Ray McDonald's Friends Honor Late Actor at First Memorial

Close friends Chakrit, An, Kleua, and Pele organized the first night of Ray McDonald's water-sprinkling and merit-making ceremony at Wat Yang Royal Temple, emphasizing their lifelong friendship since childhood. The ceremony brought together family, friends from entertainment and beyond, with the group working together to ensure the event reflected Ray's character and preferences. Ray's son Mika demonstrated great strength and did not want to worry anyone—much like his father, the friends noted.

The tight-knit group, bound by a friendship spanning more than three decades, revealed that although Ray has passed, their conversations and connections will continue. They plan to support his mother Sarunya and son Mika, with each friend emphasizing: "We are already one family."

Kleua Kitti said: "Last night was truly a collective effort. We came together at Ray's house—the main purpose was organizing this event, but another part was to support each other emotionally. That was really important."

When asked how they divided responsibilities, Pele explained: "We're not naturally skilled at this, but we tried to contribute ideas and split the work. There's the hospital side and the side receiving guests here."

An Pattira added: "My responsibility is at the temple—greeting the journalists who started arriving from midday, handling all the food, organizing the flower wreaths and arrangements, and receiving guests at the front."

Pele continued: "There's nothing special we prepared for Ray—as I said, this isn't our area of expertise and we did it as quickly as we could. We met until midnight last night. Many people wanted to participate, so we had to coordinate everything smoothly. We had to be careful not to create friction or conflict and to notice every detail so the event would run smoothly. There's nothing surprising about it—it's just that friends came this way, and Ray did too. I think the friend would be happy about that."

Kleua Kitti noted: "What we did was make it look as much like Ray as possible—something that if Ray could see it, he would like."

Pele explained: "Ray loved the color orange. If you notice the flowers, decorations, and photo frames, they're in Ray's color throughout—since school days. If you notice, his talk show was also orange."

An added: "And his radio show was orange too."

Chakrit said: "The party favors came from everyone close to him working together—whether it's food, rescue workers, or the temple. Friends sat down and thought about it together. As Pele mentioned, we've been together for a long time and gradually reviewed whether we missed anything or forgot anything. Honestly, we didn't know. When we arrived today and it was done, the temple actually didn't have a cold room, but when the monks inside found out it was necessary, they prepared everything. Everything was really urgent, so we have to thank every side."