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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 110 ~ 43 of 48
On Saturday, Mattis will be joined by Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in an- nual consultations with South Korean defense of cials. They are expected to admonish North Korea, vow to strengthen allied defenses, and discuss prospects for eventually giving South Korea wartime control of its own forces.
Thailand grieves in elaborate nal goodbye to King Bhumibol By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA, Associated Press
BANGKOK (AP) — With solemn faces and outright tears, Thais said farewell to their king and father gure with elaborate funeral ceremonies that cap a year of mourning and are steeped in centuries of tradition. Smoke rose just before midnight Thursday from the spectacularly ornate crematorium built in the year since King Bhumibol Adulyadej died. On Friday morning, his son, current King Maha Vajiralongkorn, par- ticipated in a religious ceremony to move his father’s ashes to special locations for further Buddhist rites. Thai television broadcast pictures of Vajiralongkorn bathing Bhumibol’s relics — charred bones — and
placing them in golden reliquary urns.
The ve-day funeral began Wednesday with Vajiralongkorn performing Buddhist merit-making rites. On
Thursday, a ceremonial urn representing Bhumibol’s remains was transferred from Dusit Maha Prasad Throne Hall to the crematorium in somber processions involving thousands of troops, a golden palanquin, a gilded chariot and a royal gun carriage.
The urn, placed under a nine-tiered white umbrella and accompanied by a palace of cial, was hoisted into the main chamber of the golden-spired crematorium as monks chanted, traditional instruments wailed and artillery red in the distance. The king then climbed the red-carpeted steps to light candles and in- cense in honor of his father.
On a day designated a public holiday in the kingdom, tens of thousands of mourners dressed all in black watched the processions from streets in Bangkok’s royal quarter and millions more saw broadcasts aired live on most TV stations and shown at designated viewing areas across the country.
Before dawn, 63-year-old Somnuk Yonsam-Ar sat on a paper mat in a crowd opposite the Grand Palace. Her granddaughter slept in her lap and her husband rested his head against a metal barrier. The family came from the coastal province of Rayong, where they run a food stall.
Somnak waved a fan to cool herself but said she was not tired.
“I feel blessed to be able to sit here, and be part of this,” she said. “It’s an important day for us.” Bhumibol’s death at age 88 on Oct. 13, 2016, after a reign of seven decades sparked a national outpour-
ing of grief. Millions of Thais visited the throne hall at the Grand Palace to pay respects.
Deceased Thai royals have traditionally been kept upright in urns during of cial mourning. But Bhumibol, who spent much of his early life in the West, opted to be put in a cof n, with the royal urn placed next
to it for devotional purposes.
The ceremonial urn was at the center of Thursday’s processions, including one led by the current king
when the golden container was placed upon the Great Victory Chariot. Built in 1795 and made of gilded and lacquered carved wood, the chariot has been used to carry the urns of royal family members dating to the start of the Chakri dynasty.
As the chariot, pulled by hundreds of men in traditional red uniforms, passed the mourners lining the parade route, they prostrated themselves, pressing their folded hands and head on the ground in a show of reverence.
In the evening, a symbolic cremation was witnessed by royalty and high-ranking of cials from 42 coun- tries. Orange-robed monks chanted Buddhist prayers to bless Bhumibol’s spirit as the of cial guests waited to offer sandalwood owers at the crematorium built to represent mystical Mount Meru, where Buddhist and Hindu gods are believed to dwell.
Bhumibol’s ashes and relics will be transferred to the Grand Palace and the Temple of The Emerald Buddha for further Buddhist rites, and on the nal day of the funeral, they are set to be enshrined in spiritually signi cant locations.