Unbiased AI-powered news
The 47-year-old princess, who died Thursday after nearly four years in a coma, was transported Saturday through streets lined with mourners in black.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha's body left the hospital Saturday afternoon in a royal funeral procession of flashing motorcycles and cars that traveled through Bangkok's closed city-centre streets. The silver van carrying her body was followed by her father, the king, in a cream-coloured car.
Mourners had gathered from morning along the route, many holding umbrellas and fans against the hot and humid conditions.
Citizens dressed in black and officials in white suits with black armbands lined the sidewalks for kilometres; officials saluted while the seated crowd silently bowed their heads, many in tears. The princess, known in Thailand as Princess Bha, collapsed while training her dogs in December 2022 and remained in a coma for nearly four years. She died Thursday evening at age 47.
Wanida Lainun, wearing a brooch with the princess's image, told The Guardian that her aunt had taken part in one of the princess's projects assisting underprivileged people in Chiang Mai. Anchalee, who asked that her last name not be published, said she met the princess as a college student and participated in the funeral bathing ceremony at the Grand Palace earlier Saturday.
The princess trained as a lawyer and served as ambassador to Austria and in the royal security command.
She also campaigned for the rights of female prisoners. After floods struck Bangkok in 1995, she and her mother cooked meals, packed medicine and delivered aid to stranded areas. In October that year she founded the Friends in Need (of 'Pa') project under the Thai Red Cross Society, which installed weather stations in high-risk areas as early-warning systems.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul led members of the Thai cabinet in performing the funeral bathing rite at the Grand Palace. The government instructed officials to wear black and ordered flags flown at half-mast for 15 days.
Said she was shocked when the princess first fell ill. "We all hoped she could get better from the coma. We waited for years and we all prayed for her to get better," she said.
Iran has agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country. The U.S. vice president said the move is part of ongoing talks that also cover reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
rte.ieAndy Burnham took the parliamentary oath as the new Labour MP for Makerfield. He received cheers from fellow Labour MPs during the ceremony in Parliament.
Al JazeeraAbelardo de la Espriella defeated leftwing senator Iván Cepeda by about 251,000 votes in Colombia’s presidential runoff. The result ends four years of leftwing government and signals a shift toward hardline security policies.