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Thailand in black and white to mourn King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Xinhua, October 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Bangkok citizens, and people around Thailand dressed in pure black or black and white Friday to mourn the beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who passed away the previous day.

On Friday morning, most Thais were seen in black around the busy Sathorn Pier, while less people, all in black, visited the usually crowed shopping mall Siam Paragon.

All websites also turned their color to black and white and even screens of shopping malls turned black with big letter in white reading "To mourn the King".

On social media, many Thais changed the color of their profiles to be black and white while some changed to a pure black picture.

They kept posting pictures of the King and said they cried.

"One thing I learned from the King is to leave good memories to others," said Bell Jiradet on his twitter.

Black and white ribbons can be seen on the wall of the government house.

At about 11:30 local time, Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the cabinet departed from the government house to the Grand Palace, a complex of temples and pavilions in the heart of Bangkok, to participate Buddhist ceremonies to mourn the King.

National flags around the kingdom lowered to half mast, as order by the Thai government the previous day.

On Friday, a motorcade would transport the King's body from the Siriraj Hospital, where he died, to the nearby Grand Palace.

The Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will preside over the bathing of the king's body, a traditional Buddhist funeral rite.

At about 12:30, many Thais are spreading waiting for the process.

There will be a live coverage of the whole ceremony since 14:30.

The King's body is expected to lie in state for months of palace rituals, including at least 100 days of chanting by monks, reports said.

Most Thais have known no other monarch than Bhumibol and he was portrayed as father of the kingdom.

The crown prince is going to to be new king according Thai constitution and Palace Law.

Prayut said late Thursday that the crown prince asked for more time to mourn his father with the people, and asked for a appropriate time to start to process of succession, when the parliament will invite him to ascend the throne. Enditem