(CNN) Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a revered and unifying figure who embodied the nation in his 70-year reign, has died aged 88.

The announcement came in a statement from the Royal Palace read on state TV Thursday, and followed a days-long outpouring of support since the king was hospitalized. He underwent medical procedures over the weekend.

The king died at 3:52 p.m. local time and passed away in a "peaceful manner," the Royal Palace said.

A portrait of the King is held on the eve of his 88th birthday as people gather outside the Siriraj hospital in 2015. The King of Thailand is regarded as a demi-god by many Thais, and his popularity has been viewed as a unifying force during times of political unrest.

A portrait of the King is held on the eve of his 88th birthday as people gather outside the Siriraj hospital in 2015. The King of Thailand is regarded as a demi-god by many Thais, and his popularity has been viewed as a unifying force during times of political unrest.

The King is seen through a car window as he leaves the Siriraj hospital in Bangkok in 2015.

The King is seen through a car window as he leaves the Siriraj hospital in Bangkok in 2015.

The King is pictured with family members in 2012. He addressed a crowd from a balcony on his 85th birthday.

The King is pictured with family members in 2012. He addressed a crowd from a balcony on his 85th birthday.

The King is wheeled towards his yacht in 2010, during a rare public appearance to open a new flood gate and two bridges in Bangkok.

The King is wheeled towards his yacht in 2010, during a rare public appearance to open a new flood gate and two bridges in Bangkok.

The King lights candles at a ceremony to mark Coronation Day in Bangkok in 2007.

The King lights candles at a ceremony to mark Coronation Day in Bangkok in 2007.

The King reviews an honor guard with Queen Sirikit and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn during the annual military parade to celebrate his birthday in 2006.

The King reviews an honor guard with Queen Sirikit and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn during the annual military parade to celebrate his birthday in 2006.

The King and Queen survey a rice crop made possible by a Royal Irrigation Project in 1996. The project formed part of the Royal Development Projects, which focused on developing remote rural areas. The King has taken an interest in environmental projects throughout his long reign.

The King and Queen survey a rice crop made possible by a Royal Irrigation Project in 1996. The project formed part of the Royal Development Projects, which focused on developing remote rural areas. The King has taken an interest in environmental projects throughout his long reign.

The King raises a camera to take a photo in 1995. He was given his first camera in 1934, which ignited a lifelong enthusiasm for photography. He has often been seen with a camera around his neck during public appearances.

The King raises a camera to take a photo in 1995. He was given his first camera in 1934, which ignited a lifelong enthusiasm for photography. He has often been seen with a camera around his neck during public appearances.

The King convenes the first meeting of his country's National Reform Assembly during a ceremony held in Bangkok in 1976. The King put the monarchy at the center of Thai society, acting as a force for community and tradition even as the country flipped between political crises and military coups.

The King convenes the first meeting of his country's National Reform Assembly during a ceremony held in Bangkok in 1976. The King put the monarchy at the center of Thai society, acting as a force for community and tradition even as the country flipped between political crises and military coups.

The King walks with his wife and their 13-year-old son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, during a visit to Britain in 1966.

The King walks with his wife and their 13-year-old son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, during a visit to Britain in 1966.

The King, far right, plays the saxophone during a 1960 jam session with legendary jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman and his band in New York.

The King, far right, plays the saxophone during a 1960 jam session with legendary jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman and his band in New York.

The royal couple ride with U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower during a five-day state visit to the United States in 1960.

The royal couple ride with U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower during a five-day state visit to the United States in 1960.

The King and Queen pose with their children, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Ubol Ratana, on the steps of Bangkok's Chitralada Palace in 1955. Two more daughters, Princesses Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Chulabhorn Walailak, were born in 1955 and 1957.

The King and Queen pose with their children, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Ubol Ratana, on the steps of Bangkok's Chitralada Palace in 1955. Two more daughters, Princesses Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Chulabhorn Walailak, were born in 1955 and 1957.

Bhumibol and his future wife, Princess Sirikit Kityakara, are pictured in Lausanne in 1949. The couple married a year later at Srapathum Palace in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bhumibol and his future wife, Princess Sirikit Kityakara, are pictured in Lausanne in 1949. The couple married a year later at Srapathum Palace in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bhumibol, left, is pictured in 1935 with his older brother, the former King Ananda Mahidol, in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the boys attended school. King Ananda was 20 when he died of a gunshot wound under mysterious circumstances. His 18-year-old brother, known then as Prince Phumiphon Aduldet, later assumed the throne to become King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Bhumibol, left, is pictured in 1935 with his older brother, the former King Ananda Mahidol, in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the boys attended school. King Ananda was 20 when he died of a gunshot wound under mysterious circumstances. His 18-year-old brother, known then as Prince Phumiphon Aduldet, later assumed the throne to become King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned king on May 5, 1950. News of the 88-year-old's death was announced Thursday, October 13, via a statement from the Royal Palace read on state TV. He was the world's longest-reigning living monarch.

Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned king on May 5, 1950. News of the 88-year-old's death was announced Thursday, October 13, via a statement from the Royal Palace read on state TV. He was the world's longest-reigning living monarch.

