OFFICIALS YESTERDAY asked for public suggestion on queue management at the Grand Palace after they found people waiting up to 10 hours on Sunday to say goodbye to the late King, despite continuing efforts to reduce waiting times.
“If anyone has ideas or best practices on how to better manage queues by deploying an offline and online queue registration system, please do not hesitate to tell us. We will give you credit if your suggestion is implemented,” said Maj-General Pongsawat Panchit, deputy commander of the First Region Army and deputy head of the Joint Administration of Security and Order Maintaining for the Grand Palace Vicinity (JSO).
Pongsawat’s comments at a press briefing followed mounting public concern over poor queue management, leading to day-long waits for people of all ages to get inside the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall to pay tribute to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who peacefully passed away on October 13.
As more than 20,000 people are entering the Grand Palace each day, with longer queues on weekends and holidays, the JSO has coordinated with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to develop an online system for mourners to reserve places to get inside the complex. The system is slated to be implemented this month and start running on a trial basis on December 1.
However, the system has raised concerns that people would not be able to access it because it was online.
“Taking this concern into consideration, we are still thinking about how to fairly apply the online system. Imagine, many people come without online registration in the early morning, wait for long hours, and those who register online just come and can cut into the lines and get inside right the way. This is going to hurt the waiting people’s feelings. We have to find ways that can manage people’s feelings,” Pongsawat said.
Pongsawat said the day-long queues were mainly the result of many people arriving at Sanam Luang, the park opposite the Grand Palace, at the same time.

Health issues
“On Sunday, 20,000 people arrived at the field at the same time, around 7am. With a limited capacity to allow 2,000 people per hour to enter the Grand Palace, the last person who had waited since the morning would be able to get inside after 10 hours had passed,” he said.
People were advised to visit the Grand Palace in a staggered manner each day. People who live in Bangkok, including those living near the Grand Palace, should come in the afternoon rather than in the morning rush hours.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has set up dozens of tents to form seven indoor queues on the field to mitigate exposure to the sun.
Nevertheless, people are still cutting into lines and dozens of others pass out each day while waiting because of the heat or pre-existing health issues.
Pongsawat urged people to have sympathy for others and help each other while in queues.
He said the Royal Household Bureau was also concerned over people with poor health queuing.
Pongsawat recommended that sick people stay at home so their condition did not worsen.
Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy chief Maj-General Ittipol Piriyapinyo urged visitors to bring their identity cards or passports as they were required at security checkpoints around Sanam Luang.
Regarding increasing requests from organisations asking to arrange activities in memory of the King, Pongsawat said a committee chaired by a representative of the Ministry of Culture would consider activities and approve those that are appropriate to be held at Sanam Luang.

Supanat Sirantawineti, chief of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, said on Monday that the 21 women were in custody as Malaysian authorities needed them as witnesses as they attempt to arrest the people who facilitated the women selling the products.
It could be a case of human trafficking, Supanat said.
Thai embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur will visit the women on Tuesday in a bid to boost their morale, he said, adding that the women’s relatives should feel less worried now that Thai officials were involved in the matter.
He warned people to be weary of anyone inviting them to work in Malaysia and to check if the proposed work was legal.

The ritual will take place between 2.09pm and 2.39pm. It will begin as soon as His Majesty’s Deputy Principal Private Secretary Wud Sumitra pours holy water and anoints the No 15 agarwood tree at the park to the sound of holy music from gongs and other instruments.

Chatchai Pinngern, chief of the Brahmin rituals office, will also take part in the ceremony, reading out loud the worship script and chopping the tree with a golden axe.
The royal astrologer will be present to sound the gong and three other chosen agarwood trees will be cut at the same time. The sacred ritual will be recorded by the National Archive of Thailand. HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed in his 89th year on October 13. Preparations are now ongoing for his royal cremation, for which agarwood is considered important. The four were among 19 agarwood trees found dead inside the park. Their heights range from 11 to 15 metres with widths from 142 to 203 centimetres, in accordance with criteria for the royal cremation.

The trees, which are labelled 10, 11, 14 and 15, were selected by Chamlong Yingnuek, director of the Royal Household Bureau’s Royal Rituals Division, and Chatchai Pinngern, chief of the Brahmin rituals office, as well as other officials from relevant departments.

