Thai king’s body at Grand Palace for people to pay respects
BANGKOK — Buddhist funeral ceremonies began Friday in Bangkok’s Grand Palace complex for King Bhumibol Adulyadej before his body is displayed for people to pay respects to the monarch revered by many Thais as their father and a demigod.
Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, dressed in white military finery and a black armband, sat near orange-robed monks as they chanted in the high-ceilinged Phiman Rattaya palace. Once a residential building, the palace is now used as the main venue for state funerals.
Earlier, a royal convoy led by a van carrying Bhumibol’s body and monks drove to the Grand Palace complex from Siriraj hospital, where the king died Thursday at age 88. The hospital had been his virtual home for years as doctors treated him for various illnesses afflicting his lungs, liver, kidneys, brain and blood.
The convoy drove the short distance across the Chao Phraya river to the sprawling royal complex, a major tourist attraction replete with resplendent palaces, museums and temples.