King Bhumibol ascended to the throne 70 years ago, making him the world's longest-reigning living monarch, before his death.

Hundreds of people had for days gathered at Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital where the king was being treated, and as the sun began to set, the crowd began to swell in the thousands.

They were dressed predominantly in pink -- an auspicious color believed to restore health -- and yellow, which is the color of the King, based on the fact he was born on a Monday.

According to the palace statement, all government buildings will fly the Thai flag at half-staff for 30 days starting October 14. And in a sign of how deeply this leader's death will be marked, all civil servants have been ordered to wear black clothing for a year as a sign of mourning, the palace said.

The king was widely revered in Thailand. His appeal stretched from the rich urban elite to the poor agricultural workers in the provinces. During his reign, he skilfully charted a course that put the monarchy at the center of Thai society, acting as a force for community and tradition even as the country lurched between political crises and military coups.

Some outside the hospital said they didn't know where else to go for comfort.

"I just wanted to be here and pray for my king with others," said May, a 22-year-old university student.

Many in the crowd prayed, sang the royal anthem and repeatedly shouted: "Long live the King."

The announcement, at around 7 p.m., cut through the crowd and gave way to devastated wailing and long embraces. Others stared speechlessly at their phones, sharing messages from friends and family on social media.

Ovartvoraporn Bhakchuda, a Thai woman who spoke to CNN outside the hospital, was unable to hold back her tears, saying that she hoped the news was not true.

"We lost our father today," she said.

"He is a father ... that wanted to do everything, the best thing, for his kids," she said.

"With all my heart I hope that miracle will happen. I want to believe in miracles...I still believe up until now that this is a lie."

The king had been in hospital since October 3, the Royal Palace said, adding that a team of royal physicians had tried their best and provided the closest care, but that his health continued to decline gradually.

Doctors at the Siriraj Hospital had earlier said that king was having problems with his kidneys, blood flow to the left side of his heart and blood pressure.

Last month, he was treated for a severe infection, reduced kidney function and fluid in his lung. He had surgery to remove his gallbladder last year.

Condolences began pouring in from Asian leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described the king as "one of the tallest leaders of our times."

"This is a man who had earned this nation's respect over 70 years, for being a leader yes, but also for being a leader who had the common touch," CNN Correspondent Will Ripley said outside the Siriraj Hospital, where hundred of Thai had gathered for days, waiting for news of the monarch's health.

Some of them told CNN they thought he would live to 120.

The king inherited the throne in 1946, his seven-decade reign beginning in the aftermath of Thailand's occupation by Japan during the Second World War, and ended deep into the Internet age.

Toward the end of his reign, as his health declined, the King's presence in public life waned. Before his death, analysts expressed concern that his passing will remove a vital point of unity in an increasingly divided country.</s>BANGKOK (AP) — King Bhumibol Adulyadej, revered in Thailand as a demigod, a humble father figure and an anchor of stability through decades of upheaval at home and abroad, died on Thursday. He was 88 and had been the world's longest reigning monarch.

The Royal Palace said Bhumibol died "in a peaceful state" at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, where he had been treated for various health problems for most of the past decade.

During a reign that spanned 70 years Bhumibol became much more than Thailand's constitutional monarch. He was the nation's one constant as myriad governments rose and fell, a gentle leader who used the influence of the throne to unify the nation and rally troops through the Cold War as Thailand's neighbors fell under communist control. In his heyday, the frail-looking, soft-spoken man in spectacles wielded so much power and respect he was able to squelch coups and rebellions with a gesture or a few well-chosen words.

Bhumibol was viewed by many in the majority Buddhist nation as a bodhisattva, or holy being who delays entering nirvana to aid the human race. But while junta leaders, prime ministers and courtiers approached him only on their knees, Bhumibol was remarkably down-to-earth. He rolled up his sleeves and hiked into impoverished villages and remote rice paddies to assess the state of his country. He played half a dozen musical instruments and jammed with American jazz greats including Benny Goodman.

Bhumibol was the world's richest monarch and one of the planet's wealthiest people: Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at more than $30 billion in 2011.

Over the last decade, Bhumibol had withdrawn from public life due to illness and was often ensconced at Siriraj Hospital. His wife, Queen Sirikit, has also long been ailing and has been even more rarely seen.

Since army-staged coups in 2006 and 2014, political rivals had increasingly invoked the need to protect the palace as a pretext to gain or hold power, and some politicians have been sidelined by opponents who accused them of disrespecting the king, a grave crime in this Southeast Asian country. Although Bhumibol once said he is not above criticism, Thailand's lese majeste law — the world's harshest — has been routinely employed in recent years, with anyone charged with defaming the palace facing 15 years in jail.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will become the new monarch after the death of his father, in accordance with the constitution. He said the government will notify the National Legislative Assembly, or parliament, of the king's successor, and it will act accordingly with the laws of succession in the constitution.

With the king's passing, the world's longest reigning monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended to the British throne in 1952.

