Deputy Prime Minister Songsak Thongsri presided over the royal cremation ceremony for Thongchai Yenprasert, former president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organization, at Wat Saphan Sung. Government agencies and the public gathered to pay their last respects.
On 19 August at Wat Saphan Sung in Khlong Phra Udom Subdistrict, Pak Kret District, Nonthaburi Province, the royal cremation ceremony was held for Pol. Col. Thongchai Yenprasert (P.M., T.C.), a five-term former president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organization. He was a prominent figure who developed many aspects of Nonthaburi Province and earned the lasting trust of its residents for over 20 years. His death followed a tragic shooting incident on 10 August at the Nonthaburi provincial hall, carried out by Chalerm Rueangrung, a three-term former MP.
Since noon, the atmosphere at Wat Saphan Sung was filled with people from various sectors close to Pol. Col. Thongchai, including those who had worked with him in Nonthaburi. The event was attended by the PAO management team, heads of government agencies, civil servants, police officers, former police officers such as Pol. Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda, former national police chief, and several other senior officers, as well as local village headmen and chiefs from Nonthaburi. Thousands of citizens also began to arrive, filling the temple grounds to pay their final respects.
In the afternoon, officials carried the royal casket in procession around the crematorium before placing it on the funeral pyre platform. This was followed by the Buddhist ritual of offering the funeral robes. At 16:40, the royal urn was placed on the cremation pyre. The cremation ceremony officially began at 17:00, with Deputy Prime Minister Songsak Thongsri presiding as the lay chairman. The Buddhist ceremony was led by Somdet Phra Maharatchamongkholmuni (Chao Khun Thongchai), Supreme Patriarch of the Central Region, a member of the Supreme Sangha Council and assistant abbot of Wat Traimit Wittayaram Worawihan. The event was marked by deep sorrow among family members and attendees alike.
