January 03, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 23, 1428

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Princess Galyani Vadhana, elder sister of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has died six months after entering hospital with cancer, the palace said on Wednesday.

The king declared a 100-day mourning period for palace officials and funerary rites began at Bangkok’s glittering Grand Palace.

Thousands of black-clad Thais queued up to pay their last respects at one of the palace’s halls. A government spokesman said a 39-member panel chaired by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont would decide when the cremation would take place.

The government ordered all state buildings to fly the national flag at half-mast for 15 days and government officials and state firm employees to wear black or white for 15 days to mark her “great contribution to the Thai people”.

“It is a great loss for the people so we would like to ask everybody to mourn her departure by cancelling or postponing their fun,” minister Dhipawadee Meksawan told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Politicians bargaining for cabinet seats in a coalition government being formed after the Dec 23 general election also refrained from making political comments on Wednesday out of respect for the princess.

The London-born princess was diagnosed with cancer in June and admitted to hospital, but her condition was not made public until October, shortly before King Bhumibol was admitted to the same hospital for restricted blood flow to the brain.—Reuters