Thai prince and princesses visit critically-ailing monarch

Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and all of his princess sisters rushed to visit a critically-ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Siriraj hospital in the Thai capital on Thursday.

Alongside the crown prince who visited the ill monarch at the hospital where he has been admitted for several years, were the king's daughters, namely Princess Chakri Sirindhorn, Princess Chulabhorn and former Princess Ubolratana, as well as his first grandchild Princess Bajrakitiyabha.

The crown prince, Princess Chakri Sirindhorn and some other members of the royal family also visited the hospital yesterday.

Their visit to the 88-year-old monarch on the same day was apparently a rare event in the wake of statements recently issued by the Bureau of the Royal Household about the king remaining in critical condition.

People went to the hospital on the bank of Chao Phraya River to make well-wishing for the monarch with some staying on the ground floor of a hospital building and in nearby areas.

The king had acidotic blood, low blood pressure and quick pulse due to irregular blood flows through the heart, prompting doctors to give medicine to expand the blood vessels in the lungs.

He had undergone a long-term hemofiltration with continuous renal replacement therapy, had his spine fluid released and been given a ventilator to help with his breathing, according to the statement of the Bureau of the Royal Household.

He was diagnosed on Wednesday to have a malfunctioning liver and infection and remained under intensive care of the doctors with his pulse and blood pressure at controllable level, according to the bureau's statement. Endit