The king, however, was determined that his brother should not succeed him. He fell ill not long afterwards, and feeling that his end was near, he proclaimed as his successor his second son, Prince Ap’ai. The Uparat protested, offering to forgo his claim to the crown in favour of his eldest nephew, but not for Prince Ap’ai, who had no reasonable right to become King. Uncle and nephew began to collect their adherents, with a view to contesting the matter by force of arms. In the midst of these warlike preparation King T’ai Sra died, in January I733, aged fifty-four.