Temple ordered to end handouts to gathering crowd

People crowd together in a long queue along Song Prapha Road to receive the free food being distributed by Wat Don Muang on Friday. (Photo from @LoveDO_DOO via @jorsor100radio Twitter accounts)

The Don Muang District Office has ordered a temple in the area to immediately stop handing out free food to people suffering under restrictions imposed to combat the novel coronavirus disease.

Wat Don Muang had been told to temporarily cease its charitable handout because it drew a lot of people who ignored the requirement to maintain safe-distancing, assistant to the district chief Paitoon Ngammuk told Jor Sor 100 traffic radio station on Friday.

People formed a dense queue along Song Prapha Road, up to one kilometre long, waiting their turn to receive the canned and dried food from the temple on Friday.

Many other temples across the country are also handing out foodstuffs under an initiative of the Supreme Patriarch to help those in need during the pandemic. One of them is Wat Pho Nimit in Thon Buri district. (see video)

Wat Pho Nimit in Thon Buri district of Bangkok is one of the many temples offering help to people facing harship because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Video by Jetjaras Na Ranong)