The adjacent area of Sanam Luang has already been equipped with eight checkpoints and 3,500 policemen have been deployed, said deputy police spokesman Maj-General Songpol Wattanachai yesterday.
Songpol added that police had reunited 95 people who had become lost with their relatives, arrested at least two pickpocket suspects in the area outside the checkpoint perimeter, and taken legal action against 20 undocumented foreigners, he added.
Bangkok deputy governor Amnuay Nimmano said tents had already been set up on the north side of Sanam Luang to host the relocation of volunteer tents and the queue of mourners to clear the south side for the construction of the royal crematorium next year.
Amnuay added that officials had checked safety standards at piers in the area because Thammasat University is hosting graduation ceremonies this weekend. Twenty-seven surrounding roads will be closed, so water transport was expected to accommodate higher volumes as graduates and their relatives join mourners in flocking to the area.
Metropolitan Police Area 1 chief Maj-General Wichanwat Borirakkul said the Thammasat pier normally reserved for chartered boats would also be open to public transport. He added that boats originating from the Si Phraya, Yod Piman and Wat Kalayanamit piers would be travelling to the Thammasat pier.