I included a link and caption to this rare digitized footage of the 1926 funeral of Thai King Vajiravudh (aka Rama VI) to accompany a pair of travel advisory stories I wrote for the South China Morning Post related to King Bhumibol’s funeral rites in October 2017. The actual cremation took place on the evening of October 26, preceded by a half-dozen processions that day and by five rehearsals in the days before that. (The gist of my stories: Don’t even think that you can get close enough on October 25-27 to see anything in the vicinity of the funerary structures.)

The video caption I wrote about the 1926 rites was edited down a lot for publication, so I don’t think readers could draw much from it. So herewith are a few more details. Early on in the video, that’s Vajiravudh’s full brother and last absolute monarch, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII), presiding over—by pulling a specially made rope—the raising of the Royal Six-Tiered Umbrella to a spire atop the multi-story wood crematorium. That ceremony occurred a few days before the actual cremation; this year it took place on October 18, with Thailand’s new king, Vajiralongkorn, presiding.  Continue reading →