Royal Cremation Ceremony a ‘great success’

Every sector praised the organising of the ceremony at Sanam Luang, which lasted from Wednesday until yesterday. All participants in this historic event expressed satisfaction with the event, which everyone applauded as the most momentous event in modern Thai history.
The joint command centre for the Royal Cremation Ceremony revealed that more than 400,000 people had attended the ceremony, even though only around 100,000 were able to enter the ceremonial ground.
Pol Maj-General Montree Yimyam, the deputy metropolitan police chief, stated that the outcome of the royal event at Sanam Luang was impressive, as everyone was happy, even though it was a sad event. “It was a huge accomplishment for all of us, including all the attending citizens, because we were all playing a part to make this event a success and honour the great legacy of HM the late King,” Montree said.
“I would like to thank all officers, who were behind the smooth progress of the ceremony, volunteers who helped both officers and people in every aspect, and all the people who complied with our demands and endured the difficulties, so that together we could send our beloved late King back to heaven.”
He stated that the event was amazingly smooth despite the hundreds of thousands of people taking part.
“All relevant agencies were trying their best to make the ceremony as perfect as possible, and we have achieved these goals. We can all be proud of our engagement in the last mission for our beloved King Bhumibol,” he said.
One of the volunteers in the ceremony, Paveena Bunklin, who distributed food and drinks said she was very proud to work for the late King one last time and play a part in the great success of the royal ceremony.
“It was the highest honour for me to work as a volunteer in the Royal Cremation Ceremony and help the devoted people from across the country to complete their mission to pay their last respects to the late King,” Paveena said.
A royal ceremony attendee from Phitsanulok province, Boonlue Ngunthong, revealed that the hardship of having to literally live on the street for several days was ameliorated by the hard work of all officers and volunteers, as they provided free food and water, including medical assistance. However, Boonlue said the only area where people were a little inconvenienced was the lack of adequate toilet facilities, which forced many people to wear adult diapers during the length of the event.
“The toilet facilities were insufficient for the large number of people turning up for the event. Many people had to wait in the queue for more than four hours to use the toilet and many of the toilets were filled and unusable,” he said. “Except this shortcoming, we are very satisfied with the event and I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped us at every step of the way.”