Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

When we arrived in Thailand Friday, we noticed that many of the people were dressed in black and airport personnel wore black ribbons on their sleeves. Just two days earlier, Princess Galyani, the only sister of Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died of abdominal cancer at the age of 84.

The government declared a 15-day mourning, and thus coalition talks of political parties and political announcements have been ceased the following day, even at such a politically critical period as the elections just December 23, after the coup that ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawtra in September 2006.

When we got home, we learned that Dick, Trevor’s 98-year old stepfather, passed away in Wales on the day after our arrival in Bangkok. In retrospect, it felt as if Thailand was mourning this death too.

Around the time that Dick passed away, I believe we have just visited the first Buddhist temple for the morning tour - and there I took a photo of a lonely black cat contemplating a long row of scattered yellow saffron flowers on the temple floor.

Dick probably would find such a scene familiar, having stayed in Burma for many years during the latter years of the British occupation of Burma (1886 to 1948) where temples (or pagodas) not very unlike those in Bangkok abound. We will miss old Dick …

Thai Princess Galyani dies of abdominal cancer: royal household
Posted: 02 January 2008 0929 hrs.

BANGKOK: The only sister of Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej died of abdominal cancer on Wednesday at the age of 84, the royal household said.

Princess Galyani “passed away at 2:54 am (1954 GMT) on January 2, 2008,” the household said in an announcement. The king’s elder sister had been undergoing treatment at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital since June last year.

Princess Galyani, an lifelong French language and literature academic, was awarded the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian distinction, in late December.

The king was close to his sister, and visited the hospital almost daily.

She began her career as a French professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, the kingdom’s most prestigious academic institution.

After a 10-year break from teaching, she took over as head of the French department at Thammasat University in 1969 and later headed the Association of French Professors in Thailand, working to promote the French language.

Later in life, the princess devoted her energies to rural development and education, particularly in Thailand’s impoverished northeast.

She also chaired several charities, including the Kidney Foundation, and helped secure funding for the construction of rural schools.

She married twice and had one daughter.

The 80-year-old king was taken to the same hospital in October last year after experiencing weakness on the right side of his body.

When he left hospital in early November, cheering crowds of well-wishers shouted “Long live the king.”

King Bhumibol, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, is treated with an almost religious devotion in Thailand and his health is a subject of great national concern. - AFP/ac

From Channelnewsasia …

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