CONCERNED THAIS rushed to public buildings to wish their beloved king a speedy recovery after Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, spent his fourth day in hospital yesterday.
The health of the 81-year-old king is central to the political life of the southeast Asian country, which has been riven by three years of protests, riots and political chaos since billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was toppled in a coup.
King Bhumibol has been in a Bangkok hospital since Saturday night when he was given an intravenous saline drip and antibiotics after being diagnosed with fever, fatigue and loss of appetite.
Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters there was “nothing to be concerned about”.
In Lamphun, the provincial governor, civil servants and students jointly released almost 500,000 fish into the Ping river and vowed to abstain from hunting for five days, as well as to perform good deeds to contribute to the monarch’s health, a Thai news agency reported.
In the southern provinces of Surat Thani and Phang Nga, people gathered to pay respect to the king’s portrait, which is proudly displayed everywhere in Thailand, and sign get-well books at local government offices.
Mr Thaksin’s supporters, meanwhile, took to the streets in their thousands at the weekend to mark the third anniversary of the 2006 coup that ousted him.
The coup, led by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, was backed by King Bhumibol to “create peace in the country”.
Rather than risk alienating the king’s huge support in the country, Mr Thaksin’s supporters have blamed the king’s top adviser, Prem Tinsulanonda, for masterminding the coup.
Mr Thaksin wants fresh elections and a pardon for a conflict-of-interest conviction.
Last month the king, whose name translates as “one who holds incomparable sway over the land”, issued the latest in a series of warnings that the country could “collapse” if Thailand’s feuding political factions do not unite.
The king, who has the distinction of being the only reigning monarch born in the US, is a mainstay of stability in Thailand, which is a country that has proven itself able to thrive even with a great deal of instability.
The Chakri dynasty has come to symbolise stability in its 224 years in power and is credited by ordinary Thais with maintaining the country’s sovereignty against external threats by would-be colonists and aggressors.
As well as being the chief patron of Buddhism in devout Thailand, King Bhumibol sees himself as acting in the country’s interests when needed, whether or not that reflects the democratic situation.
While the king has near-divine status in Thailand’s Buddhist society, the monarchy is also protected by strict lèse majesté defamation laws under which anyone who insults the royal family can be jailed for up to 15 years.
The laws are regularly employed to quell anti-monarchist views.
The king is a constitutional monarch but has successfully cultivated his image as the single unifying figure in the country. In the 1970s and again in 1992, he ordered military regimes to end bloody crackdowns.
There have been 24 prime ministers, 17 constitutions and more than a dozen military coups during his 63-year reign.
Ordinary Thais anxiously discuss what will happen when the king is no longer around to intervene.
In October 2007, King Bhumibol was hospitalised for three weeks with symptoms of a minor stroke. Last year, he was unable to make his traditional birthday speech due to what his daughter, Princess Sirindhorn, described as an inflammation of the oesophagus.
Significantly, the former wife of Mr Thaksin went to the hospital yesterday with a bunch of white flowers to offer her wishes for the king’s recovery, witnesses said.