The Royal Ploughing Ceremony marking the first rice sowing for 2026 saw Phraya Raek Na draw a cloth measuring 6 cueb, while this year the sacred oxen consumed beans, water, grass, and liquor.
On 9 May 2025, His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen traveled by royal car to the pavilion at the ceremonial grounds of Sanam Luang to preside over the Royal Ploughing Ceremony for 2026.
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony marking the first rice sowing. It consists of two combined ceremonies: The Royal Ploughing Ceremony. This is the Buddhist ritual, held as the first royal ceremony at the ubosot of Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram in the Grand Palace on Tuesday, 12 May 2026. It is a ritual to bless the seeds and crops, with His Majesty the King making prayers for the abundance of crops throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. And the Ceremony of the First Rice Sowing. (Ploughing and Sowing Day) is the Brahman ritual conducted on 13 May 2026 at the ceremonial grounds of Sanam Luang.
. The Ceremony of the First Rice Sowing is a ritual for auspiciousness and to boost the morale of farmers. It is held annually around the sixth lunar month or May, at a propitious time according to tradition. This timing is appropriate to begin rice cultivation, the main occupation of the Thai people.
This year’s Phraya Raek Na, serving for 2026, is Mr. Winairoj Supsangsu, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Goddess of the Gold Carrier. She is Ms. Chantisa Areesewat, a skilled veterinarian from the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards, and Ms. Apichaya Fusang, a senior audit academic at the Cooperative Auditing Department.
Goddess of the Silver Carrier. She is Ms. Pornjira Jancharoen, a senior agricultural extension officer of the Department of Agricultural Extension, and Ms. Saranya Thongkham, an agricultural extension officer at the same department.
As for the sacred oxen for 2026, they are Phra Kho Por and Phra Kho Piang. Phra Kho Por stands 165 centimeters tall, 226 centimeters in body length, with a chest circumference of 210 centimeters, aged 14 years. Phra Kho Piang is 169 centimeters tall, 239 centimeters in body length, with a chest circumference of 213 centimeters, also aged 14. The reserve oxen are Phra Kho Perm and Phra Kho Phun, both Lamphun White breed.
However, the 2026 divination results showed that Phraya Raek Na cast lots to select the ceremonial cloth for the Royal Ploughing Ceremony.
This year, the cloth measured 6 cueb. This predicts that water levels will be low; lowland rice fields will yield well, but upland fields may suffer some damage and have reduced yields.
The sacred oxen's feeding divination this year
Afterward, Phraya Raek Na paid respects to the King, then proceeded to board the royal car to the demonstration rice field at Suan Chitralada, Dusit Palace, to sow rice seeds. These seeds will be used for the Royal Ploughing Ceremony for 2027. Following this, His Majesty the King left the pavilion and returned to Amphorn Sathan Throne Hall at Dusit Palace by royal car.
Reporters noted that after the ceremony, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the crowds around the ceremonial grounds eagerly collected rice seeds. Some people also tried to gather plants such as marigolds, morning glory, sugarcane, bananas, and sacred threads as good luck charms, as in previous years. However, officials requested the public to refrain from taking ornamental plants, sugarcane, and bananas from the grounds this year.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters while collecting the first rice seeds that it was his first time doing so after the royal ceremony. He said the seeds he collected would be planted in his private fields.