King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88, said to be in an unstable condition, has been in hospital for much of the past seven years Damir Sagolj/ ReutersThais gathered to pray for King Bhumibol Adulyadej yesterday and financial markets reacted with alarm after an ominous official bulletin hinted that the world’s longest reigning monarch was close to death. Well-wishers stood outside the Siriraj hospital in Bangkok after royal doctors, who usually put a positive gloss on reports on the king, said that his condition was “not stable”. The 88-year-old has been in hospital for most of the past seven years. His health is a matter of anxious concern in Thailand, as much because of uncertainties about events after his death as the intense, almost cult-like, love with…

Source: The Times October 10, 2016 23:03 UTC