As expected, the official statements about the King’s health were somehow misleading.
First, the timeline :
–saturday 19 september. The King is hospitalized for “fever, fatigue and loss of appetite“.
-the doctors treated him with “antibiotics and intravenous fluids”
-by the end of last week, everything seems to fine : no fever, blood analysis are okay, appetite came back and sleep too. But they gave him “physical therapy“… It sounded strange. Already…
But… The ninth statement, published monday night, shows that they lied to us.
His Majesty the King has recovered from a lung infection and fever and is in a good condition in general, the ninth Royal Household Bureau statement said last night.
After His Majesty developed fever yesterday, the royal physicians examined him and diagnosed a lung infection. They did not find any stomach infection, and His Majesty does not have a cough.
After His Majesty was administered a new type of antibiotic and fed intravenously, his fever subsided, and his condition returned to normal yesterday morning, the statement said. (Nation)
Lung infection ? This is a completely different ball game. And you can admire the totally idiotic time line given by the article… It doesn’t make any sense.
It goes like that : the King had fever AGAIN MONDAY MORNING. The doctors discovered a lung infection MONDAY MORNING. And then, with a new antibiotics…. the King WAS CURED by the end of the very same morning ! An antiobiotic working in a few hours ?
It’s a shame to serve such bullshit to the public. Shame on those people. Shame on Nation to write such non sense.
The thai people have the right to know the truth.
2 solutions :
-they have lied since the beginning. The King had indeed a lung infection. A much more serious condition than “fever, fatigue and loss of appetite”.
-or they are totally incompetent.
UPDATE
The 10th official statement shows that, unfortunatly, we were right : they lied. Lie by omission. Or, if you prefer, they have watered down the reality…
His Majesty the King’s lung infection has been responding to medication, along with his fever, the Royal Household Bureau said yesterday.
The latest Xray showed that both the infection and flu are clearing up. His Majesty’s general condition is good.
The intravenous feeding of medicine and nutrients is continuing, the Palace said in its 10th statement on His Majesty’s illness. (Nation)
So eventually they said the word : flu.
Thailand Crisis 
Dear TC,
With immense sadness for the Thai nation and it’s people after recent experience with the Thai health system, the second of your two solutions at close of this article may well be correct.
“-they have lied since the beginning.”
-or they are totally incompetent.”
The two are not mutually exclusive TC 😉
You cant expect the palace to be straight about this anyway.
The King was likely suffering from pneumonia, but it is difficult to see why he was offered physical therapy unless the pneumonia was associated with another, more serious condition which then might require physical therapy.
Like a stroke.
The correlation between strokes and pneumonia is well documented and very common, but of course the Palace is not likely to announce another stroke, they are much more likely only to announce the ‘lung infection’.
Administering a ‘new antibiotic’ probably moves the seriousness of the ‘lung infection to the upper end of the risk range.
Bedwyr believes the King has suffered another (perhaps minor) stroke, and notes that there is no announcement of a ‘going home’ date.
Bedwyr also believes this is more serious than people are admitting.
I can see it now, when that fateful day arrives we will get the standard “He is resting comfortably now”.
Not really a lie now, is it?
Alot of thais are really nervous.
I would have to say that what Bedwyr has put forward seems preety much a very good guess, I would guess the ‘new antibiotic’ is more likely one of the latest drugs being used to treat stroke victims.
Its sad that nobody seems to have enough respect to be honest with the Thai people who’s love and concern for the King deserves to be treated with equal respect.
I fear, “when that fateful day arrives”, we won’t hear about it for a while …
Well, we shall see. How many days will he stay in hospital? That will tell the tale. 11 days so far, intravenous drips and feeding. Some key inconsistencies:
1. 11 days for a lung infection that subsided last week, after being brought to Siriraj from Hua Hin.
2. News releases that say the fever has subsided, then some days later that HMK has responded to treatment.
3. Absence of a stomach infection. Stomach infection? Where did that come from? Loss of appetite?
4. Twice ‘offered’ physical therapy. For a lung infection that has disappeared?
Even allowing for Thai incompetence and the rule that ‘every stray thought must be blurted out, especially if a microphone is thrust into ‘, something appears not to be quite right. I would be really interested in where the CP is now. If he has disappears off the radar it would be an ominous sign that the issue of the succession might be close to being a real problem.
How many times can his condition return to ‘Normal’. With so much good news every day, should he not be running a marathon by this point?
When that day comes it will be announced by the Government which will be under martial law. Then the Queen is Regent, and will take over. Then the question of succession will be decided by the privy council and anounced by the Regent, the Queen. It will probably take years before the succession is decided by the Privy Council. During which time the members of Kings family will continue their royal duties, with The Queen. Meanwhile The little prince will get old enough to be crowned – one possibility.
Another possibility is the King will personally name his successor, and that will be that.
Remember, the king is head of the armed forces so you can hope the military will retain order and peace. Thank God for the Thai army in troubled times.
One expat told me, “Thailand is best when the Army is in control”. We have seen it and we expect it – specially on that fateful day. You can be certain that the Kings army already has a plan well in place.
Ray : I start to change my mind. And I vote for your scenario (the first one with the Queen, the regency, and a succession that could drag on for years).
