International News

BANGKOK, Oct 13, (APP/AFP) – Well-wishers kept up their vigil outside a Bangkok hospital on Thursday, offering prayers for ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej as deeply polarised Thailand faces the prospect of losing its figure of unity. Bhumibol, 88, is the world’s longest serving monarch, beloved by his people and portrayed by the palace as a guiding light through decades of political turmoil, coups and violent unrest. He has been ill and hospital-bound for most of the last two years but his already frail health has taken a turn for the worse in the past week. On Sunday and Wednesday the palace released two unusually grave health statements, saying the king was on a ventilator, battling kidney problems and that his condition was “not stable”. That sparked stock market jitters and prompted crowds of anxious devotees to gather outside the riverside hospital in Bangkok where he is being treated. Early on Thursday, around 150 people were holding prayers outside the hospital, many dressed in pink in the belief that the colour will bring the king good luck. “I wanted to be close to him to pray for him because I love him,” Anon Lim, 58, from northern Uttaradit province, told AFP. “He has done a lot for Thailand and for us.”