Funeral Procession and Public Mourning
As dusk settled over the ornate golden spires and gilded finials of Bangkok’s Grand Palace, the gates stood ready to welcome back a beloved princess. Princess Bajrakitiyabha, who had been hospitalized since December 2022 after collapsing while training her dogs, passed away after nearly four years in a coma.
On Saturday afternoon, her body was transported from the hospital in a royal funeral procession consisting of flashing motorcycles and cars that moved through the city center’s streets, which had been closed to traffic. Along the route, citizens dressed in black and officials clad in white suits with black armbands lined the streets for kilometers, waiting to pay their respects.
For hours, mourners gathered in the hot and humid conditions, many seated silently on sidewalks, bowing their heads with hands folded, some moved to tears. The procession was led by a silver van carrying the princess’s body, followed by her father, the king, in a cream-colored car. Officials saluted as the procession passed.
Remembering the Princess’s Legacy
Wanida Lainun, who wore a brooch bearing the princess’s image, shared with that her aunt had been involved in one of Princess Bajrakitiyabha’s projects aimed at assisting underprivileged communities in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
Known affectionately as Princess Bha, she was trained as a lawyer and served Thailand in various official capacities, including as an ambassador to Austria and within the royal security command. However, those gathered on Saturday primarily remembered her dedication to ordinary citizens, particularly her advocacy for the rights of female prisoners.
“The work she’s done in Thailand has touched my heart,”said Anchalee, who requested her last name be withheld. She highlighted the princess’s efforts to aid people during natural disasters.
“Herself and her team go there right away to help them.”
Following devastating floods in Bangkok in 1995, Princess Bajrakitiyabha and her mother personally prepared meals, packed medicines, and waded into isolated areas to deliver aid directly to those stranded, according to local media reports.
In October 1995, she established the Friends in Need (of ‘Pa’) project under the Thai Red Cross Society. This initiative installed weather stations in high-risk regions to provide early warnings. The foundation facilitated evacuations before disasters, offered frontline services, and supported flood-affected populations in overcoming poverty.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha was 47 years old at the time of her death on Thursday evening. Anchalee, who is the same age, expressed a personal connection to the princess, whom she met during college.
“She wouldn’t remember me, but I will always remember her,”she said.
Mourning and Rituals
Anchalee had been waiting on the streets since 10 a.m. for the funeral procession. She recalled the shock when the princess first fell ill and the hope that she would recover from the coma.
“We all hoped she could get better from the coma. We waited for years and we all prayed for her to get better.”
Earlier that morning, she had queued for hours to participate in a bathing ceremony at the Grand Palace, a Buddhist ritual involving pouring holy water into a ceremonial bowl placed before a portrait of the princess. The king had invited the public to attend this event.
“We pray for the princess to go to a beautiful place in heaven,”Anchalee said.
The prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, led members of the Thai cabinet in performing the bathing rite. Officials, including cabinet members, civil servants, and military officers, wore white suits traditionally worn during royal funeral processions.
Official Observances and Public Support
The government has not yet released detailed funeral arrangements but has instructed officials to wear black and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast for 15 days.
As the day concluded, government workers distributed free meals to the many mourners who remained outside the palace, awaiting the king’s departure.
