Funeral for late Thai king draws to a close

BANGKOK: A year of official mourning for Thailand's late King Bhumibol Adulyadej ends Sunday after a lavish five-day funeral embroidered with pageantry and religious ritual, reports AFP. Bhumibol, a beloved king who died last October aged 88, was cremated on Thursday after a day charged with emotion that brought Thailand to a standstill.

At his death he was the world's longest serving monarch, striding over seven decades of Thailand's turbulent modern history, to depart as the kingdom's chief figure of unity.

But he left behind a kingdom deeply divided along political, economic and social lines, with a junta in charge and democratic government a distant prospect.

As dusk fell on Sunday, his son and heir 65-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his sister, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, carried a pair of golden urns containing their father's relics from the Grand Palace to two Bangkok temples where they will be housed in a cream-coloured Rolls Royce.

 

Funeral for late Thai king draws to a close

BANGKOK: A year of official mourning for Thailands late King Bhumibol Adulyadej ends Sunday after a lavish five-day funeral embroidered with pageantry and religious ritual, reports AFP. Bhumibol, a beloved king who died last October aged 88, was cremated on Thursday after a day charged with emotion that brought Thailand to a standstill. At his death he was the worlds longest serving monarch, striding over seven decades of Thailands turbulent modern history, to depart as the kingdoms chief figure of unity. But he left behind a kingdom deeply divided along political, economic and social lines, with a junta in charge and democratic government a distant prospect. As dusk fell on Sunday, his son and heir 65-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his sister, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, carried a pair of golden urns containing their fathers relics from the Grand Palace to two Bangkok temples where they will be housed in a cream-coloured Rolls Royce.