People have long known their beloved King worked very hard for their well-being.
But during the past month, as media outlets paid tributes to the King, the public has been exposed to a much clearer picture of the extent of the King’s devotion to his people.
Far from fading from the memory of the people, His Majesty’s image has become even more vivid and cherished.
Nawamon Riensombut, 45, said it was clear the late King had observed all “the 10 virtues of a King”.
“To name a few, they are self-control, gentleness and sacrifice,” she said.
Nawamon and her husband have volunteered at Sanam Luang since October 14 – the day His Majesty’s body was moved to the adjacent Grand Palace.
“We collected garbage from mourners initially. But after the registration of volunteers started, we became PR staff to provide information, answer inquiries and hand out food to others,” she said.
Nawamon runs an export company so during weekdays she has volunteered from 3pm to 8pm, while on weekdays she begins at 8am.
“Out of his devotion, His Majesty planted the seeds of virtues. His people want to follow in his footsteps, to do good things for the country,” she said, as she carried out her volunteer duties.
In another corner of Sanam Luang, mourner Mong Sae-Tang has been praying and meditating in dedication to the late King.
“I have been here every single day since October 14,” he said.
Mong said his mindfulness had grown over time and he had become more determined to follow the inspiring King’s guidance.
His Majesty’s royal speeches, advice and teachings have received extensive coverage on TV, radio and social media, with advertising spaces on buses, the Skytrain and subway, and shopping malls now dedicated to the King.
People across the country continue to wear black and white while people who don other coloured attire often also wear black ribbons to symbolise the mourning period for the King.
As The Nation surveyed Skytrain passengers yesterday morning, most people were seen to not play games or read entertainment gossip on their mobile phones, instead reading articles about the late King.
Since His Majesty’s passing, crowds of mourners have gathered every day around the Grand Palace or Sanam Luang.
Mourners form long lines, hoping for a chance to prostrate themselves before the King inside the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall in the Grand Palace.
Due to the great number of mourners, the Royal Household Bureau has started allowing the first group to enter the Throne Hall at 4.50am.
Various kinds of activities have been held in remembrance of the late King, and more than 8.1 million people have already signed farewell messages.
Thawatchai Akturaprachun, a high-profile cyclist and head of a bicycle club in Nakhon Pathom province, yesterday led 400 cyclists in biking 200 kilometres to Sanam Luang in a tribute to the King.
“Today marks one month after King’s passing, so we wanted to cycle here in memory of the King. Everyone in our club has been grateful and feels connected to him. Our reverence to him never fades even for a nanosecond. It has rather become stronger over the last month,” the 68-year-old said.
Thawatchai said he would arrange another mass cycling trip soon to emphasise his will to exercise in order to keep healthy physically and mentally as the King had done through his interest in sports.
Thawatchai added that he had also been withdrawing himself from an extravagant lifestyle after learning of the King’s demise.
“His Majesty has taught us about the sufficiency economy philosophy. So I am embracing it,” he said. “I used to have meals outside with my friends and family regularly. But now, I go for homemade meals.”

DEVELOPMENT projects in the lower reaches of the Mekong River will take a great toll on the area’s biodiversity, experts have warned, with much of its fauna and flora facing imminent extinction.
In the face of major projects, such as the plan for a navigation route on the Mekong from Chiang Rai province down to Luang Prabang in Laos, as well as a controversial dam, concerned academics and experts attended the Greater Mekong Forum in Bangkok on Friday.
The group discussed the potential impact of development projects as part of the Lancang-Mekong Environmental Study, which led by International Centre for Environmental Management (ICEM).
The navigation route from Chiang Saen to Luang Prabang was proposed as part of the Lancang-Mekong Development Plan and Pak Beng Dam recently forwarded to the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Experts warned that these developments would permanently change the river, endanger its ecosystems and harm the livelihoods of people living along the river.
Robert Mather, an independent consultant on biodiversity and former chief of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Southeast Asia Group, said that development projects along the Mekong may already have had an impact on endemic and endangered animal and plant species.
“My firsthand account of the threat to endemic species of the Mekong River happened in my own backyard at Chiang Khan District in Loei.” Mather said. “The local river embankment project destroyed the only known habitat of newly discovered plant Cryptocoryne loeiensis, which is only found on the banks of the Mekong,” Mather said.
“This is only the impact from the small embankment project. We have still not fully studied and understood the biology and biodiversity of the Mekong River, but it is about to be damaged by these development projects.”
He said there were at least 200 species of fish along the 300-kilometre stretch of the study area and many of these were crucially important for the local people and preserving the region’s biodiversity.
MRC senior aquatic ecology expert Chavalit Vidthayanon told the forum that there were currently three near-extinct fish species in that area of the river – the Mekong giant catfish, Chaopraya giant catfish and golden brook carp. Rare Mekong stingrays and giant freshwater stingrays were also found in the area, he said.
“These development projects never calculate the value of ecological benefits but only consider the economic profit,” Chavalit said.
ICEM director Jeremy Carew-Reid said the plans to make the Mekong navigable by large cargo ships included the removal of 146 rapids, rocky outcrops and shoals. The Pak Beng and Luang Prabang dams would create large reservoirs extending at least 70km upriver.
“This navigation development plan together with the proposed Pak Beng Dam will affect the river and the people who rely on it so much,” he said.
The navigation route development plan was initiated as the Chinese-led Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism with the aim of increasing trade and passenger transport via the river from China’s Yunnan province to Luang Prabang.
The Lao government notified the MRC about its intention to construct the Pak Beng Dam last week, pending a consultation process. However, there were reports that construction of the dam had already begun.
Simon Tilleard, ICEM water resources engineer, said during his presentation that the proposed development projects would severely harm the river’s ecosystem, with the “explosion” of rapids altering the riverbank and sediment being trapped and accumulating inside the reservoirs.
Eric Baran of the World Fish Centre said this build-up of sediment would seriously alter the habitat of large fish species as well as small aquatic animals and amphibians.

