Imagine stumbling upon a treasured relic that belonged to the beloved king of your country and not realising it until a crowd of reporters appeared at your office clamouring for details and interviews.
That is precisely what happened to Phatchara Tomankhong three years ago on the night of the Loy Krathong Festival, a time-honoured ritual to appease river spirits that cast its spell across the nation again last night.
Ms Phatchara, an employee with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's environment office who recently turned 60, earns her daily break by collecting rubbish in the Chao Phraya River -- a largely thankless task that makes her part of one of Bangkok's unsung army of heroes, and heroines.
She said she has two fixed goals after she retires, both of which relate to the late King Rama IX.
First, she intends to spend some of her savings on hiring a craftsman to encase petals of yellow flowers she has been keeping in a tiny bag in a gold-framed case, to wear as an amulet.
Second, she will get a professional photo taken with a huge krathong that has very special significance. Then she will get it framed so it can be used at her funeral.
The dried yellow petals are decorative materials taken from a special krathong she collected from the Chao Phraya River three years ago that belonged to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as Rama IX.
Hailed as the father of the nation, he passed away on Oct 13, 2016 at the age of 88 after a 70-year reign and was cremated on Oct 26 this year after 12 months of mourning during which civil servants and many other Thais wore black and white as a mark of respect.
A krathong is a decorated basket traditionally made from plants and pieces of banana tree trunk. Thais light a candle on these and float them down rivers and on other waterways during the popular Loy Krathong festival.
Back on Nov 6, 2014, Ms Phatchara was assigned to a trash-collection boat on the night of the festival. As she retrieved krathong from the Chao Phraya River near Siriraj Hospital, where King Rama IX was staying due to illness, she recalls seeing a "beautiful huge" krathong floating towards her.
"It stood out of the crowd of krathong," said Ms Phatchara, who decided to take it home along with a Thai traditional ceremonial flower arrangement known as khreaung thong noi. In the end she was so tired she left them both at her office.
The following evening she got a call from her boss urging her to get back to the office as soon as possible because a crowd of reporters were waiting for her.
It turns out the krathong she had left there formerly belonged to the revered king.
The decorative part was 28cm wide and consisted mainly of white spider lily leaves folded and attached to the main body, so as to resemble six layers of lotus petals in full bloom.
The khreaung thong noi featured marigolds, yellow-coloured bachelor buttons and Singapore daisies. Yellow is associated with Monday in Thailand, the day on which King Rama IX was born.
"At first I only thought the krathong was too beautiful to throw away. It was so stunning that I wanted to keep it at home," said Ms Phatchara.
It was later decided that the body of the krathong would be kept at the office, while Ms Phatchara would be allowed to take the khreaung thong noi home. Her co-workers were given some of the decorative flower arrangements as keepsakes.
Later on she got a call from someone speaking on behalf of the abbot of Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen asking if part of the artifact could kept at the temple in the interest of safeguarding it.
Ms Phatchara agreed and it is now on display at Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen.
She just kept a few of the petals as a treasured memory, she said.
Her boss said their office usually sends out 200 workers in 40 boats to collect floats on Loy Krathong.
That means Ms Phatchara was hard at work last night and again this morning around dawn.
"I keep reminding myself that even though there's no chance I'll see such a wondrous sight again from King Rama IX, it doesn't matter," she said.
"I can still go to Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen to pay respect to that treasure which came to me on the river on that special night."
