Since the king died on 13 October, 2016, more than 12 million people have prostrated themselves in front of his coffin at the Grand Palace, where King Bhumibol Adulyadej has remained before the cremation.

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King Bhumibol, 88, took the throne after his elder brother, King Ananda Mahidol, died aged 19 of a gunshot wound to the head in 1946.

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The capital is filled with monochrome posters of the king while television channels have been ordered to reduce their colour saturation and to refrain from overly upbeat or entertaining content to express their condolences.

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For many Thais it will be their first experience of a royal funeral of a monarch. King Bhumibol ruled Thailand for more than seven decades and was widely regarded as the nation’s moral compass during decades of on-off political unrest.

 

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