The initiative seeks to help farmers bypass traders who often demand high margins.
“We have asked entrepreneurs that provide food to their workers as part of their welfare to consider buying rice directly from farmers,” Labour Protection and Welfare Department director-general Sumet Mahosot said yesterday.
He said purchase orders for rice via the Labour Ministry had already exceeded 220 tonnes as a result.
Today, farmers from Phayao and Si Sa Ket provinces will hand over the first batch of 45.4 tonnes of rice for distribution to various enterprises in Rayong, Chon Buri, Ayutthaya and Samut Prakan provinces. Sumet added that upon a request from his department, many entrepreneurs had agreed to allow the sale of rice to workers at their facilities.
“We can already set up 15 such points of sale,” he said.
The programme have been made under Labour Minister General Sirichai Dithakul’s “From Farmers to Workers” project, Sumet said.
He also urged employers to contact his department or its branches if they are interested in buying rice directly from farmers.
Thailand is a major rice producer, with a capacity to produce 30 million tonnes of rice each year.
Of the amount, 7 million tonnes are for domestic household consumers and 10 million tonnes is for domestic industries. The rest must be exported to avoid depressing domestic market prices.
This year, rice prices are falling so low in Thailand that several organisations have come forward to help farmers.
In Nakhon Ratchasima province, agricultural officers has organised a rice market at the square surrounding Thao Suranari Statue every weekend so farmers can sell their produce directly to end consumers. More than 15 tonnes of rice have already been sold via the market, which was established last month.
In Uttaradit province, schools and government agencies have also bought rice directly from farmers.
Uttaradit Daruni School is one of the buyers, buying the staple grain to prepare lunches for more than 3,500 students.
In Angthong province, 10 soldiers helped Somporn Klinchan, a 45-year-old farmer, harvest her flood-threatened rice crop.
Another farmer has also helped her by buying rice from her, after she was unable to sell it to rice mills.
“I can use this rice for my fish in ponds,” the second farmer, Somchai Yimlamai, said. “With His Majesty as my guiding light, I also intend to help others where I can. That’s why I’ve bought rice from her.”

Pham Tuan Phan, who assumed the post of MRC chief executive this year, stressed that point while delivering his presentation about the organisation. The Greater Mekong Forum was born out of the 1995 Mekong Agreement.
In line with that, leading river experts and policy-makers attended the forum last week to find out the best approach to ensure the river’s sustainable development.
The governance of the river was once again debated at the forum. At one session on the MRC’s roles and the recommendations for its improvement attended by top experts and policy makers, Pham detailed what the MRC has been doing over the past 20 years in an attempt to convince people that there has been progress in the organisation’s efforts.
Besides the umbrella 1995 agreement, the MRC now has basin development strategies, which cover key activities from this year to 2020, and five principal procedures to guide the best practices in water use of the Mekong, including a highly controversial prior consultation process for notable development projects, including hydropower.
“The MRC is imperfect, but it’s indispensable,” concluded Phan at the session.
Phan told The Nation that the MRC is the best regional arrangement in dealing with the increasing challenges in the basin, and this has something to do a lot with history.
Phan said the basin had a declaration in 1975 under which the riparian countries needed consensus voting to go with their projects, but it did not work. He said that would have been especially the case under the present circumstances where the countries prefer to find mutual opportunities for developments.
With more flexibility, the 1995 agreement has become the best deal and works well among the member countries although it is not as robust as its predecessor, he said.
“It somewhat satisfies the needs of the countries with a spirit that the countries feel that they can honour. That’s why [it is the best deal],” Phan said.
Phan rejected the notion that the MRC is a regulatory body. It is an inter-governmental organisation which provides a platform for cooperation among its members.
He called this “a platform for water diplomacy” which is in place to facilitate members.
As the body’s chief executive officer, Phan realised it still needs improvement. He said the organisation is working on the trans-boundary impact assessment, the monitoring and reviewing of projects and redesigns, and an extended duration for a review under a prior consultation process known as the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA).
Other non-profit organisations promoting sustainable development along the river see shortcomings in the process.
One of those organisations, International River, released its latest statement on the Pak Beng Dam and questioned the MRC and the prior consultation process, which it regards as being flawed and has no reform in sight.
International River cited the experience from previous projects by Laos, Xayaburi and Don Sahong, which it said demonstrated major flaws in the process.
The prior consultation process is the principal platform for discussions and agreements on the river’s development projects, but International River said no agreement was reached by either the MRC’s joint committee or council for these two projects as the MRC itself also acknowledged. The major flaws of the process are the lack of facilitation of necessary information to help understand impacts on neighbouring countries, and the lack of clear requirements for meaningful participation, affecting transparency, it noted.
“Indeed, by the time prior consultation is initiated, experience shows that key decisions have already been made and project agreements concluded,” it said.
As such, International River expressed concern over the Pak Bang dam and urged the relevant parties to suspend the project.
Pham said: “It would be nice [to have a robust consensus vote like the previous declaration], but it may be too much … We need to look from the perspectives of the riparian members too.”