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By APD writer Chen Jiabao
BANGKOK, Oct.6 (APD) -- Mourners paying respects to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej's royal urn has totaled 12,739,531 in the past 337 days, the Bureau of the Royal Household announced on Friday.
The bureau said a total of 110,889 mourners paid their last respects to the late King in the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall of the Grand Palace in Bangkok on Thursday, the final day for public viewing of the Royal Urn.
According to the bureau, donations received as a form of making merit for the late King have reached over 889 million baht(26 million U.S dollars).
The Grand Palace opened to the mourners since Oct 29 last year. With the last visitor allowed to enter the hall at 2:18 a.m. on Friday, the palace then closes in preparation for the royal cremation ceremonies.
Mourners dressed in black from all parts of the Kingdom flooded in the palace to see off their beloved late king. Rainy October sees thousands caught in the shower lining the streets of Bangkok’s historic area near the Chao Phraya River to enter the palace. The queue stretched for almost three kilometers.
The late monarch’s funeral will be held from October 25-29, with the cremation taking place on October 26. The Thai government expects 250,000 mourners to attend the royal cremation.
File photo: Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej waves as he returns to Siriraj Hospital after a ceremony at the Grand Palace in Bangkok December 5, 2010, just before his 83rd birthday.
King Bhumibol passed away on Oct.13 2016, ending seven decades on the throne during which he became a unifying father figure in a country that has weathered several coups, political unrests and a region-wide financial crisis.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
