Thai unifying figure leaves lasting legacy
It was under King Bhumipol that Thailand moved from a mostly agricultural economy to a modern one of industry and commerce and a growing middle class.
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KING Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who took the throne of the kingdom once known as Siam shortly after World War II and held it for more than 70 years, establishing himself as a revered personification of Thai nationhood, died on Thursday in Bangkok. He was 88 and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history.
The royal palace said that he died at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, but it did not give a cause or further details.
King Bhumibol, politically influential and highly revered, was a unifying figure in a deeply polarised country, and his death casts a pall of uncertainty across Thailand.
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