Deputy Prime Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn said the event, “Ruam Palang Haeng Kwarm Pakdee”, which the government will stage at various venues around the country, will allow people to pledge their loyalty to the Royal Family in front of the King’s portrait and sing the Royal Anthem together.
Authorities said the “Rurm Palang Haeng Kwarm Pakdee” event at Sanam Luang would not affect people queuing to enter the nearby Grand Palace to pay their respects to the late King.
“I would like to invite all the people to join tomorrow’s [today] event to pay respects to our beloved HM King Bhumibol and remember his good deeds to the people and our country,” Tanasak said.
“On this occasion I would like to thank all Thai people who are united together in this time of grief. This is the power that will drive our country to a stable future, which the international community admires us for and we have to preserve it dearly.”
He said the main event venue was at Government House, where Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will lead the Cabinet and civil servants in pledging their loyalty before the King’s portrait and then sing the Royal Anthem.
National Council for Peace and Order deputy spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Ngathong revealed the event would be held from 8am nationwide. And it was also being staged to celebrate the late monarch’s 89th birthday in advance.
He said the event would promote the King’s work to all Thai people to let everyone carry on His Majesty’s mission and fulfil his achievements in relation to all royal-initiated projects.
Maj-General Pongsawat Panchit, deputy commander of the First Region Army and deputy head of the Joint Administration for Maintaining Security and Order in the Grand Palace Vicinity (JSO), said there would only be a live broadcast of the event at Government House and no special event at Sanam Luang in order to avoid any impact on mourners queuing to pay their respects before the Royal Urn inside the Grand Palace.
For the management of people entering the Throne Hall, Pongsawat said there will nine more tents set up and 12,000 chairs provided for them. Each tent can accommodate 1,600 people, he said.
“By next week, we are planning to have 30,000 more chairs to support more visitors on the weekends. JSO affirms that we will try our best to facilitate the people, but we still face area adjustment problems after the rain, so we currently still cannot set up more tents, portable toilets and food tents,” Pongsawat said.
He noted that the most common problem was that most people started queuing very early in the morning, so there was congestion and they had to wait up to 10 hours to enter the Palace. So, he suggested that people go to the venue in the afternoon or after the 100-day merit-making ceremony.
In a bid to solve the problem of people cutting in line, he said the JSO had made queue cards to use when people line up and have to go to the toilet. He said it ensured that only people with the cards were allowed to cut into a queue after going to the toilet.
Tanasak, meanwhile, revealed that all drafts and details about the Royal Funeral Pyre had been completed and building would start in January and be finished by September.
He said people with special relevant skills could participate in the construction of the Royal Funeral Pyre and estimated that around 8,000 experts would join the upcoming cremation ceremony.