IN HONOUR of a man regarded as the father of the nation, hundreds of loyal subjects have chosen not to avail themselves of accommodation provided by the City Hall, deciding instead to sleep on the large field outside the Grand Palace to stay as close as possible to their beloved King.
Despite an expected increase in mourners flocking to Sanam Luang on Friday – the first day that the Royal Household Bureau will allow the public to pay homage to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in front of his body inside the Grand Palace’s Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall – relevant authorities have not yet set a “plan B” to deal with the mass gathering on the historic field.
“I now plan to stay close to my King until this Friday, as I want to prostrate myself before the King’s body,” Pratheung Changpradab, 78, said of her planned seven-day stay at Sanam Luang to pay tribute to the monarch who passed away on October 13 at the age of 89.
The retired farmer from Prachinburi province travelled alone, arriving in Bangkok on Thursday. She did not bring any extra clothes, as she originally had not planned to stay so long, but will now remain until Friday to pay homage in front of the King’s body.
Many people, including Pratheung, were not aware that |the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration [BMA] had provided two places of lodging for visiting mourners.
“I did not know there were shelters for people like me to stay over. But even now that I know about it, I don’t want to go because here I feel more comfortable,” said Pratheung, who has camped in the BMA’s tent on the field for three nights.
Pratheung said that due to her health issues and the bad condition of her leg, it would be too difficult for her to make a regular trip to the provided accommodation as it was quite far from Sanam Luang. The BMA arranged two accommodation facilities with total capacity for 680 people. These are a building at the Thai-Japanese stadium in Bangkok’s Din Daeng and housing in the Maen Sri area.
Pratheung also joined the mass singing event on Saturday and experienced the heavy rains that night. Despite some inconvenience due to mosquitoes and having to take a bath in a public toilet bus, she preferred to sleep on the ground.
“Great devotion”
“It’s not a big deal. My difficulty is too little compared to the King’s difficulty and great devotion over the course of his 70-year reign,” Pratheung said.
She said she chose to stay at Sanam Luang where she can meet many people who share the same sentiments and loyalty as her – and that had cheered her up. In addition, there was good food and services provided, ranging from free tissues to complimentary WiFi. She could stay here over a week without spending much money, she added.
Another mourner was unaware of the free shelter on offer. “I didn’t know about this, but just the same I choose not to stay far away from the resting King,” said Sommai Brekker, 56.
The housewife from Nakhon Ratchasima, who arrived in Bangkok on Friday, said she had cried over the tragic loss of the King all day long when she was alone at home. So she decided to come to Sanam Luang to get closer to the King.
“I have packed my clothes into my backpack. It is inconvenient for me to travel to the accommodation every day as I plan to stay here until Wednesday,” she said. “I believe the King will see me if I stay here.”
Thousands of people have made arduous journeys from their hometowns with little money to pay tribute to the King. Many could not afford hotels or rented apartments.
Despite the capacity of the BMA’s accommodation, the highest number of people registered to use the service was on Saturday, with a total of 103 people. But only 91 actually slept over at the provided shelters, according to a BMA source.
The major concern for people was the distance between the accommodation and the main venue for paying their respects to HM the King.
City shuttle buses take registered people from Sanam Luang to the shelter locations in two rounds – at 8pm and 10pm. However, mourners have to commute to Sanam Luang on their own which is a major concern for the elderly and others unfamiliar with Bangkok’s transportation system.
So far, there has been no contingency plan announced to tackle with a mass influx of people from all over the country to Sanam Luang on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to arrive, with many of them staying overnight at the field.
Earlier, the authorities asked people not to cook, take a bath, or do anything to make a mess on the field. Those staying over seemed to go along with the order, with many volunteers helping to keep the field clean and tidy.
