[rusculture]

ROYALTY / PRINCESS SIRINDHORN'S YEAR OF THE RAT DRAWINGS

Pink's in so Phufa pumps up shirt production
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN


The Phufa shop will increase production of pink shirts featuring the latest collection of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's drawings in response to skyrocketing demand for pink shirts.

The Phufa shop, which is under the Princess's patronage, will today launch a new collection of shirts decorated with the Princess's drawings of a rat and her handwriting that reads Pee Nu Yai Thai Ruam Palang (Mighty Rat, Thai Synergy) to mark the Year of the Rat next year.

The shop has produced 70,000 shirts in green, yellow, blue, purple, grey, white and pink.

But after the rush to buy pink shirts on Wednesday, when His Majesty the King left Siriraj Hospital in a pink shirt and blazer, the shop had to increase its pink shirt orders, said Katevalee Napasab of the Phufa shop's operation committee.

''We had not expected such a strong demand for pink shirts,'' Ms Katevalee said, adding that the shop had 16,000 pink shirts in stock.

It is expected the new pink shirts will sell out quickly after the launch today.

About 10,000 embroidered pink shirts with Princess Sirindhorn's hand-written ''80 years, Long Live the King'' motif were launched in September and quickly sold out.

Phufa shop officials were not the only ones surprised by the pink shirt boom.

''On the day His Majesty the King left the hospital in pink, I knew right away that pink shirts would become a hot item. Unfortunately, I have no pink shirts left in stock,'' said Amorn Techasri-amornrat, a clothes shop owner at Pratu Nam's wholesale market.

Ms Amorn said she would have to wait until next week before a new batch of pink shirts arrive.

''As far as I know, many factories have run out of pink fabric to produce the shirts,'' she said.

A garment shop owner at the Victory Monument said she has sold about 80 pink shirts in the past two days, compared to hardly any previously.

However, she said the demand for yellow shirts would not decrease because government agencies and private firms had encouraged their staff to wear yellow shirts on working days.

However, according to some office workers, their bosses have already asked their staff to wear pink shirts.

Sireethorn Pattrakulchai, who works for a media company, said her bosses told staff to wear pink every Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Royal Household Bureau yesterday released a statement on the condition of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, the King's elder sister, saying her condition remained stable.

Royal physicians will continue providing the Princess with physiotherapy and medication.

Bangkok Post