Thailand's King Bhumibol treated for hydrocephalus as Thais grow nervous over his health
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Thailand's 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej has received treatment for 'water on the brain', the palace says.
The world's longest-reigning monarch has been treated for various ailments during a year-long hospitalisation in the Thai capital. He was last seen in public on January 11, when he spent a few hours visiting his Bangkok palace.
Most Thais have known no other monarch, as the widely revered king ascended the throne 70 years ago. He has spent most of the past six years in hospital.
Nervousness over his health and the succession has formed the backdrop to more than a decade of political crisis in Thailand, where the military took power in a coup two years ago.
The palace said examination of the king showed he had "water on the brain", or hydrocephalus, a build-up of the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain.
He was treated for the same condition last August.
Fluid was drained and the king was being monitored, a Royal Household Bureau statement said.
News about the royals is tightly controlled in Thailand, where one of the world's strictest lese majeste laws protecting the royal family from insult make it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent.
Use of the law has skyrocketed ever since royalist army generals seized power in a May 2014 coup with scores arrested and jailed, some for as long as 30 years.
Updates on King Bhumibol's health are typically made public once he is recovering. The palace last issued a statement on his health on May 14, stating he had suffered from a swollen lung and knees.
Reuters
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