BANGKOK: Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej missed a planned meeting with two government ministers, palace officials said, amid ongoing public concern over the state of the ailing 86-year-old’s health.
The two ministers were supposed to accompany junta leader General Prayut Chan-O-Cha to meet the world’s longest serving monarch on Friday evening to swear an oath in front of him before taking up office.
But the palace said his medical team had advised against the king going ahead with the ceremony.
“A team of royal physicians recommended that the king is not ready to grant an audience. Therefore the date of the royal audience is postponed,” a statement from the Royal Household Bureau said late Friday.
The elderly king has suffered from a series of ailments in recent years and is treated as a near-deity in Thailand. — AFP