At a BNK48 handshake event in Bangkok in April 2019, fans joined separate lanes assigned to individual members. A participant’s detailed account records that lines for popular members extended beyond the inner area into two or more rows in the outer waiting zone. When a queue became too long for newcomers to see its end, staff gave the last person a sign bearing the member’s name, which was passed backward whenever someone new arrived.
Each handshake ticket bought only a very brief encounter. Fans therefore checked the published lane numbers and venue layout before deciding where to spend their limited tickets. Long lines moved from the outer area to the inner one while staff managed both numbers and time. A meeting lasting only seconds depended on a carefully designed system of waiting.
The defining feature was not simply a large crowd watching a stage, but a sequence maintained person by person. Each transfer of the end-of-line sign preserved the boundary of a queue that was otherwise difficult to see. A culture marketed through closeness between idols and fans simultaneously required strict management of order.