THAILAND’S newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn yesterday performed the second day of coronation activities, granting new titles to members of the royal family in front of an audience of dignitaries including top government officials and senior Buddhist monks.

On Saturday, Vajiralongkorn took part in an elaborate set of rituals, a mix of Buddhist and Hindu Brahmanic traditions, which established his status as a full-fledged monarch with complete regal powers.

Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated King Vajiralongkorn on being crowned officially Saturday.

On behalf of the Chinese Government and people, and in his own name, Xi expressed in a message sincere congratulations and good wishes to the king and the Thai people.

The king is an old friend of the Chinese people and has been attending to and supporting the cause of friendship between the two countries for a long time, Xi said in the message.

Vajiralongkorn — also known as King Rama X, the 10th king of the Chakri dynasty — had already been serving as king since the October 2016 death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was on the throne for seven decades.

The 66-year-old monarch began yesterday morning’s event in a hall at Bangkok’s Grand Palace by paying respects in front of portraits of his late father and his mother, who has been hospitalized for an extended period. The 86-year-old mother, known as Queen Sirikit, was granted a new official title of Queen Mother.

Vajiralongkorn’s son, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, was one of the family members granted a fresh name for the new reign. He turned 14 April 29 and is the heir presumptive.

While Saturday’s ceremonies were solemn and heavily tinged with age-old rites, including the prominent presence of Brahmin priests, yesterday’s event was slightly more relaxed, though also steeped with traditional royal and Buddhist gestures.

Today will see the king greet the public from the balcony of the Grand Palace in the late afternoon and then hold a reception for the diplomatic corps.

(SD-Xinhua)