao five-way junction to Sapan Kwai intersection, was presided over by Thai Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat. More alms giving ceremonies will be held in Bangkok, at Central World Plaza and Siam Paragon Shopping Centre on March 18, in Yaowarat or Chinatown area on March 24 and in Lad Ya and Wong Wian Yai areas on March 25. (TNA)