Bhumibol Adulyadej (poo-me-pon ah-dun-yaa-det) was born Dec. 5, 1927, in Cambridge, Mass., while his father, Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, was studying medicine at Harvard University.

Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932, with the prime minister and Parliament holding political power, and the king serving as head of state and placed in "a position of revered worship."

Bhumibol ascended to the throne in 1946, when his brother, 20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head in a palace bedroom under circumstances that remain mysterious.

After the shooting, Bhumibol returned to school in Switzerland. In 1948, he was seriously injured in a driving accident that deprived him of sight in his right eye; Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of a Thai aristocrat and diplomat, helped nurse him back to health. Bhumibol and Sirikit wed in 1950, a week before the king's coronation ceremony.

The name Bhumibol means "Strength of the Land," and the bounty of Thailand's soil and waters was the king's passion. In 1952 he set out to breed a better freshwater fish, a staple of the Thai peasantry, in the ponds of his Chitralada Palace in Bangkok.

Over the course of his reign, as Thailand hurtled from a traditional agrarian society of 18 million people to a modern, industrializing nation of 70 million, Bhumibol spearheaded more than 4,300 development projects aimed at improving life for his people. He traveled to the farthest reaches of his nation to join village elders on a patch of grass to discuss the recent harvest or plot an irrigation ditch.

"They say that a kingdom is like a pyramid: the king on top and the people below," he once told an Associated Press reporter. "But in this country it's upside down. That's why I sometimes have a pain around here." He pointed to his neck and shoulders.

While normally in the background of government theater, the king stepped to the forefront at crucial moments. During a pro-democracy uprising in 1973, he ordered the gates of the Grand Palace to be opened to students fleeing the gunfire of troops loyal to a dictatorial triumvirate. The message was clear, and the trio went into exile. In 1992, during another bloody confrontation between the military and pro-democracy protesters, the king called in the two key protagonists, who prostrated themselves before him on nationwide TV and promised peace. The crisis ended immediately.

After mass protests against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra began in 2006, Bhumibol urged the country's top courts to resolve the political crisis. A bloodless military coup followed, and part of the army rationale for intervening was Thaksin's alleged disrespect for the king.

By 2011, the king's health had worsened and Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra had become prime minister through elections. Mass protests helped fuel an unstable climate that triggered another army coup in 2014.

Through it all, Bhumibol himself remained adored and revered. His occasional public outings drew tens of thousands of people into the streets trying to catch a glimpse, with most dressed in the royal color yellow.</s>For all concerned in the country and beyond, the new Thailand must be based on a spirit of compromise and accommodation.

Worldwide audiences often are bewildered by the intense affection the Thai people harbored for King Bhumibol. When he celebrated his 60th year on the throne in June 2006, hundreds of thousands of Thais lined Bangkok's thoroughfares to catch a glimpse of the monarch and to celebrate the milestone with him.

Near the end, many Thais flocked to his hospital to pray and pay their last respects. They shed many tears when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha announced the King's passing. Thais knew this day would come, but they wanted to delay it as long as possible.