I was expecting the factions to wake up, creating instability, creating a void etc… But you may be right : years and years… of no big change.
I truly believe that only an idiot could think the miltary and their leader, the king, have not considered this issue, and certinly have a plan of action firmly in place.
Besides, this is all assuming that the king personally or in his will has not made any decison!??? Such a great king in the whole world has not considered what to do? That’s untrue and absurd.
Everyone acts like the succession with be an H- bomb, but this is Thailand, and I greatly doubt there will be a problom that has not already been considered.
Besides, the Queen is just as popular as the king. People should stop all this gloom and doom BS.
Bedwyr is ot one to say “I told you so” but he did. The Palace has been outed. They are calling it ‘pneumonitis’ (inflammation) rather than pneumonia (infection), but they have already given the lie to themselves by repeatedly referring to ‘lung infection’ in previous bulletins. Also, you give antibiotics to treat infection not inflammation.
Also, and crucially, what they don’t say is that pneumonia *is* pneumonitis with a couple of additional complications. Someone is trying to be clever with words. Not lying but knowingly not telling the truth is still mendacious.
@TC: Your comment agreeing with Ray is sound, however it assumes that HMQ is not just as despised and reviled out there as the CP, and Bedwyr is not sure that is a safe assumption.
Heads they lose, tails they don’t win. Thailand is in for a very shitty time indeed.
So. Bedwyr was the first to predict the rise of Newin. Bedwyr was the first to out the Palace about the pneumonia.
Who’s yo Daddy?
But on that fateful announcement I believe the first to know will be privy council and Army. They will quickly and quietly install emergency rule, without a coup. Then it will be announced by the govt. This is my prediction, and I know a bit more about than most people because of certain friends… So please rest easy, because sorrow is completely different than chaos. But the political situation will remain a headache as normal. I think with Abhisit as pm that Thailand never looked so highclass and good as this. He makes me proud of Thai people.
@Ray:
“Besides, the Queen is just as popular as the king. People should stop all this gloom and doom BS.”
You are wrong. The Queen does not enjoy the popularity of the King. Or anything like it. In many areas of Thailand, the Queen is reviled almost as much as the CP. Reincarnation of a Sukhothai Queen indeed. Is it possible there could be anything more delusional?
“So please rest easy, because sorrow is completely different than chaos.”
You are wrong again. The psyche of the Thai people will collapse and there will be huge social disorder.
” I think with Abhisit as pm that Thailand never looked so highclass and good as this. He makes me proud of Thai people.”
Then it seems you are easily pleased because Abhisit is a muppet, a cardboard cut-out figure of fun and ridicule. Forget about ‘looked so high class’ and focus on substance and you will see better.
Bedwyr
Ray- you kidding me right???
I am surprised that the Bureau even released any details regarding the “inflammation.” The cycling on and off of intravenous nutrition is somewhat disconcerting. Ah well, my command of ratchasap is rather poor, so I have no easy way to confirm if the Nation’s statements match those coming from the Bureau.
Nope, I’m not kidding. Anyone knows the queen is popular and mothers day is just as big as fathers day here . I don’t know of a single wrong thing the queen has ever done. She had load of projects to help and there is not a single reason why Thai people wouldn’t love. So I’m not kidding! And that Thais are much smarter than you think. So done just imagine the explosion of Thailand – because you’ll be sadly disappointed. Luckily so.
I think after the queen attended one of the dead PAD member, what was her name again? Nong Bo if I’m not mistaken. Yeah after the funeral I think her popularity took a pretty serious hit, not just with the red, but also those impartial white, because that exactly the gesture that she took side, which she’s not suppose to.
Lastly, neither me nor you will ever know how popular the royal family is as long as Thailand is under strict lese marjeste law.
I think Tarrin’s comment sort of sums it up – it’s fairly nonsensical to discuss popularity of any party protected by law that is as draconian as the LM Law in Thailand. Weird times…
Ray, you must be a big joker!
The queen being popular? Is it a coincidence that her birthday is on mother´s day?
Maybe a Thai coincident but nothing more.
The Thai´s have never been allowed to view their real opinion on the Royal´s and they have no “real” information to view their opinion either. They never had a choice or change for that matter.
The Thai Factor is built in to the system so nothing changes. If that is what you mean when you say that the Thai´s are clever then they are extremely clever…so clever that I would call it genius of a sort:)
When people are constantly given the wrong or misleading information about themselves or life in general their opinion has little value at all. It´s all a game: The game we call the Thai Factor.
That’s a point! So, I wonder, which is better. To keep Thailands uniqueness or turn it into a so-called free country ? Is it so bad? Politics is always bad. But there has to be something to respect. What should br done, leave the Royal family open to insults! The new way? In any case the law is always subject to change. The real issue of this post is “will Thailand explode onto bloody savagry and total Apocolypse and end of the Thai race?” NO! There is already a plan ready. And the King can always choose his successor. The reason Thai people will feel hugly dad BUT Not create chaos is because it’s just not sanuk. If I thought the succession would be bloody hell then I would leave. And that’s my suggestion to all the doomsayers – if you really believe that then better leave before. But if you don’t really believe it the cool down!