Thai King in Health Crisis? Helicopter suddenly brings him back from summer palace Thailand’s ailing king Bhumibol Adulyadej was quietly transferred by helicopter on Sunday, May 31, from his summer palace in Hua Hin, 200 km south of Bangkok, to Siriraj Hospital where he has spent much of the last decade, sources said. Posted on May 31, 2015 There has been no public announcement of the ailing, 87-year-old king’s condition. He and his equally ailing Queen Sirikit left Siriraj, Thailand’s best hospital, in early May for the seaside palace. At the time, although the couple waved to cheering couples, their appearance raised serious concerns about their health. Both appeared nearly comatose. “Our king is being flown back, hopefully nothing bad is going on,” said a business source with connections to the palace. When the king dies after ruling for 69 years since 1946 as Rama IX, the passing is expected to set off a wave of mourning that can be expected to last for months. His condition is of enormous emotional importance to Thailand’s 67-million people, given that, according to a statement by the government, he has never left the country since introductory trips after his coronation and since he has publicly adopted a posture of supreme humility despite the vast wealth of the palace. The report that he is being helicoptered back from Hua Hin raises new fears over the possibility of his looming death and who or what will follow, and indeed whether the royal institution will survive, given both the behavior of the crown prince and the infighting going on secretly in the palace over the forthcoming reign. He is known to be despised by much of the palace guard. The king went into the hospital eight months ago to have his gall bladder removed. He had previously been confined to the hospital for four years before coming out for a brief period Both he and the queen are believed to have had a series of strokes that have left them basically incapacitated. As the health of the two has waned, and as reports of machinations and intrigue continue to seep out of the palace, however, the public is losing its awe of the monarchy. The army has sought to preserve that reverence in the wake of the year-old military coup that brought Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha to power with ever-tightening controls on civil and human rights. Although the king has no formal political role, his replacement, assumed to be the 62-year-old crown prince, Maha Vajiralongkorn, has inspired little confidence and considerable criticism for his profligate womanizing
