Thai king wrapping up coronation with audience for public

This screengrab from Thai TV Pool video taken on May 4, 2019 shows Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn facing the audience wearing the gold crown while sitting on the throne during his coronation at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. (Photo by Handout / THAI TV POOL / AFP)

BANGKOK — Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn is wrapping up three days of coronation ceremonies with appearances before the public and the diplomatic corps.

Vajiralongkorn succeeded to the throne after the 2016 death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for seven decades. His formal coronation on Saturday, involving a series of elaborate, centuries-old rituals rooted in Buddhist and Brahmanic traditions, established his status as a full-fledged monarch with complete regal powers.

Thai well-wishers hold the portraits of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn in front of balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall which Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn grants a public audience in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May 6, 2019. King Maha Vajiralongkorn was officially crowned amid the splendor of the country’s Grand Palace, taking the central role in an elaborate centuries-old royal ceremony that was last held almost seven decades ago.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

His planned Monday afternoon appearance on a balcony at the Grand Palace will be the second time the public can see him directly since his coronation. On Sunday night he was carried on a golden palanquin in a spectacular 6 1/2-hour procession through Bangkok’s historic quarter. /kga