Mourners Continue to Flock to Grand Palace, Offer Condolences into the Night (PHOTOS)

Mourners gather outside the Wiset Chaisri Gate on Tuesday at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — The encampment of mourners outside the Grand Palace continues to grow as more people arrive to offer their condolences to His Majesty the Late King, who passed away last Thursday.

The Sanam Luang was filling with people who came to offer garlands of marigolds, lotuses and orchids, laying them along the palace wall. So many had accumulated that city workers came early Wednesday morning to collect them.

Many queued overnight outside the palace’s Wiset Chaisri Gate to enter the palace when it opened Wednesday morning and prostrated symbolically before a portrait of the King in the Sahathai Samakom Pavilion.

Mourners are allowed inside in groups of 100 at a time and must prostrate to the portrait in unison with hands closed in a wai, with their feet pointed out to the right. After that, mourners get the chance to sign their condolences. Photos are not allowed.

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Access to prostrate before the royal coffin won’t open until Oct. 28.

A family sits Tuesday in Bangkok’s Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace.
A family sits Tuesday in Bangkok’s Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace.

Mourners queue late Tuesday night outside the Wiset Chaisri Gate to prostrate inside the palace which opens at 8:30am and closes at 4pm.

Mourners queue late Tuesday night outside the Wiset Chaisri Gate to prostrate inside the palace which opens at 8:30am and closes at 4pm.
Mourners queue late Tuesday night outside the Wiset Chaisri Gate to prostrate inside the palace which opens at 8:30am and closes at 4pm.
Mourners hold magazines with photos of the King Tuesday evening at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
Mourners hold magazines with photos of the King Tuesday evening at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
A freshly painted mural on a wall near the palace Tuesday in Bangkok.
A freshly painted mural on a wall near the palace Tuesday in Bangkok.
Mourners offer marigold garlands and lotuses and prostrate themselves Tuesday at the palace wall.
Mourners offer marigold garlands and lotuses and prostrate themselves Tuesday at the palace wall.
Mourners Tuesday night purchase posters and photos of His Majesty the Late King near the Grand Palace.
Mourners Tuesday night purchase posters and photos of His Majesty the Late King near the Grand Palace.

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