His Majesty the King is scheduled to preside over the official opening of the new parliamentary session at the parliament building on July 3^rd at 5pm.

A Royal Decree, counter-signed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, was promulgated on Friday, announcing the opening of the first parliamentary session since the May 14^th general election.

The opening ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his cabinet ministers, the president of the Supreme Court, presidents of independent organisations, senators and MPs, as well as members of the diplomatic corp.

The following day, starting at 9.30am, the House of Representatives will meet for the first time to elect the House speaker and the two deputies. The meeting will be chaired by Pol Lt-Gen Viroj Paoin, party-list MP of Pheu Thai party, who is the most senior MP at the age of 89.

An official of the secretariat of the House of Representatives said that most MPs prefer the House to meet on July 4^th, one day after the official opening of the session, because many of them live in distant provinces and do not want to travel back and forth.