Cabinet members receive gifts symbolising state of ease

THE NATION

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday gave members of the Cabinet banana saplings as symbolic New Year’s presents prior to their scheduled meeting.

In Thai culture, bananas have implications of being at ease. The prime minister said he hoped members of the Cabinet would plant the saplings and that their work in the year ahead would proceed easily.

The saplings were supplied by Pol Lt-General Rewat Klinkesorn, former chief of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, who owns a banana field in Kanchanaburi.

The premier also gave three reporters on the Government House beat black T-shirts featuring an embroidered national flag and messages reading “Stronger together” on the left sleeve and “Thailand 4.0” on the right sleeve as New Year gifts.