People gather during an event to mark late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday at Bhumibol Bridge over Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, Thailand on December 5, 2016. -Reuters
BANGKOK: Thousands of Thais gathered on a Bangkok bridge named after the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on what would have been his birthday Monday, the latest organised mass display of grief in a divided nation adjusting to life without him.
For much of his remarkable seven decade reign, Bhumibol’s 5 December birthday was an auspicious moment for Thais with the monarch often delivering key speeches offering social -- and sometimes distinctly political -- guidance in a nation buffeted by years of coups and instability.
