Thousands of people have been flocking to the Public Relations Department since Saturday, with some visitors choosing to camp out overnight in order to be among the first to get one of the 10,000 souvenir pins made to commemorate His Majesty the King's coming coronation.
To control the crowds, the department only started handing out queue tickets at 6am on Sunday. Buyers are limited to one pin, and two yellow polo shirts each.
The pins are priced at 300 baht apiece, while the polo shirts -- of which only 20,000 were released -- cost 290 baht each.
Homemaker Bangon Heebkaew, 50, travelled from Ubon Ratchathani just to buy yellow shirts and a pin. She waited at the venue from 2pm on Saturday and was the first person to receive a queue ticket.
"I will return to Bangkok again to see the main coronation event," said Ms Bangon. "On May 5, I will wear this shirt and pin, and wait along the roadside near the Grand Palace to give my best wishes to the King."
While private and state agencies have been told to churn out more yellow polo shirts by the end of this month, most people in the queue said that they would rather get one from the first batch, which they regard as a "rare item".
Previously, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that they would only produce 20,000 polo shirts to mark the King's coronation ceremony.
"People began queuing at 5am on Saturday," said Sompas Nilapund, the deputy permanent secretary for the Office of the Prime Minister.
A woman holds up a pin bearing the initials of His Majesty the King produced to mark his coronation from May 4-6.
Both the pin and the polo shirt bear the King's emblem -- which has been ornately designed to feature the initials of the King's name underneath a nine-tiered umbrella.
Mr Sompas said that those who missed the chance to buy the pins can purchase them across Thailand Post Co's 1,400 branches across the country, or online through its website.
The Prime Minister's Office -- the only agency authorised to produce the pins -- expects to sell up to 300,000 pins in the runup to the ceremony.
Initially, the office announced that 20,000 pins would be made available for purchase, but many who waited in the queue were disappointed as only 10,000 pins were available on Sunday.
The office's permanent secretary, Patcharaporn Inseeyonk, on Sunday said that thousands of pins failed to pass the final inspection.
"Between 8,000 and 9,000 pins had to be sent back to the craftsmen to correct their colours," she said. "The process will take some time as each pin is hand-painted, and it will take some time to let the paint dry completely."
However, Ms Patcharaporn insisted that the craftsmen are still able to make 100,000 pins a month.
Her office plans to meet with representatives from Big C Supermarket outlets today in order to ensure the souvenirs can be distributed countrywide.
The government has given permits to 315 state and private organisations to produce the yellow polo shirts.
"Four million polo shirts have already passed the final inspection and they are now ready to be distributed," Ms Patcharaporn said.
