The seriousness of King Adulyadej's condition was revealed in a coded palace statement last Sunday.According to the bulletin,King Adulyadej was treated Saturday with haemodialysis to drain cerebrospinal fluid from the brain,causing drops in blood pressure during treatment.The seriousness of King Adulyadej’s condition was revealed in a coded palace statement last Sunday. According to the bulletin, King Adulyadej was treated Saturday with haemodialysis to drain cerebrospinal fluid from the brain, causing drops in blood pressure during treatment.
In July a catheter draining fluid from King Adulyadej’s brain was found to need adjusting, while in June the 88-year-old monarch underwent an operation to widen arteries in his heart. Over the past two years King Adulyadej has been treated for a wide range of bacterial infections, breathing difficulties, heart problems and hydrocephalus (a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid often referred to as ‘water on the brain’). In 2007 he suffered the first of several Ischemic strokes.
While Thailand’s royal palace has historically tightly controlled news about King Adulyadej’s health, in recent months updates detailing a string of serious health issues, have become more frequent and more detailed.
The inclusion in this most recent statement that royal physicians ‘recommended that the King suspends royal duties’ sends the clearest signal yet of the gravity of his condition. It also effectively declares him incapable of performing his duties, placing former Thailand prime minister and head of the Privy Council, General Prem Tinsulanonda, as the current Thailand head of state.