Mourners advised to pay respects to royal urn of late Thai King on weekdays

BANGKOK, November 3 (TNA) - Authorities have advised people, especially those living in Bangkok and adjacent provinces, to opt to pay their respects to the royal urn of late His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the Grand Palace in the capital on weekdays and during working hours, as there are more waiting crowds during weekends. Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office Suwapan Tanyuwattana, who is also Secretary of the government's Situation Monitoring Command (SMC), gave the advice on Thursday, pointing out that last Sunday, more than 40,000 people were recorded, much higher than over 20,000 people on weekdays. Suwapan told journalists that SMC is also working with the Peace and Order Maintaining Command (POMC) to rearrange the area in and around Sanam Luang ceremonial ground to serve more people and the task was set to be finished by November 6. According to the minister, Sanam Luang remains opened for the public during 4am-9pm daily, the timeframe of which was set as part of security measures provided for the public. Regarding a proposed online registration system for mourners to enter the Dusit Maha Prasat Thorn Hall to pay respects to the royal urn of late His Majesty the King, the minister noted that relevant agencies have been assigned to see whether the system is more practical to regulate the mourning crowds at the Grand Palace. The minister suggested that stability and safety must be taken into consideration for the online queueing system, and that the online system, if introduced, must not cause any problem to people coming to queue outside the Grand Palace without registering through the online system. (TNA)