The end of six-day funeral of Thai princess

The elaborate six-day funeral (with an estimation of about 8.9-million-dollar ceremony) of Princess Galyani, sister of King Bhumibol Adulyadej ended this Sunday as the royal family collected the ashes of the deceased.

As monks in saffron robes intoned Buddhist chants, the Thai crown prince and princess received a lacquered, diamond-encrusted urn containing the remains. A solemn procession of more than 800 soldiers dressed in red and dignitaries clad in white then accompanied the urn from the specially built crematorium at a parade ground to the Royal Palace in old Bangkok. Thousands of mourners turned out to watch the ceremony.

With the world’s longest reigning monarch and his family treated by Thais as semi-divine but also non-political, the funeral has been a temporary unifying influence amid the three-month-old political crisis.

The truce may hold until the king’s 81st birthday on December 5, but then the hostilities between the government and the opposition People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) are likely to reignite, analysts said.

Thailand’s monarchy officially plays no political role, but when the king’s wife Queen Sirikit donated thousands of dollars towards medical expenses and attended the funeral of one of the people killed in last month’s protests, the demonstrators hailed the move as proof of royal support.