Thai king reappears in public; celebrates Loy Krathong festival

BANGKOK, Nov 2 (TNA) - His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has appeared in public for the second time in less than two weeks after being hospitalised for more than a month for a lung inflammation treatment, marking the occasion by celebrating a traditional observance of the Loy Krathong festival with members of the royal family.

Wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt with a white jacket, the 81-year-old monarch, accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and members of the royal family, was taken by a chief physician and his team in a wheelchair to the Siriraj Hospital riverside pier to float his krathong, a tiny lotus-shaped vessel, in the Chao Phraya River.

Surrounded by hundreds of well-wishers who shouted out "Long Live the King", the monarch as he progressed to the pier waved his hand greeting his joyful subjects and watched a procession of illuminated boats along the river celebrating the festival organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

The revered king was last seen on national television on October 23 paying homage to the statue of his grandfather King Chulalongkorn and paying respect to images of his late father and mother within the hospital compound.

The disappearance from the public eye of the world's longest-reigning monarch has caused great concern and was linked to the largest decline in nearly two months in the bourse last month after rumours circulated among investors of a deterioration in the king's health.

Doctors have asked the king to remain hospitalised so he can fully recover from a lung inflammation. (TNA)