Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets around Bangkok’s glittering Grand Palace last Wednesday for a candlelight vigil to cheer Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej on his 80th birthday.

The crowds began gathering before dawn, and swelled later in the day as the king performed a series of Buddhist ceremonies among the gilded castles and temples that fill the palace compound.

Police said hundreds of thousands came to either join or observe the spectacle, with music, fireworks and other entertainment scheduled to last until midnight.

Throughout Thailand, millions wore yellow shirts to show their respect to the king, who with 61 years on the throne is the world’s longest-reigning monarch.

Yellow is the colour that Thais associate with Mondays, the day of the week when the king was born.

Celebrations began in the morning, when the king gave a royal audience to 20,000 of the nation’s elite as he sat on the balcony of his throne hall, dressed in full regalia, before members of his family, senior government officials and all of the military’s top brass.

After a 21-gun salute, top political figures and the king’s only son Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn delivered speeches praising the monarch’s work to develop the country.

The king used the occasion to again plead for unity in a nation still divided over the military coup that ousted the elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra last year.

“Our country will be peaceful and stable, with all key institutions working harmoniously and complementing each other, with full awareness of their duty to each individual person,” he said.

“Then our country will become prosperous, stable and developed,” he said.

King Bhumibol’s birthday celebrations came amid mounting concerns over his health.
He was released from hospital last month after nearly four weeks in bed to treat what doctors diagnosed as irregular blood flow to his brain.

Few Thais publicly discuss what might happen when the king dies. His son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, is the heir apparent, but lacks his father’s stature and popular support.
The queen once described their son as “a bit of a Don Juan,” but the prince told his father that he would walk a narrow path and fulfill his duties.

“I would like to make an oath, in all sincerity, to promise that I will be honest, restrained and determined,” he said. “I will refrain from things that should be avoided.”

King Bhumibol is the only monarch most Thais can remember, making him a rare figure of unity in a nation that has seen 20 prime ministers, 16 constitutions and more than a dozen coups during his reign.

Students are taught that respect for the king, patriotism and religious devotion are closely intertwined, giving him an almost divine status in Thai society.