The Thais' treatment of their collective "father" can seem like god worship, characteristic of born-again evangelicals, or the type of manufactured adulation common in North Korea. Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned king on May 5, 1950. News of the 88-year-old's death was announced Thursday, October 13, via a statement from the Royal Palace read on state TV. He was the world's longest-reigning living monarch. Bhumibol, left, is pictured in 1935 with his older brother, the former King Ananda Mahidol, in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the boys attended school. King Ananda was 20 when he died of a gunshot wound under mysterious circumstances. His 18-year-old brother, known then as Prince Phumiphon Aduldet, later assumed the throne to become King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Bhumibol and his future wife, Princess Sirikit Kityakara, are pictured in Lausanne in 1949. The couple married a year later at Srapathum Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. The King and Queen pose with their children, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Ubol Ratana, on the steps of Bangkok's Chitralada Palace in 1955. Two more daughters, Princesses Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Chulabhorn Walailak, were born in 1955 and 1957. The royal couple ride with U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower during a five-day state visit to the United States in 1960. The King, far right, plays the saxophone during a 1960 jam session with legendary jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman and his band in New York. The King walks with his wife and their 13-year-old son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, during a visit to Britain in 1966. The King convenes the first meeting of his country's National Reform Assembly during a ceremony held in Bangkok in 1976. The King put the monarchy at the center of Thai society, acting as a force for community and tradition even as the country flipped between political crises and military coups. The King raises a camera to take a photo in 1995. He was given his first camera in 1934, which ignited a lifelong enthusiasm for photography. He has often been seen with a camera around his neck during public appearances. The King and Queen survey a rice crop made possible by a Royal Irrigation Project in 1996. The project formed part of the Royal Development Projects, which focused on developing remote rural areas. The King has taken an interest in environmental projects throughout his long reign. The King reviews an honor guard with Queen Sirikit and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn during the annual military parade to celebrate his birthday in 2006. The King lights candles at a ceremony to mark Coronation Day in Bangkok in 2007. The King is wheeled towards his yacht in 2010, during a rare public appearance to open a new flood gate and two bridges in Bangkok. The King is pictured with family members in 2012. He addressed a crowd from a balcony on his 85th birthday. The King is seen through a car window as he leaves the Siriraj hospital in Bangkok in 2015. A portrait of the King is held on the eve of his 88th birthday as people gather outside the Siriraj hospital in 2015. The King of Thailand is regarded as a demi-god by many Thais, and his popularity has been viewed as a unifying force during times of political unrest. This reverence and respect for the monarch derived from the Cold War era when Thailand had to go it alone as the last domino withstanding communist expansionism in Southeast Asia. In rapid succession during April and May 1975, Cambodia fell to the Maoist Khmer Rouge, Saigon to the North Vietnamese army and Laos to communist insurgents. On Thailand's western front, Burma -- now Myanmar -- became reclusive and autocratic after 1962. At home, Thailand was poor, beset with regular blackouts, unreliable waterworks and unpaved roads in most places. In these early years of economic development, King Bhumibol exerted efforts beyond the call of duty and built an indelible bond with his people. He traversed far-flung corners of the land, at some risk as the local communist insurgency was making headway, to promote agricultural production, irrigation, infrastructure construction and myriad public good. As a core component of the Thai national identity, the late King lived a modest life when he could have been lavish. He endured hardship when comfort was available and gave Thais a unifying, rallying symbol to thwart external threats and to believe in their country's immense potential. Detractors and critics will say all that was achieved was misguided and came at a great cost of a long period of military-authoritarian rule, that development was lopsided in favor of the urban elite, that democratic development was stunted by repeated coups that kept the military-monarchy symbiosis front and center in Thai society. These points are not invalid, but Thailand would not be where it is today without King Bhumibol, a force of personality who led by example with unsurpassable moral authority. His achievement is self-evident in view of the harsher times that befell Thailand's neighbors over the same period. Stay up to date on the latest opinion, analysis and conversations through social media. Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion and follow us @CNNOpinion on Twitter. We welcome your ideas and comments. By virtue of his success, the late monarch has left behind a modern country that now has to come to terms with his passing. While the military junta plays an instrumental role in the transition to a new monarch, elections and democratic rule ultimately cannot be denied, and popular voices have been heard time and again calling for a more collective self-determined future. The monarchy that King Bhumibol rebuilt will not be the same under his successor. The imperatives of democratic rule require a 21st-century kind of monarchy within a renegotiated constitutional order. Brokering and institutionalizing this compromise is Thailand's way forward.</s>King Bhumibol reigned for seven decades after ascending the throne in 1946. His loss will be deeply mourned in Thailand, where he was regarded as a pillar of stability during decades of political upheaval and rapid development.

The palace did not give a cause of death but he has been sick in hospital with various ailments for much of the past year.

"His Majesty has passed away at Siriraj Hospital peacefully," the palace said.

His son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, is expected to become Thailand's new king.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha addressed the nation shortly after the announcement of the king's death to say an heir to the throne had been designated since 1972 and that the government would inform parliament of the choice.Prayuth did not identify the heir but King Bhumibol designated Prince Vajiralongkorn, 64, the heir apparent when he invested him as the crown prince in 1972.

The assembly was due to hold a special session later.

Prayuth, wearing a black suit and tie, urged Thais to love one another and protect "the father's land."

More than 1,000 people gathered at the hospital where the king had been staying. Many of them started to cry as the news of his death broke.

Most Thais have known no other monarch and his picture is hung in almost every house, school and office across the kingdom. Until his later years, he was featured on television almost every day, shown visiting poor areas and working on development projects.

Parichart Kaewsin, 35, who works in a bank, stood at the edge of the hospital garden, gazing up at the top floor of the building where the king was treated.

"I knew he was sick but I still can't believe this day has come," she said, choking back tears.

"That's why I came here - to hear for myself." She said it was like a member of her family has died, she said. "He was like our dad."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped Thailand would honor the king's legacy of commitment to universal values and respect for human rights, his spokesman said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama offered condolences to the Thai people and the king's family.

"His Majesty was a tireless champion of his country's development and demonstrated unflagging devotion to improving the standard of living of the Thai people," Obama said in a White House statement.

Anxiety about the king's health and the succession has formed the backdrop to over a decade of political upheaval that has included two coups.

He was seen as a force for unity, and there have long been concerns that without him the country's divisions could worsen.

That seems unlikely under the military government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has kept a tight grip on power since toppling an elected government in 2014.

Prince Vajiralongkorn has yet to command the respect and adoration that his father drew after a lifetime on the throne.

He has kept a lower profile than King Bhumibol for most of his life but in the past two years he took on more of the public duties the king was no longer able to perform. The prince divorced his third wife in 2014.

Thailand's strict lese-majeste laws have left little room for public discussion about the succession. It has been so long since Thailand has had a succession, there is no modern precedent.

Queen Sirikit, 84, has also been in poor health over recent years.

Prayuth said civil servants would observe mourning for a year. He also urged Thais to refrain from "festivities" for 30 days. Flags would fly at half-mast at all government buildings and schools for 30 days, he said.

