Queen, generals visit the King

Her Majesty the Queen on Sunday morning visited her ailing husband at Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital where His Majesty remained under observation after treatment of a cerebral ischemia.

The King, the world's longest reigning king, was taken to Siriraj Hospital at about 9am Saturday, according to a statement from the Royal Household Bureau.

"Some eight hours of treatment alleviated the weakness in the right leg. The team of physicians then recommended hospitalisation for treatment and observation," the statement said.

Cerebral ischemia means that the brain or parts of the brain are not receiving sufficient blood to maintain normal thinking and bodily functions. It can result from various diseases and obstruction of arteries such as by the blood clot removed from the monarch's leg.

Privy Council members led by President Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda also visited His Majesty the King, who will celebrate his 80th birthday December 5.

Meanwhile, senior military leaders and persons from all walks of life wearing the distinctive yellow shirts in honour of the king's birth on a Monday also signed their names at the hospital to wish him well and a speedy recovery from his illness.

Because of the limited parking space at the hospital, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has urged motorists wishing to sign their names in the visitors book at the hospital to park their vehicles at Sanam Luang between 8am-12 noon and to catch a tram to transport them to a river pier from which they will then travel by shuttle boat across the river to the hospital.

His Majesty is greatly revered in Thailand and his health is the subject of great national concern. Earlier surgery in the past over more than one year for lumbar spinal stenosis and a rib fracture leaves the Thai public worried for his well-being. (TNA)