Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Bangkok: Thailand's 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej has recovered from a blood infection and swollen lung but continues to have a high fever, the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement on Tuesday.
King Bhumibol, the world's longest-serving monarch, has been in hospital since the end of May and has received treatment for various ailments. He was last seen in public on January 11, when he left hospital to visit his Bangkok palace for a few hours.
Nervousness over his health and the succession has formed the backdrop to more than a decade of political crisis in Thailand, where the military took power in a coup in May 2014.
"On the night of February 14, His Majesty the King's breathing quickened and an X-ray in the chest showed no lung infection," the palace statement said.
"On February 15, the king's fever was at 38.1 degrees Celsius." That temperature is equivalent to 100.6 degrees F.
The king has a high temperature, the statement said, and suffers from exhaustion.
An X-ray on February 3 showed no infection in the king's chest, stomach, or brain, it said, but a medical team had found infections in other parts of the king's body and was administering the monarch antibiotics and oxygen.
The team was trying to determine the cause of the infections, the statement said.
News about the royal family is tightly controlled in Thailand, where harsh laws protecting the royals from insult make it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent.
Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn is the only son of King Bhumibol and the heir to the throne.
While his father is widely adored by many Thais, who see him as a semi-divine figure, Prince Vajiralongkorn has yet to command the same level of popularity.