A royal cremation is expected to take months to prepare. When the king's sister died in 2008, a 100-day mourning period was declared. She was cremated 10 months after her death.

The heir's coronation will not take place until the mourning period is over.

Some Bangkok residents reported bars closing after the announcement but it was not clear if all of the city's famous night spots had shut early.

Thailand is unlikely to face major economic disruption after the death of the king, some risk analysts and diplomats said.

The military government might postpone to 2018 a general election scheduled for next year, and Thai stocks and the baht currency are likely to be volatile in the short term, the Eurasia Group of risk analysts said in a report issued before the announcement.

But given a smooth transition, major disruption is not expected, it said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand's benchmark index .SETI fell as much as 6.9 percent on Wednesday, as rumours of the king's deteriorating health spread, to its lowest since March 1, but recovered to close down 2.5 percent.

It closed 0.47 percent up on Thursday before the announcement of the king's death.</s>King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who took the throne of the kingdom once known as Siam shortly after the second World War and held it for more than 70 years, establishing himself as a revered personification of Thai nationhood, has died aged 88.

Bhumibol was a unifying figure in a deeply polarised country, and his death cast a pall of uncertainty across Thailand, raising questions about the future of the monarchy itself.

The military junta, which seized power in a coup two years ago, derives its authority from the king. But the king’s heir apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, seen by many as a jet-setting playboy, is not held in the same regard as his father.

Bhumibol spent most of his final years in a special suite at a hospital. His portrait hung in almost every shop, and as his health declined, billboards proclaimed “Long Live the King,” signalling widespread anxiety about a future without him. In response, he openly fretted about the people feeling so insecure.

Thais came to see the king as a father figure wholly dedicated to their welfare, and as the embodiment of stability in a country where political leadership rose and fell through decades of military coups.

Bhumibol was an accidental monarch, thrust onto the throne at 18 by the violent death of his older brother in 1946. He embraced the role of national patriarch, upholding Thailand’s traditions of hierarchy, deference and loyalty.

If he was a people’s king, Bhumibol was a quiet and somewhat aloof one. He was a man of sober, serious mien, often isolated in his palaces, protected by the most stringent of lèse-majesté laws, which effectively prevent almost any public discussion of the royal family.

But he had a worldly bent. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his father was a student at Harvard, he was educated in Switzerland, spoke impeccable English and French, composed music, played jazz on the clarinet and saxophone, wrote, painted, took up photography, and spent hours in a greenhouse at his Chitrlada Palace in Bangkok.

Once he had returned from Europe, however, he stayed put. Never interested in a jet-set life, he stopped travelling abroad, saying there was too much to do at home. He was content to trudge through croplands in distant provinces, tending to the many development projects he encouraged and oversaw.

In a political crisis, Thais admired him for his shrewd sense of when to intervene – sometimes with only a gesture – to defuse it, even though he had only a limited constitutional role and no direct political power.

“We are fighting in our own house,” he scolded two warring politicians he had summoned to sit abjectly at his feet in 1992. “It is useless to live on burned ruins.”

Eleven years earlier, he had aborted a coup by simply inviting the besieged prime minister, Prem Tinsulanonda, to stay at a royal palace with the king and queen.

Thailand was transformed during his reign, moving from a mostly agricultural economy to a modern one of industry and commerce and a growing middle class. He presided over an expansion of democratic processes, though it was halting. He witnessed a dozen successful military coups and several attempted uprisings, and in his last years, his health failing, he appeared powerless to stem sometimes violent demonstrations, offering only vague appeals for unity and giving royal endorsement to two coups.

Bhumibol Adulyadej was born in 1927, the son of Prince Mahidol of Songkhla.

Bhumibol’s mother, Princess Sangwalya Chukramol, was a Thai nurse studying on a scholarship at Simmons College in Boston when she met the prince. Bhumibol had an older brother, Ananda, and a sister, Galyani Vadhana.

His father died when Bhumibol was two, and his mother took her children to Switzerland for schooling. Their family life was interrupted in 1935 when Thailand’s last absolute king, Prajadhipok, Mahidol’s half brother, abdicated in the wake of a military coup. The crown passed to Mahidol’s eldest son, Prince Ananda, 10.

Ananda was barely into his 20s when, on June 9th, 1946, he was found dead in his private chambers with a bullet through his head. Bhumibol was the last family member to have seen him alive, but he never spoke publicly about the death or about rumours that the young king may have committed suicide or killed himself accidentally.

While on a trip to Paris, he met Sirikit Kitiyakara, whose father, a Thai prince, was serving as a diplomat in Europe. They married in 1950, the year Bhumibol was formally crowned Rama IX of the Chakri dynasty.

Bhumibol is survived by Queen Sirikit, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and three daughters, Princesses Ubolratana, Sirindhorn and Chulabhorn.</s>INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died after 70 years on the throne, the palace says.

The king, 88, was widely revered in Thailand. He was seen as a stabilising figure in a country hit by cycles of political turmoil and multiple coups.

He had been in poor health in recent years, making few public appearances.

Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will be the new monarch, the prime minister has said.

"He is now in heaven and may be looking over Thai citizens from there,'' he said.

The king's death comes as Thailand remains under military rule following a coup in 2014.

Prayuth Chan-ocha also said Thailand would observe a year-long mourning period for King Bhumibol.</s>BANGKOK -- King Bhumibol Adulyadej, revered in Thailand as a father figure and an anchor of stability through decades of upheaval at home and abroad, died Thursday. He was 88 and had been the world's longest-reigning monarch.

The Royal Palace said Bhumibol died "in a peaceful state" at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, where he had been treated for health problems for most of the past decade.

During a reign that spanned 70 years, Bhumibol became much more than Thailand's constitutional monarch. He was the nation's one constant as governments rose and fell, a gentle leader who used his influence to unify the nation and rally troops through the Cold War as Thailand's neighbors fell under communist control.

In his heyday, the soft-spoken man in spectacles wielded so much power and respect he was able to quash coups and rebellions with a gesture or a few well-chosen words.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will become the new monarch, in accordance with the constitution. He said the government will notify the National Legislative Assembly of the succession.

Prayuth told reporters that he had an audience with the prince hours after Bhumibol's death, and Vajiralongkorn had asked for a delay in proclaiming him king so he could "take some time to mourn, together with the people of Thailand."

With the king's passing, the world's longest-reigning monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended to the British throne in 1952.

Bhumibol was viewed by many in the majority Buddhist nation as a bodhisattva, or holy being who delays entering nirvana to aid the human race. But while junta leaders, prime ministers and courtiers approached him only on their knees, Bhumibol was down-to-earth.

He hiked into impoverished villages and remote rice paddies to assess the state of his country.

He played a half-dozen musical instruments and jammed with American jazz greats including Benny Goodman.

Bhumibol was the world's richest monarch and one of the planet's wealthiest people: Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at more than $30 billion in 2011.

In the past decade, Bhumibol withdrew from public life because of illness and was often ensconced at Siriraj Hospital. His wife, Queen Sirikit, also has long been ailing and has been seen even more rarely.

Hundreds of weeping mourners stood outside the hospital Thursday, chanting prayers and looking up at the building.

Since army-staged coups in 2006 and 2014, political rivals had increasingly invoked the need to protect the palace as a pretext to gain or hold power, and some politicians have been sidelined by opponents who accused them of disrespecting the king, a grave crime in the Southeast Asian country.

Although Bhumibol once said he is not above criticism, Thailand's lese majeste law has been routinely employed in recent years, with anyone charged with defaming the palace facing 15 years in jail.

Bhumibol Adulyadej was born Dec. 5, 1927, in Cambridge, Mass., while his father, Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, was studying medicine at Harvard University.

Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932, with the prime minister and parliament holding political power, and the king serving as head of state and placed in "a position of revered worship."

Bhumibol ascended to the throne in 1946, when his brother, 20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol, was found dead of a gunshot wound in the head in a palace bedroom under circumstances that remain mysterious.

After the shooting, Bhumibol returned to school in Switzerland.

In 1948, he was seriously injured in a road accident that left him blind in his right eye; Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of a Thai aristocrat and diplomat, helped nurse him back to health. Bhumibol and Sirikit wed in 1950, a week before the coronation.

The name Bhumibol means "strength of the land," and the bounty of Thailand's soil and waters was the king's passion.

In 1952, he set out to breed a better freshwater fish, a staple of the Thai peasantry, in the ponds of his Chitralada Palace in Bangkok.

Over his reign, as Thailand hurtled from a traditional agrarian society of 18 million people to a modern, industrial country of 70 million, Bhumibol spearheaded more than 4,300 development projects. He traveled his nation to join village elders on a patch of grass to discuss the harvest or plot an irrigation ditch.

"They say that a kingdom is like a pyramid: the king on top and the people below," he once said. "But in this country it's upside down. That's why I sometimes have a pain around here." He pointed to his neck and shoulders.

Usually in the background, the king stepped forward at crucial moments. During a pro-democracy uprising in 1973, he ordered the gates of the Grand Palace to be opened to students fleeing the gunfire of troops loyal to a dictatorial triumvirate.

The message was clear, and the trio went into exile. In another bloody confrontation in 1992 between the military and pro-democracy protesters, the king called in the two key protagonists, who prostrated themselves before him on nationwide TV and promised peace. The crisis ended immediately.

After mass protests against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra began in 2006, Bhumibol urged the top courts to resolve the political crisis. A bloodless military coup followed.

By 2011, the king's health had worsened and Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra had become prime minister through elections.

Mass protests helped fuel an unstable climate that triggered another army coup in 2014.

Through it all, Bhumibol remained adored and revered. His occasional public outings drew tens of thousands of people trying to catch a glimpse, with most dressed in the royal color yellow.</s>Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has died after 70 years as head of state.

The 88-year-old king was widely revered but had been in poor health in recent years, making few public appearances.

He was seen as a stabilising figure in a country hit by cycles of political turmoil and multiple coups.

Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will be the new monarch, the prime minister has said.

