His recommendation was readily accepted by the government, and early in October it was announced that 20,000 baht would be spent on the metres and temple increase the height of the chedi (stupa) by 30 cover it with sufficient gold leaf to be clearly seen from the Lao side of the riverese plans were widely publicized in the pre helping the government to appear in the positive role of religious benefactor. No sooner had the plans to beautify That Phanom appeared in the press than Wichit, accompanied by a group o students from the Department of Fine Arts, returned to the venerable Northeastern temple to take part large merit-making ceremony. Following the in a completion of the festivities, the students were assigned to travel around the Northeast and perform some of Wichit's nationalist plays in an effort to "plant Thai culture" throughout the region 124 Wichit himself returned to Bangkok, and had special performances of his various historical plays staged for members of the military and civilian bureaucracy. He took advantage of these roccasions to condemn the French, telling audiences that when he saw the Mekong River on his recent travels it had made him think of the tears of their "Thai brothers and sisters on the other side whose suffering would only come to an end with the return of the [lost] territory".