Crowds prove unmanageable

AUTHORITIES ARE considering a plan to allow people to make advance reservations so that they can have the opportunity to pay their respects before the much-revered HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej inside the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall.
The plan was conceived after it became clear that the Throne Hall would not be able to accommodate every mourner who showed up over the past two days.
The Throne Hall first opened its doors to members of the public on Saturday. Amid huge crowds camping out overnight in front of the Grand Palace, officials allowed mourners into the Throne Hall starting at 5am – a few hours ahead of the scheduled opening time. In spite of the lengthened hours, many mourners could not enter the hall because of the long line that stretched four to five kilometres.
Pornpan Samatham, 45, said she had arrived at Sanam Luang at 5.30am on Saturday but could not enter the Throne Hall.
“I did not know where to get queue cards and where to join the queue. Amid the massive crowds, I did not know what to do,” Pornpan said yesterday, as she again joined the long queue in the hope of prostrating before the Royal Urn.
While Pornpan did not regret spending so many hours in the long queue, she hoped authorities would improve the queue management if possible.
First Army Area deputy commander Maj-General Thammanoon Withee, a deputy director for the joint safety operation centre, yesterday announced that his centre had proposed that people should be allowed to make reservations.
“According to our proposal, people with Internet access should make the reservation online. People without such access should make the reservation via the Damrong Dhamma Centre of the Interior Ministry in every province. Kamnans and village heads are also expected to help make such reservations,” Thammanoon said.
He said the proposal would go to the command centre monitoring the situation, which is chaired by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Yesterday, queue cards were not handed out but authorities arranged mourners in a queue. Officials intended to allow some 30,000 people into the Throne Hall yesterday, judging by the capacity seen on Saturday.
Even before 1pm, officials urged arriving people to stop forming queues, as they would not have |been able to enter the hall.
Lek Duangart, 78, said she had travelled alone from Si Sa Ket province to pay homage to her beloved King. Once at Sanam Luang, she was quite confused on how to proceed because it was hard to find people who knew where to queue.
“People kept pointing in different directions. I had to ask many people until I found someone who could help me,” she said.
Prapapan Kamphong came from Chon Buri with her two children to queue in front of the Grand Palace.
“We have been in the queue for six hours already. We do not really know whether and when the quota will run out,” she said.
She shared the fate of many mourners who gathered around Sanam Luang during the past weekend.
Many people from the provinces decided to sleep in front of the Grand Palace on Saturday night, expecting to be able to enter the Throne Hall yesterday.
“I arrived in Bangkok on Saturday but I could not go in. There was too long a queue in front of me,” Narin Sanjornkhok, a 60-year-old man from Chaiyaphum, recounted.
However, yesterday he was among the first mourners to enter the Throne Hall to pay their deep respects to the beloved King. “Once inside the Throne Hall, I had mixed feelings. While I was glad I had the opportunity to pay my respects to him, I felt extremely sad too that he had to work so hard for his people. I felt my body shaking and tears running down,” Narin said of his emotional moment.

No sleeping at Sanam Luang
Speaking in his capacity as the deputy head of the joint safety operation centre, First Army Area deputy commander Maj-General Pongsawat Phanjit urged people not to sleep in Sanam Luang or outside the Grand Palace, citing security reasons.
“The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has provided free accommodation. They should go to the shelters provided instead,” he said.
He said after 9pm, people would be asked to vacate Sanam Luang and nearby areas to allow officials to tidy up the area.
“The area is off-limits to members of the public between 9pm and 4am,” he said.
Narin Lertruangnapa, who travelled from Ayutthaya, said he would keep coming back until he could get into the Throne Hall to prostrate before the late King. “I am willing to wait for hours and I am willing to keep coming back,” Narin said.