By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Panarat Thepgumpanat<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Reuters) \u2013 Thais on Tuesday wore pink for 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a color they believe will help improve the monarch\u2019s health, two days after the palace said he was in an unstable condition.<\/p>\n
King Bhumibol, the world\u2019s longest reigning monarch, is widely revered in Thailand. During his seven decades on the throne the king, who is also seen as a unifying force for the country, has intervened when events threatened to plunge Thailand into crisis.<\/p>\n
The palace said on Sunday the king\u2019s health was \u201cnot stable\u201d following hemodialysis treatment in hospital, a process to purify the blood. It said a ventilator was deployed after the monarch\u2019s blood pressure dropped.<\/p>\n
It is unusual for the palace to state that the king\u2019s health is not stable. Statements on the king\u2019s are usually issued after the monarch\u2019s condition shows improvement.<\/p>\n
Many Thais are highly superstitious and some believe brightly colored clothes can attract good luck.<\/p>\n
Messages shared on social media since the palace statement have urged Thais to wear pink, a color which first became important a few years ago when royal astrologers said it was good for the king and would promote wellbeing. Since then, the king has sometimes been seen in public wearing pink.<\/p>\n
In Bangkok\u2019s Silom district, Chay Chinapairot, 46, a government employee, was among those wearing pink.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very concerned. I might wear pink every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One Facebook page called \u2018We Love Thai King\u2019, which has more than 2.5 million members, used the social media hashtag #wishthathismajestyrecoverssoon in the Thai language.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and members of his cabinet were expected to sign a get-well book for the king at Bangkok\u2019s Grand Palace on Tuesday. Wat Pathum Wanaram, a temple in the city\u2019s main shopping district, said monks would chant prayers for the king.<\/p>\n
Well-wishers on Tuesday flocked to Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok where the king has spent much of the past year.<\/p>\n
News about the king\u2019s health is closely monitored and the wording of palace statements on the king\u2019s health is intensely scrutinized.<\/p>\n
Strict laws protecting the royal family suppresses any public discussion of the king\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
(Additional reporting by Chaiwat Subprasom and Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Nick Macfie)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) \u2013 Thais on Tuesday wore pink for 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a color they believe will help improve the monarch\u2019s health, two days after the palace said he was in an unstable condition. King Bhumibol, the world\u2019s longest reigning monarch, is widely revered in Thailand. During […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}