According to a report from the Interior Ministry, nearly eight million people have signed messages of condolence over the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Additionally, local media noted that an estimated nine million people attended Abhidhamma prayer rituals at temples throughout the country to pay respect to the late monarch from 14th October to 7th November.
The government added that the number of mourners paying respect to His Majesty The King at the Grand Palace was close to 7.3 million. On 7th November, the first Monday mourners were able to pay respects before the Royal Urn, 210,891 people came to the Grand Palace while another 323,563 attended separate prayers for The King.
Some 31,214 mourners participated in alms-giving rituals for His Majesty The King on Monday, which brought the number of mourners taking part in alms-giving ceremonies to 2,795,272, numbers from the Interior Ministry revealed.
The Thai Ministry of Science and Technology has set up a website to allow Thai people and foreigners to write condolence messages online to His Majesty The King Bhumibol Adulyadej, according to local media. Thai embassies and consulates reported the website had been set up by the ministry so members of the public who may be outside of the country could send in condolence messages.
In other news, a grand merit-making ceremony dedicated to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej will be held in Chon Buri’s Muang district on Friday and Saturday, Thongchai Kanchanasomkid, chairperson of the Trai Sarana Buddhist Foundation told The Nation.
The event will be held at the association’s office with Chinese-Thais along with Chinese expatriates. There will be an Abhidhamma prayer held at 7pm with a Chinese Buddhist prayer schedule to take place after that. Alms will then be offered to 89 monks the following morning. The event’s organizers said they are also planning to hand out 4,000 black T-shirts to those mourning the late monarch.
Image via finearts.go.th/nat
