The clearing operation will be carried out by the Command Centre for Monitoring Situations, while the royal crematorium will be built by the Fine Arts Department.
Centre members from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) have said that more people will come to pay respects to the late monarch during the New Year period, so it recommended the clearing be done after that, he said.
The quota for people paying respects in front of the Royal Urn through visits arranged by individual provinces would be maintained at 3,000 a day, Anupong said. He urge people travelling from upcountry on their own to contact the centre for advice on queuing to ensure they can pay their respects without having to find a place to stay overnight.
In the South, many people went to buy commemorative coins issued during the reign of the late King at the Yala Treasury Office, which opened for coin transactions for the second day yesterday.
Yanyong Chairatthong, the acting office head, said they had 3,000 three-coin sets and 4,000 single coins in store, but people were only allowed to purchase one set. The day’s stock sold out in one hour, it was reported.
The three-coin set comprises one coin minted to celebrate His Majesty’s 80th birthday, another to mark the 50th anniversary of the Royal Rainmaking Project, and a third coin to celebrate His Majesty’s Humanitarian Soil Scientist award. The single coin was minted to celebrate His Majesty’s development award for the Chang Hua Mun Royal Initiative Project.
Meanwhile, people in various provinces continued activities dedicated to the late monarch yesterday.
In Phitsanulok, 3,200 teachers and students of Phitsanulok Pittayakom School formed lines in the shape of Thailand with the Thai number 9 in the middle, before prostrating themselves in front of the late monarch’s portrait, partaking in a nine-minute meditation and singing the Royal Anthem.
In Sara Buri province, 2,500 teachers and students of Anubal Saraburi School sang the Royal Anthem and lined up in the shape of Thai number 9 and a lotus flower. In Nong Bua Lamphu, 10,000 people including officials and students formed a Thai number 9 shape and the province name at the Somdet Phra Naresuan field on Monday evening.