As heavens clear, netizens post eulogies of love

Facebook becomes a repository of overwhelmed emotion as Thais bid farewell, write Post reporters

Social media saw an outpouring of grief unmatched in modern memory yesterday as netizens brought a visceral intensity to their posts after viewing in person, on TV or online the royal cremation ceremonies for the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, an historic occasion many felt was a “once-in-a-lifetime experience”.

But the explosion of heartfelt comments was not to come until later in the day. Social media was eerily quiet in the morning as the nation was gripped from 7am by a spectacular series of ceremonies that had been a year in the making.

From Buddhist temples and mosques in the deep South to hill tribes in the North, millions were glued to their TV sets from dusk till dawn, many fighting back tears as they bade farewell to the world’s formerly longest-reigning living monarch and a father figure to the country who passed away on Oct 13, 2016.

Facebook and Instagram messages began trickling in during the early afternoon hours when the cremation processions in Sanam Luang, where the royal crematorium is based, paused for a break. The ceremonies resumed at 4.30pm, about an hour before the first phase of the royal cremation commenced.

The cremation proper began at 10pm, a momentous occasion overseen by His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun.

For freelance writer and journalist Apiradee Treerutkuarkul, the site of the Chariot of Great Victory slowly carrying the royal urn to Phra Meru Mas — the official name of the royal crematorium — was a touching tribute.

“The moment of parting is here and passing,” she wrote.

“I sat, clapping my palms together and bent down on the road to pay my highest respect to the late King and saw him off on his heavenly ascension,” she wrote, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She said she could not forget a remark by the late King that his place in the world was among his subjects.

“He will occupy a special place right here in my heart, forever,” she said.

Many Thais left their homes early yesterday to lay cremation flowers made from shaved wood at replicas of the royal crematorium nationwide.

Ms Apiradee, who was sitting on the pavement close to the passing processions in Suan Saranrom, said she swapped tales with other mourners highlighting their devotion to the revered former monarch.

One of these, an elderly lady named Onsri Boonmanarak, had booked a flight from Nakhon Si Thammarat several months earlier so as not to miss yesterday’s event.

“I bought the ticket as soon as the government announced the date,” she told Ms Apiradee.

Ms Onsri said she first saw the late King during a royal visit to her home province in 1972. “I was so young then and the King was so down-to-earth,” she recalled.

As swollen crowds thronged Sanam Luang yesterday, Ms Apiradee had secured herself a prime viewing spot after two nights of camping out in the capital’s old quarter and sleeping rough under the stars while braving downpours.

Another Facebook user, Onuma Chaisumrej, also arrived two days earlier and found a place to sleep at Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram. She said she woke up yesterday morning to find the Chariot of Great Victory parked nearby.

“It was still dark but the gleaming gold exterior of the royal chariot was so astonishingly beautiful and bright. It was almost surreal,” she said.

“I felt a sudden, helpless burst of tears from the realisation the chariot was taking the King away.”

Pimporn Sriiwan, who owns an advertising firm, wrote on her Facebook page she was “determined to get as close as possible to the front to see the royal cremation with my own eyes” despite having barely slept for a few days.

“We all have something far more important on our minds,” she said.

“We came to say goodbye to the late King with the most fitting honour we could show him.

“Some foreigners may not be able to fathom this but the grandeur of the ceremonies has a spiritual value that is beyond compare. It’s priceless.

“We are proud beyond words to have been born in the reign of King Rama IX.”

A live internet stream by the National News Bureau of Thailand was inundated with praise for the late King’s tireless contributions to the country, with eulogies winging their way in from as far afield as Singapore and the United States.

I felt a sudden, helpless burst of tears from the realisation the chariot was taking the King away.

ONUMA CHAISUMREJ