 The announcement

After two days of speculation and rumours surrounding the king’s deteriorating health, the palace announcement confirming his death finally came early on Thursday evening.

“His majesty has passed away at Siriraj Hospital peacefully,” a statement said, adding he had died at 15:52 (08:52 GMT).

In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said Thailand would hold a one-year mourning period, that flags would fly half-mast and all entertainment functions must be “toned down” for a month.

In a later statement he urged vigilance, saying national security was a top priority.

“Everyone will need to be alert in every region and throughout the country to ensure safety”, he said.

The king’s death comes as Thailand remains under military rule following a coup in 2014.

A palace official, speaking to crowds outside the hospital, said the body of the king would be moved to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok on Friday.

 The people’s grief

King Bhumibol was widely respected across Thailand, and thought of by many as semi-divine.

Hundreds of mourners gathered outside the Bangkok hospital where he died, stricken with grief at the news.

As night fell, crowds of mourners remained at the hospital where the King died

Many held pictures of the king and wore yellow or pink clothing in his honour.

“How will Thailand live without you father?” cried one distressed man.

“I lost one of the most important people in my life. I feel like I haven’t done enough for him,” said another.

A wave of emotion swept through the crowd – Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Bangkok

Throughout the first part of the day the king’s supporters had sung royal songs and recited prayers at Siriraj Hospital. Many wore carefully chosen colours. Pink, for good health, or yellow the royal colour.

Most knelt holding pictures of King Bhumibol, facing the part of the hospital where he was receiving treatment.

By early afternoon the mood had begun to change. With all of his children at his bedside, rumours were circulating that the 88-year-old had passed away.

Although the prime minister said Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn would become the new monarch, he added that the official proclamation would be made at a later date.

He said the crown prince had confirmed that he would perform his duty as heir to the throne, but had asked for time to mourn his father’s death.

The crown prince, who is 64, is much less well known to Thais and has not attained his father’s widespread popularity. He spends much of his time overseas, especially in Germany.

Strict lese-majeste laws protect the most senior members of Thailand’s royal family from insult or threat. Public discussion of the succession can be punishable by lengthy jail terms.

Given the pivotal role the king has played in maintaining the balance of power in Thailand’s volatile political environment, the succession will be a formidable challenge for the government, says the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Bangkok.

King Bhumibol, who was born in Cambridge in the US state of Massachusetts, acceded to the throne on 9 June 1946 after his brother, King Ananda Mahidol, died.

Though a constitutional monarch with limited official powers, many Thais looked to King Bhumibol to him to intervene in times of high tension. He was seen as a unifying and calming influence through numerous coups and 20 constitutions.

However, his critics argued he had endorsed military takeovers and at times had failed to speak out against human rights abuses.

Following the death of King Bhumibol, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has become the world longest-reigning monarch, having been on the throne for 64 years.

Tributes have been flowing in from across the world.

US President Barack Obama called the late king a “tireless champion of his country’s development”.

“I had the honour of calling on his majesty the king during my visit to Thailand in 2012, and recall his grace and warmth, as well as his deep affection and compassion for the Thai people,” he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in a statement that he hoped Thailand would honour King Bhumibol’s legacy of commitment to universal values and respect for human rights.

Asian leaders were quick to express their condolences. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the late king as “one of the tallest leaders of our times”.

Image copyright AP

 Image caption Crowds outside the hospital howled with grief when the announcement was made

Image copyright AFP

 Image caption Most ordinary Thais know only a few details about Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37643326</s>Bangkok: Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died after a long illness, plunging his south-east Asian country of 64 million people into a period of intense mourning and uncertainty. He was 88.

Thai television interrupted programming to make the announcement shortly before 7pm Thai time.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha announced that Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will succeed his father.

People cry outside Siriraj Hospital after the death was announced. Photo: AP

"The government will proceed with the succession. The government will inform the National Legislative Assembly that his Majesty the King appointed his heir on December 28 1972," Mr Prayuth said. The assembly was due to meet Thursday evening.

Mr Prayath said there would be a 12 month mourning period and flags would fly at half mast for 30 days. He said there could be no celebratory events held for 30 days, indicating there will be restrictions on bars and the selling of alcohol.

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Revered by Thais, the king succeeded to the throne on June 9, 1946, when he was a gangly, thick-spectacled American-born 18-year-old who could barely speak Thai.

During 70 years on the throne he presided over the revival of a faltering centuries-old royal institution, growing in power and influence as he helped direct Thailand's social and economic development.

A young woman lights a candle before praying at Erawan Shrine in Bangkok on Thursday. Photo: Kate Geraghty

Thailand's National Assembly ended an extraordinary session late Thursday night without inviting a successor to the king to ascend to the throne.

"We are preparing the next moves," said a spokesman for the assembly, which is made up of military appointees. Assembly members wore black and stood in silence for nine minutes.

People pray at Erawan Shrine in Bangkok on Thursday following the death of the King. Photo: Kate Geraghty

It is likely to be months before the Crown Prince's coronation as the new monarch,as Thailand goes through a period of intense national mourning.

