Hundreds of Thais have gathered outside Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital, where King Bhumibol Adulyadej remains in an "unstable" condition. People wore pink, held portraits of the King and prayed for the world's longest reigning-monarch, who is suffering from a blood infection and lung inflammation.

Bhumibol is extremely popular amongst the people of Thailand and images have circulated on the internet portraying them in their pink shirts, which symbolises that they are praying for the health of him. Crowds also gathered at the Grand Palace, leaving notes and flower arrangements for the King.

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Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesperson for the royalist junta, told Reuters: "The relationship between the Thais and the King is deep, more than one can actually begin to explain. He is a father to the land."

The Palace said on 9 October that he was in an "unstable" condition after receiving hemodialysis treatment, which is used to treat kidney failure. Instead of purifying his blood as it was intended to, it made his blood pressure drop.

On 12 October,Bhumibol's son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, called an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who cut short a trip to meet with the apparent successor of the throne. Prince Vajiralongkorn is a military officer who was appointed heir to the throne by the King in 1972.

King Adulyadej has been on the throne since 9 June 1946, however, his health has been failing since 2006. In May, he received treatment for excess fluid in his spinal cord and brain. He was last seen in public on 11 January.