Thai king's illness sparks anxiety

BANGKOK – In six decades on the throne, Thailand’s king has stepped in to defuse political crises and halt bloodshed. But not now: The revered 81-year-old monarch was too ill to deliver his annual birthday speech this year.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s failure to show up for the anxiously awaited address Thursday shocked a country reeling from three years of political turmoil and uncertain about its future.

In the past two weeks, the country saw the seven-day seizure of Bangkok’s two airports by protesters and the ouster of its government.

“I am worried. I think all Thais are worried. Thailand needs him. He is the only one who can make people on both sides realize they are ruining the country. He is the only one who can unify Thailand,” said Rojana Duangkaew, a 28-year-old pharmacist, shortly after the king sent his son and daughter to represent him at the birthday event.

Princess Sirindhorn said the king was weak and suffering from bronchitis and inflammation of the esophagus but that his “condition is not serious.”

The king’s last public appearance was Wednesday when he looked haggard while inspecting royal troops. He spoke briefly, reading hoarsely from a text, and seemed barely able to keep his head up.

Last year, the king was hospitalized for more than three weeks for symptoms of a stroke and a colon infection. He also has a history of heart trouble and was operated on in 2006 for a spinal problem.

The question of royal succession has long weighed heavily on Thai politics and ordinary Thais, but probably never more than now.

Although a constitutional monarch, Bhumibol built up his great power through decades of work on behalf of the poor, charisma and political astuteness.

His 56-year-old son, Prince Vajiralongkorn, has nowhere near the king’s talents, stature or moral authority. There is concern that Vajiralongkorn, who has married three times and fathered seven children, will have difficulty living up to Bhumibol’s record of diligence.

Sirindhorn, 53, who could technically also succeed her father, is talented and highly popular but said to lack political savvy. There is also almost no historical precedent for a woman becoming the country’s ruler.

The royal crisis could not have come at a worse time for Thailand, as it struggles to recover from an anti-government campaign by the People’s Alliance for Democracy.

It started with mass protests in late 2005 to oust then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed in a 2006 military coup amid accusations of gross corruption and attempting to undermine the monarchy. The coup is widely believed to have been backed by the palace.      – AP