MESSAGES of condolence over the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej received from Laos – our neighbour and brotherhood country on the opposite bank of the Mekong River – have been something that is beyond just protocol from a nation that has diplomatic relations with Thailand, as they have also come from the hearts of Laotians themselves.
Social media in Laos reported and shared the official announcement of the death of the great monarch on October 13, around the same time as news of his passing was spreading in Thailand.
Popular Lao Facebook pages like Tholakhong (“megaphone”) and Pakaad (“announcement”) posted the news, as well as their tributes, while messages of condolence from their followers have continued since.
The two pages, as well as Facebook pages belonging to Lao individuals, posted to express their deep sorrow with their Thai neighbours, as well as their brotherhood with Thailand.
A page on the history of Laos posted pictures from its archive showing the late King Sisavang Vatthana of the Lao kingdom meeting His Majesty King Bhumibol in 1963.
Laos is no longer a kingdom, as the regime in Vientiane has been communist since taking power in 1975, but relations with the Thai Kingdom have stood firm despite some difficulties between the countries during the late 1980s.
Lao leaders, led by President Bounnhang Vorachith, have sent their condolences and paid homage at the Thai Embassy in Vientiane since October 15.
The country’s prime minister, Thongloun Sisoulith, is scheduled to pay homage to the late King in Bangkok today.
His Majesty King Bhumibol made a state visit to Laos in April 1994, his first since a state visit to North America in 1967 – and the last of his 70-year reign.
“I really don’t know the real reason why Laos became the last country [for a state visit], but His Majesty the King made the visit when the friendship bridge across the Mekong River was opened, which sent a great symbol for the countries’ relations,” said Dulyapak Preecharush, a Thammasat University lecturer on Southeast Asian affairs.
His Majesty had connected with Laos since the country’s previous regime, when Laos was a kingdom, similar to Thailand.
In 1963, he met King Sisavang Vatthana aboard a floating pontoon moored on the Mekong, which forms much of the border between the two countries, according to the biography “A Life’s Work” of His Majesty King Bhumibol.
“On that occasion, King Bhumibol rebuked his M16-toting bodyguards for looking unduly fearsome. They were told that the King and the Queen wished for a welcoming and respectful meeting with the neighbouring Laotian monarch,” said the book, the production of which was supervised in 2011 by former Thai prime minister Anand Panyarachun.
However, differences in the regimes on both sides of the Mekong have been no barrier to relations between the two countries.
As the Cold War ended and territorial disputes at the border were put aside, leaders of the new Lao regime met His Majesty the King on several occasions.
Then-president Kaysone Phomvihane was the first leader of the new regime since 1975 to visit Thailand, and was granted a royal audience with the King in Bangkok in January 1992.
The president asked permission to see royal projects in Chiang Mai and Sakon Nakhon provinces during his visit.
Two years later, the King presided over the opening of the Development Service Project at Huay Sone-Huay Sua in Nayang Village, Na Xaithong district, about 22 kilometres north of Vientiane, when he visited the country after the opening of the first Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge across the Mekong in 1994.
There are currently six royal projects in Laos, according to the Thai Embassy to Vientiane.
In February 1995, another Lao president, Nouhak Phoumsavanh, was invited for a state visit to Thailand and met His Majesty in Bangkok.
Then-president Choummaly Sayasone was the latest Lao leader to visit the Kingdom as the royal guest of the King in 2009.
He visited His Majesty’s projects in Chitralada Palace and a monkey-cheek project for flood prevention in Bangkok’s Prawet district.
When the King was unable to visit Laos himself, his children and many other members of the Royal Family visited the country occasionally.
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and Her Royal Highness Maha Chakri Sirindhorn represented His Majesty in attending President Kaysone’s funeral in November 1992.
Visiting members of the Royal Family have been made more than welcome in Laos, greeted by Laotians as if they were among Thais back home.
The warmth of feeling among Laotians towards the Thai monarchy and His Majesty King Bhumibol’s projects and works in Laos are the empirical outcome of the diplomatic relations between Thailand and its neighbour, said Thammasat’s Dulyapak.