Loyal subjects queued all night despite heavy rain in the hope of getting close to the Royal Procession route for the Royal Cremation Ceremony.
The difficulties of having to queue and sleep on the street side without any roof above their head did not deter the people’s will to find a viewing place for the Royal Cremation Ceremony. They waited patiently at all nine screening points around Sanam Luang which opened to the public at 5am on Wednesday.
Thousands of people were seen queuing at the ninth check point at Pinklao Bridge alone around 4.30 am. The queue was over one kilometre long from under the bridge, down along Phra Arthit Road to Bang Lamphu Intersection. All were in black formal attire, many of them them were elderly women.
Ratchaneenart Sanguansapsiri, a 44-year-old woman from Nonthaburi, said she joined the queue to enter the Royal Cremation Ceremony area at the ninth screening point around 8pm on Tuesday, and she was very glad to be there.
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“It was a long and rainy night, but finally we made it,” she said with a big smile early on Wednesday morning.
“We understand what we are going to get through, as we still have to wait inside the ceremony ground for day, yet we are determine to endure this hardship. All of us want to be a part [of this ceremony] to send our beloved King back to Heaven.”
It was reported that there were kilometres-long queues at the other screening points.
Along Phra Arthit Road, many nightclubs opened their doors for mourners to use the toilets free of charge. Some restaurants on this nightlife street also provided free snacks and coffee for the people at breakfast time.
Before passing through the screening point, people are required to show their identification cards and have their baggage checked by security officers. Officers are on standby to advise people how to get to the closet screening point.
