Thailand yesterday began an elaborate five-day funeral for king Bhumibol Adulyadej with his son, the new monarch, performing Buddhist merit-making rites in preparation for moving Bhumibol’s remains to a spectacular golden crematorium.
Thousands of mourners dressed entirely in black have endured tropical heat during the day and torrential rains at night as they waited to enter the historic royal quarter of Thailand’s capital to bid farewell to a monarch celebrated as a unifying symbol throughout his seven-decade reign.
The rites in the ornate throne hall of Dusit palace, where Bhumibol’s remains have been kept for the past year, began the series of ceremonies and processions that include his cremation this evening within a golden edifice representing mystical Mount Meru, where Buddhist and Hindu gods are believed to dwell.
Photo: AP
About 250,000 people are expected to line the streets of Bangkok’s royal quarter to witness elaborate gilded processions today that are to be broadcast live.
As orange-robed monks chanted and officials in crisp white uniforms looked on, Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn knelt beneath a nine-tiered golden umbrella.
By tradition, deceased Thai royals have been kept upright in elaborate urns during official mourning, but Bhumibol, who spent much of his early life in the West, opted to be put in a coffin, with the urn placed next to it for devotional purposes.
Bhumibol’s death at age 88 on Oct. 13 last year sparked a national outpouring of grief and a year of mourning. More than 12 million people — nearly a fifth of Thailand’s population — have visited the throne hall at Dusit palace to pay respects.
One mourner, Banterng Saeuong, yesterday said that the funeral was the most important event in his lifetime.
“I am happy to stand in the rain or sit under the sun,” the 55-year-old said.
The funeral is to be an intensely somber event, but also rich in history and cultural and spiritual tradition. Mourners are allowed to prostrate when royal processions pass, but must not hold up cellphones to take photographs or selfies.
Police are trying to calm occasional flare-ups of tension among mourners. There have been accusations of line-jumping and exchanges between some who have waited hours or traveled from far away.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS