http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_....php?id=115773
(Picture on the main page -->
http://www.bangkokpost.net/ )
(Waiting for T-K's comments.
)
Crown Prince flies for charity
(BangkokPost.com from agency reports)
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn put his commercial pilot training to charitable use today when he captained a Thai Airways International Boeing 737-400 jet from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to raise funds for victims of violence in the deep South.
On board the charity flight, on which seats sold for an estimated 1 million baht ($27,777), was his Royal Consort HRH Princess Srirasmi and his daughter Princess Sirivannasari Nariratana.
An illustrious list of Thai high society occupied the passengers' seats, starting with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin. The heiress of the Thai Rath media fortune Praneetsin Watcharaphol and Lersak Sombatsiri, owner of the posh Park Nai Lert Raffles Hotel, were among the leading hi-so personalities.
The group was to overnight in Chiang Mai and return to Bangkok on Saturday.
"This flight has raised 80 million baht in donations," said Gen Surayud before boarding the plane at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The government plans to use the money to buy new equipment for hospitals in the deep South, where a separatist struggle has claimed more than 1,900 lives in the past three years.
The Crown Prince is an accomplished pilot, starting from his instruction jet and also including the F-5 and later F-16 fighter of the Thai Air Force, and a range of Airbus and Boeing commercial jets.