Thais mourn ‘Father of the Nation’

By Marwaan Macan-Markar, Asia Regional Correspondent

asia.nikkei.com (Bangkok): As the skies darkened above Siriraj Hospital on Thursday evening, silence spread across its courtyard and gardens, where thousands of Thais had gathered. The quiet was broken by chants of “Long Live the King!” Then, from one corner, a group burst into a royal anthem, which was taken up by the rest in a crescendo of devotion. Wearing shirts in the symbolic royal colours of pink and yellow, the crowds sang facing the northern wing of the hospital, where the frail and ageing King Bhumibol Adulyadej had been treated.

Tears welled in the eyes of well-wishers, and some sobbed silently, as they brought their palms together in a sign of prayer and looked towards the nine lit windows on the 16th floor. “He is still there,” a mother told her teenage daughter, gesturing with her right hand. They were among the Thais of all ages, teenagers to grandparents, who were marking a final vigil for the only king they had ever lived under. At one point, as if making a final appeal for his longer life, some middle-aged women held up photos of the 88-year-old monarch, and looked toward the sky.

At 7 p.m., the government officially announced the monarch’s death. The crowds broke into tears. Weeping rose through the courtyard and spread through the hospital’s corridors, packed with inconsolable groups. Some wailed, hugging the photo of the king; others did so holding onto a neighbor. It was a collective expression of grief to mark the end of the world’s longest reigning monarch.

“It is the saddest day of my life,” said Amnard Viboolpan, a 77-year-old retiree, who was part of the throng of grieving Thais. “He did so much for our country,” added the native of Sogkhla, a southern province, who had fond memories of the monarch traversing the country to promote his pet development projects.

A Buddhist monk from Myanmar, drawn to the hospital, shared his memories of a monarch who had earned respect beyond Thailand’s borders during his 70-year reign. “He was a good king who won respect because of his Buddhist values as a leader,” said Okkansa Siddhi, who has been living in Thailand for two years. “I came to give prayers for him.”

Final act

The final act began on Sunday, when the royal household bureau departed from its usual practice of announcing positive news of the king’s health, and informed the nation that his condition was “not stable.” Thais took to social media to try to interpret the update. The Sunday night bulletin said that the king’s medical team had performed kidney dialysis, replaced a tube to drain fluid from his lungs, and that the monarch was placed on a ventilator. Appeals went out for Thais to dress in pink, an auspicious colour for good health.

Siriraj Hospital, which sits on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, became the focus of national attention. On Wednesday evening, the crowds who filled the courtyard began chanting Buddhist prayers. By then the king’s four children were in the hospital, including the heir apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, who had to rush back earlier that day from Germany. These moves helped power the rumour mill, prompting the ruling junta to warn against speculation. It did little to stop a steep drop in the Thai stock market.

But in Dusit, the royal district in a historic part of Bangkok, life moved at its customary pace on Wednesday. Joggers and power walkers paced around the tree-lined streets of Chitralada Palace, the official residence of the monarch. Down the road, at Ratchawat Market, which serves Thai street food, vendors prepared tom yam kung, a spicy Thai soup, and khao man gai, a popular rice and chicken dish, for the evening’s diners. There was hardly a hint in the evening’s chatter about the fate that awaited the district’s most revered resident.

Different mood

It was a different mood on Thursday night, as word spread about the king’s death, and the nation took tentative steps to mourn the loss of the “Father of the Nation.” The roads around the palace were quieter, joggers were scarce, and the food vendors, catering to smaller crowds, appeared to be in two minds: stay open or shut up shop?

Restaurants and bars along Sukhumvit Road, a popular tourist stretch, remained open, but were reportedly quieter.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who heads the military regime, set the tone for the national mood. In his statement on Thursday night, he requested government officials to mourn for one year, and one month for the rest of the country.

The coming days will reveal how Thais cope with the loss, since King Bhumibol had touched many through his presence as a unifying symbol of the kingdom. “His Majesty was our soul,” said Natthaporn Ngamsodsai, a bank employee who had maintained a vigil at the hospital for days. “People didn’t want him to go.”