His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun on Friday presided over a ceremony to collect the relics and ashes of King Bhumibol Adulyadej as Thais are still struggling to deal with lingering grief over the loss of the late monarch following Thursday's royal cremation.
At 8.42am on Friday, His Majesty the King arrived at the royal crematorium at Sanam Luang to gather the remains of the late King.
He paid respect to the royal relics and ashes and showered perfume on them.
The King was accompanied by members of the royal family.
Smoke rises from the royal funeral pyre in Sanam Luang late on Thursday night as the cremation of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej gets under way. Wichan Charoenkiatpakul
He then presented saffron robes to nine Buddhist monks led by the Supreme Patriarch.
The King put the relics in six golden funerary urns adorned with diamonds and other precious stones.
The cremated ashes of the late King were placed in a separate container.
Palace officials then carried the six urns holding the relics to the Phra Thinang Songtham Pavilion in the Sanam Luang ceremonial ground and placed them on an elaborate Busabok throne.
One of the six urns will be enshrined at the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall inside the Grand Palace tomorrow.
Each of the remaining five urns will be kept by His Majesty the King, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit consort of the late King Rama IX, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn, and Princess Ubolratana.
In the pavilion, His Majesty performed religious rites and offered food to monks.
He also offered each of the monks krueng sangkhet -- a set of mementos specially made to commemorate the royal cremation ceremony.
After the religious rites, a ceremonial procession -- the fourth of six scheduled for the royal funeral ceremony -- was formed with a golden urn containing the relics placed on the ornate Rajendrayan four-poled palanquin.
The King accompanied the procession, along with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and royal family members.
The golden urn was moved and placed temporarily in the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall inside the Grand Palace. The King then paid respects to the royal relics before leaving.
The casket containing the late King's ashes was placed on the Rajendrayan Noi -- another smaller four-poled palanquin -- and moved to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Today, His Majesty the King will preside over a merit-making ceremony and pay respects to the royal relics at the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall.
Tomorrow, the golden urn holding the relics will be transferred from the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall to the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall in the Grand Palace, where it will be kept permanently, and the casket containing the royal ashes will be moved from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to Wat Rajabophit and Wat Bowonniwet Vihara.
A man and woman dressed in white civil servant ceremonial uniforms try to comfort one another as they cry while watching white smoke billowing from the royal crematorium on Thursday night. Wichan Charoenkiatpakul
At Sanam Luang, a venue for the royal cremation ceremony, mourners thronged a security checkpoint near the Mother Earth Goddess statue Friday morning to watch the royal procession carrying the late King's relics and ashes of King Bhumibol from the royal crematorium to the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha respectively within the Grand Palace.
Volunteers yesterday moved in to clean up the area and dismantle tents around Sanam Luang while some mourners flocked to a replica of the royal crematorium in the Royal Plaza to pay tribute to the late King.
Following the royal cremation ceremonies, people can visit the royal crematorium compound in groups of 5,000 per hour between 7am and 10pm from Thursday to Nov 30.
The royal cremation organisation committee said yesterday the number of visitors per hour was calculated from the estimated 4 sq m of space each requires.
About 100,000 people will be allowed to visit the royal crematorium compound each day.
Visitors will have 15 minutes in front of the royal crematorium where there are exhibitions of royal development projects and 45 minutes in the six exhibition halls.
Also yesterday, local authorities nationwide began floating the ashes of sandalwood, or cremation flowers, for the late King on local waterways in the morning.
In the Central region, Pathum Thani governor Phinit Boonlert chaired a ceremony to burn sandalwood flowers on Thursday night.
A receptacle and bags with the flower ashes inside were brought to city hall for a merit-making ceremony for the late King and subsequently floated on the Chao Phraya River in Muang district yesterday.
In Pathum Thani alone, nearly 300,000 residents on Thursday flocked to place cremation flowers at replicas of the royal crematorium in its seven districts.
In Phetchabun, newspapers featuring the royal cremation ceremony were sold out after they had been bought by villagers who wanted to keep them in commemoration of the late King.
In the Northeast, Khon Kaen villagers waded through floodwater due to run-off from the Phong River to float the ashes of cremation flowers in tribute to King Rama IX at Wat Tha Song Korn in Muang district.
Provincial governor Somsak Changtrakul and villagers also boarded a vessel to release the flower ashes and marigold petals into the river.
In Nakhon Phanom, Phra Ratsiriwat, abbot of Wat Sawang Suwannaram, led eight other monks in reciting prayers during a similar ceremony before the flower ashes were floated on the Mekong River.
In Si Sa Ket's Pho Si Suwan district, a merit-making ceremony for the late King was also held at Wat Ban Dot where a replica of the royal crematorium was erected.
"We have witnessed the power of unity as villagers of our small village came out to do good things to pay tribute to the late king," said Anusorn Sang-kla, the district chief.
"We must not forget today and what has been done during the past year to honour our beloved late King Bhumibol. We must continue our good deeds to show our love to him," he said as he led villagers to release ashed from cremated dok mai chan into the river.
Yesterday, villagers all came out to participate in the event.
Volunteers and young people accompanied the elderly and hospital patients to attend the event.
In Sa Kaeo, the ashes of sandalwood flowers previously laid before replicas of the royal crematorium were separated and released into waterways across the province yesterday after around 168,000 residents thronged to place the flowers for the late King on Thursday.
Pornpoj Penpak, governor of Sa Kaeo province, chose to scatter ashes from cremated flowers in Tah Ka Bak reservoir.
The late king ordered the reservoir to be built in 1979 to solve water problems.
"We came here to honour the late king. We wish that we can be reborn to become his subjects, his servants in our next lives."
Also in the South, the flower ashes were floated on Khlong Pak Nam Baeng, a vital artery of Narathiwat's three districts -- Muang, Sungai Padi and Tak Bai -- while ashes in Krabi were released into a local waterway by a coastal patrol craft.
Meanwhile, a plunge in violent crime in Bangkok has been reported during the royal funeral ceremony for the late King over the past few days and as Thais nationwide took part in ceremonies to float the ashes of sandalwood flowers on local waterways yesterday morning.
Panurat Lakboon, Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy commander supervising crime suppression, yesterday said the agency had not been notified about any violent crimes in the city during Oct 25-26, a period when the late King's royal funeral ceremony was held.
Only petty crimes were reported to police, Pol Maj Gen Panurat said, adding the low crime rate was the result of most Thais being still mired in grief.
