Travellers warned of closures and delays during Thailand’s royal funeral

Wednesday, 23 Oct, 2017 0

The Foreign Office has warned tourists in Thailand to be prepared for travel delays and closures of major attractions during the five-day royal cremation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, which starts next week.

The King, also known as Rama IX, died on October 13 2016 and the country has been in official mourning since then.

The period of official mourning lasts until midnight on October 29, while his cremation ceremony will take place from Wednesday October 25 to Friday October 27 in the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Those two sites are now closed until October 29.

The FCO advised: "There will also be ceremonies elsewhere in Bangkok and in major cities across Thailand.

"During this time there’s likely to be significant disruption to traffic in central Bangkok, especially around the areas of the ceremonies, due to large volumes of people and road closures.

"You should check arrangements locally and if necessary allow extra time for travel."

The FCO has also updated its advice to remind travellers Thailand is to introduce a smoking ban on beaches in November, including popular areas such as Koh Samui, Pattaya and Phuket.

The punishment is a year in jail or a maximum payment of 100,000 baht – about £2,300.

Lisa

Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.

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