The “Thai Festival 2015” will be held on May 16-17 in Tokyo to honour His Majesty the King on the occasion of his 88th birthday anniversary.

This year the festival comes in the theme of "Have a RICE Day”. The word “rice” coincides with the meaning of a Kanji alphabet contained in the Japanese word “Beiju” which is used for calling the 88th birthday anniversary. Therefore, it is an auspicious occasion for the Thai government to celebrate the King’s birthday with activities to publicise royal contributions to the development of agriculture and Thai rice.

The Thai Festival 2015, which is the 16th of its kind, features various exhibitions focusing on the importance of rice farming, its relevance to the Thai way of life and local wisdoms, Thai rice market in Japan and worldwide.

There will be cooking demonstrations of Thai desserts made from rice as well as handicrafts from the Foundation of the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Techniques of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand.

Thai Festivals have been held in Japan consecutively with a high success. During the last three-four years, around 300 - 400 thousand people visited the event each year.-VNA