Many businesses are expected to be closed or provide reduced services as Thais mourn the loss of the ninth Chakri king, whom many regard as semi-divine.

Mourning outside the hospital after the Royal Palace made the announcement. Photo: AP

Western diplomats in Bangkok say tourists and expatriates in Thailand should wear black and respect the grief Thais will be feeling for their king, whose portrait hangs in every government building and in many shops and homes.

People in a crowd that had gathered at Bangkok's Siriraj hospital, where the king has been battling ailments for several years, openly wept as news of the death swept social media.

An undated photo of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. Photo: AFP

"Long live the King! Long live the King!" they cried, gazing up at the hospital building with tear-filled eyes.

Dozens of doctors wearing white coats solemnly sang the Thai national anthem in the hospital's foyer. One women wearing pink, a colour royal astrologists said was good for the king, collapsed hysterically in the hospital grounds holding photograph of the king and queen. But a Reuters reporter said most of the people at the hospital were dignified.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2010. Photo: Reuters

Four of the king's children, including 63-year-old Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, were at the hospital Thursday evening. The Crown Prince arrived in the country on Thursday from Germany where he owns a lakeside villa.

King Bhumibol had been treated for various ailments during a year-long hospitalisation in the Thai capital. He had not made a public appearance since January 2016.

Thailand's Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. Photo: Reuters

Anxiety over his health and eventual succession has formed the backdrop to more than a decade of bitter political division in Thailand that has included military takeovers and sometimes violent street demonstrations.

The death follows a coup in May 2014 that toppled the democratically-elected government of Thailand's first female prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Photo: Getty Images

King Bhumibol acceded to the throne after the mysterious shooting death of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol, at the Royal Palace in Bangkok on June 9, 1946.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his father was studying, King Bhumibol, whose name means "Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power", was educated in Switzerland before returning to Thailand to be crowned on May 5, 1950, with a promise to the nation: "We shall reign with righteousness, for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese [Thai] people."

He had married Queen Sirikit - then a 17-year-old student - a week earlier, and they had four children, one son and three daughters.

The queen, who turned 84 in August 2016, has also suffered ailments and hospitalisation in recent times.

News about the royal family is tightly controlled in Thailand, where laws protecting the royals from insult make it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent.

Former army chief and now Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha warned when he led the 2014 coup that anything deemed "offensive" to the monarchy would be dealt with harshly under the country's lese-majeste laws.</s>King Bhumibol reigned for seven decades after ascending the throne in 1946. His loss will be deeply mourned in Thailand, where he was regarded as a pillar of stability during decades of political upheaval and rapid development.

The palace did not give a reason for his death but he has been sick in hospital with various ailments for much of the past year.

"His Majesty has passed away at Siriraj Hospital peacefully," the palace said, adding he died at 15:52 (0852 GMT).

His son, the 63-year old Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, is expected to become Thailand's new king.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha addressed the nation shortly after the announcement of the king's death to say an heir to the throne had been designated since 1972 and that the government would inform parliament of the choice.

Prayuth did not identify the heir but King Bhumibol designated prince Vajiralongkorn the heir apparent when he invested him as the crown prince in 1972.

"The government will inform the National Legislative Assembly that His Majesty the King has already designated his heir," said Prayuth, who wore a black suit and tie.

The assembly is due to hold a special session later on Thursday.

Prayuth urged Thais to love one another and protect "the father's land."

Anxiety about the king's health and the succession has formed the backdrop to over a decade of political upheaval in Thailand that has included two coups.

More than 1,000 people gathered at the hospital where the king had been staying. Many of them started to cry as the news of his death broke.

The king was seen as head of an institution central to Thai identity and as a father-figure to the nation.

Most Thais have known no other monarch.

Parichart Kaewsin, 35, who works in a bank, stood at the edge of the hospital garden, gazing up at the top floor of the building where the king was treated.

"I knew he was sick but I still can't believe this day has come," she said, choking back tears.

"That's why I came here - to hear for myself." She said it was like a member of her family has died, she said. "He was like our dad."

King Bhumibol was seen as a force for unity, and there have long been concerns that without him the country's divisions could worsen.

That seems unlikely under the military government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has kept a tight grip on power since toppling an elected government in 2014.

Prince Vajiralongkorn has yet to command the respect and adoration that his father drew after a lifetime on the throne.

He has kept a lower profile than King Bhumibol for most of his life but in the past two years he took on more of the public duties the king was no longer able to perform. The prince divorced his third wife in 2014.

Thailand's strict lese-majeste laws have left little room for public discussion about the succession. It has been so long since Thailand has had a succession, there is no modern precedent.

Prayuth said civil servants would observe mourning for a year. He also urged Thais to refrain from "festivities" for 30 days. Flags would fly at half-mast at all government buildings and schools for 30 days, he said.

A royal cremation is expected to take months to prepare. When the king's sister died in 2008, a 100-day mourning period was declared. She was cremated 10 months after her death.

The heir's coronation will not take place until the mourning period is over.
The King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej dies at the age of 88. He was the world's longest currently serving monarch.