Because of His Majesty The King the Patron of the Thai Red Cross Society concerned the
health of the people along the rivers and canals (klongs) especially the time of
flood. You can imagine that 50 years ago there were few roads and streets and
vehicles that the people could have access to the health care facilities like nowaday.
What can they do?

The royal boat “Vechapah” (Vet-Cha-Pa) is a motorboat that
His Majesty the King rendered to The Thai Red Cross Society on 19 January 1955
as a vehicle to provide healthcare and health education for the people living
along the rivers and canals (klongs) of the central plains of Thailand and
provide dental care, good dental hygiene information, prevention of diseases as
well as personal hygiene for everyone.

The royal boat “Vechapah” operated for the
first time on 19 January – 17 February 1955 in Nonthaburi province and the last
time on 22- 24 December 2010 in Suphanburi province. There was a total of
operations 142 times in 19 provinces [Nonthaburi, Suphanburi, Nakhonsawan,
Bangkok, Samutsakhon, Chachoengsao, Ayutthaya, Prachinburi, Chainat, Singburi,
Kanchanaburi, Lopburi, Angthong, Ratchaburi, Pathumthani, Samutsongkhram,
Nakhonpathom Uthaithani] and Samutprakran. Alltogether from the year 1955 to
2010 The Thai Red Cross Society treated
323,585 patients.