Thai craftsmen rehearse for late Princess cremation

BANGKOK, April 7 (TNA) - Craftsmen from Thailand's upper southern Petchaburi province, wellknown for its banana stalk crafts used at funeral rites, Saturday made their final banana stalk carving rehearsal, known locally as tang yuak, as part of overall preparations for the upcoming royal cremation ceremony for late Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana on April 9. Wiriya Susutthi, a tang yuak craftsman, told reporters that he and other tang yuak craftsmen from Petchaburi made the final rehearsal for five hours, from 8am to 1pm, going through the whole process they will take in the real carving, and that his team will start making carved banana pieces to be used in the real royal cremation for the late Princess, the only child of His Majesty King Rama VI, after midnight today. As carved banana pieces are most beautiful and perfect in the cool condition, Wiriya acknowledged that his team's main concern is a changing weather as it may turn carved banana pieces black and make them wilt; so, the craftsmen will then have to keep spraying water on the carved pieces to keep them fresh. According to the craftman, 50 young banana trunks from Petchaburi are used to make the tang yuak pieces; while the Fine Arts Department has chosen designs for the carved banana pieces based on studies from traditional royal crematoriums from the National Archive of Thailand. (TNA)