Thailand's Queen Mother Sirikit dies at 93, PM to skip Asean Summit

Former Queen of Thailand and mother of the current monarch, Queen Sirikit, passed away at age 93, the Thai royal palace confirmed on Saturday. Queen Sirikit was the mother of the current Thai ruler, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and the wife of the nation’s longest reigning monarch, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“Her Majesty’s condition worsened until Friday and she passed away at 9:21 pm (local time)… at Chulalongkorn Hospital at age 93,” Thailand’s royal palace said in a statement on Saturday. Sirikit was married to King Bhumibol, who died in 2016 after serving on the throne for 70 years.

She was suffering from numerous ailments and rarely appeared in public in recent years. Sirikit had been dealing with a blood infection since October 17. Multiple reports suggested that her medical condition deteriorated recently despite efforts from her doctors. Government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said on Saturday that Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had cancelled his trip to the ASEAN leaders’ summit – set to be held in Malaysia from Sunday to Tuesday – following Sirikit’s death.

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The beloved queen

While she was overshadowed by her husband’s long reign and her son, Queen Sirikit was a similarly beloved figure across much of the country. Her birthday, August 12, is celebrated as Mother’s Day in the country. Even during widespread student-led protests in 2020 and 2021, which morphed into unprecedented public criticism of the monarchy, protesters were largely against the King rather than his parents.

It is pertinent to note that the royal family is venerated in Thailand, and its monarchy is protected by some of the world’s harshest laws. Criticism of the institution is banned in the country. Not only this, the Thai monarchs are treated by many as semi-divine figures and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide.

Sirikit was born into a rich, aristocratic family in Bangkok in 1932, which was the same year the absolute monarchy was replaced by a constitutional system in Thailand. She met Bhumibol in 1948 in Paris, where her father was the Thai ambassador in France.

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The pair got married in 1950, a week before Bhumibol was officially crowned as Rama IX of the Chakri Dynasty. During their early decades on the throne, the young Thai royals crisscrossed the world as goodwill ambassadors, forging personal ties with world leaders.