Thailand’s ailing king — the world’s longest-reigning monarch — recently suffered a health problem that caused him to temporarily lose consciousness, his daughter revealed, linking the incident to stress over the country’s flood crisis. News that the health of 83-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej took what Princess Chulabhorn described as a brief turn for the worse comes as floods have inundated much of Thailand, including parts of Bangkok and its suburbs.
Chulabhorn, the king’s youngest daughter, said on Friday during a visit to flood victims in Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok that King Bhumibol had gone into shock and lost consciousness after suffering abdominal bleeding and a sharp drop in his blood pressure. She said that about 800 cc of blood had been found in his bowel movements. Chulabhorn said the king returned to normal health after being treated at the hospital where he has been staying for more than two years, according to the official royal news broadcast on Friday night.
The king has been shown from time to time on television speaking — sometimes with difficulty — at royal functions held at the hospital. Chulabhorn said doctors told her the recent bleeding could have been caused by concern over the flooding. “So I asked the nurse what he had been doing in the past few days,” Chulabhorn said. “It turned out that he had been watching news about the flood. This indicates that His Majesty the King loves his people as his own children. He is very concerned and he usually doesn’t speak much, but (his concern) is seen in his physical condition.”
A doctor in neighbouring Myanmar asked to comment on the king’s symptoms said it would take more than psychological stress for someone to lose 800 cc of blood. Dr Tun Kyaw, assistant surgeon at the government hospital in Yangon’s North Okkala neighbourhood, said there had to be other reasons, such as an existing affliction or side effect from medicine. Blood-thinning drugs can cause abnormal bleeding.
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