Royal succession in Thailand will be seamless when it is eventually triggered, palace observers say, as the acutely taboo topic resurfaced on Wednesday following growing signs the health of the revered 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej is deteriorating.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha abruptly cancelled a scheduled visit to the rural Chonburi province as the Thai stock market and the baht took a beating for the third straight day after an official statement over the weekend described King Bhumibol’s health as “unstable”.
The palace statement first released late Sunday said the world’s longest reigning living monarch was in a “generally unstable” condition after treatment to purify his blood and drain excess cerebrospinal fluid.
The statement said the king was put on a ventilator after his blood pressure dropped following the procedures. His doctors were monitoring him closely as “the overall symptoms of his sickness are still not stable,” it said.