Thailand Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi's Royal Funeral (PHOTOS)

Thai soldiers dressed in ancient traditional uniforms pull the royal chariot carrying the royal urn of Thai Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi during the ancient rites of the royal cremation ceremony at Sanam Luang in Bangkok on April 9, 2012. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

Thousands of Thai royalists dressed in black on Monday to bid a final farewell to princess Bejaratana. The princess died in July 2011 of septicaemia and was cremated in Bangkok on April 9, 2012.

During the royal ceremony, Thai soldiers in traditional dress pulled the royal chariot carrying the princess' urn in a procession through the streets of the capital. Members of the Thai royal family attended the cremation.

Princess Bejaratana was the only child of King Rama VI and a close cousin of the current king, Reuters reports.

Take a look at stunning photos of the ceremony in the slideshow below.

Comments

[TheReal TiAmo]

06:57 AM on 04/12/2012

hi everyone,

I'm Thai and I am here because I can't stand some comments about the negative view of Thai Royal family.

okk, the Thai custom for the Royal Family, when they died, we will have astrologers to tell the date for the funeral, and usually the funeral supposes to be 12 months after their deaths. This is only 9 months. so, this is not a normal one for me.

and the money which was spent in this funeral IS NOT OUR TAXES, it is from the Royal's wallet. (sorry I can't find a better word, I'm Thai) The reason why the funeral for her was very very big because she is the true statutory heir of King Rama VI, if she were a man, she would now be the King of Thailand.

She was 85 when she died.

our country is not that poor, if where you are now have the internet, please google Thailand or Bangkok. You might be very surprised how modern it is now.

and this is about Thailand, you have to trust Thai not someone else.
here is the news from Bangkok Post which is in English. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/288126/thais-join-royal-cremation-of-princess

If there are some broken english, please forgive me.

[john649]

07:50 PM on 04/10/2012

meanwhile the Thai govt. has begun slaughtering innocent elephants to steal their babies for Tourism....

http://www.care2.com/causes/thai-government-said-to-slaughter-elephants-to-steal-their-babies.html

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/02/24/447455_world-news.html

[jonny dipstick]

04:31 PM on 04/10/2012

I've never been, but I heard its great for spring break! Way better than Kazakhstan.

[Tom Servo]

01:10 PM on 04/10/2012

That's the kind of send-off I would like........quiet, dignified and simple.

[SangZe]

12:01 PM on 04/10/2012

R.I.P. May the Thai always be the Free People.

[Indigo1941]

10:07 AM on 04/10/2012

May she rest and peace and may those of her generation also find peace as they gather in the beyond.

[grumpyoldwoman]

09:58 AM on 04/10/2012

As usual, actual news venues have far better reporting. The Princess was 85. There's a photo of her, taken some years ago, at MSNBC, and excellent video at BBCNEWS.

[ennui the third]

04:58 AM on 04/10/2012

This kind of repellent waste of money when most of their people live in poverty is awful.

[SDH283]

10:46 AM on 04/10/2012

What nonsense --

[ennui the third]

11:18 AM on 04/10/2012

Thanks for agreeing with me, sparky!

[Dbaggins]

02:22 PM on 04/10/2012

"most of their people live in poverty" - I think a lot of Thai people would disagree with you....including me.

[ennui the third]

03:44 PM on 04/10/2012

Okay...you don't...that better?

[Ed whowannaknow]

11:45 PM on 04/09/2012

May the Princess find Nirvana, long live the King. Pom Rak Thiland krub.

[simplesins]

11:32 PM on 04/09/2012

Considering there are 22 posts to this article, I don't know why HuffPo is taking so long to moderate them (of course, it also says there are 0 pending, so I guess that means mine was inadvertently "lost", apparently the same fate that befell the rest of this article.

HuffPo, I shouldn't have to do the research to get the gist of an article. That's your job. How old was the princess? Is the reason you didn't bother to provide a picture of her that she was never photographed? Why did it take a year for her to buried? Is that traditional for Thailand? Yadda-yadda-yadda. When my daughter was in the 5th grade she did a better researched article on soda machines in the teachers' lounge. Come on....don't make me turn to Yahoo for my news.

[rightasrain]

05:22 AM on 04/10/2012

My thoughts exactly. I kept looking for a picture and wondered how old she was. All this hoop-la over a year old, decaying corpse?

[AHDR]

08:37 AM on 04/10/2012

I had the same thoughts, this is an incomplete article with primary information missing. She died in July 2011 and cremated in April 2012? Why? Was it tradition or something else? How old was she? etc, etc. ....

[Clarence Wheeler]

08:04 PM on 04/09/2012

SHE WAS A BEATFUL PRINCESS I SEEN HER IN 1965

[Randor]

10:26 PM on 04/09/2012

You SAW her in 1965.

[donutwizard]

08:00 PM on 04/09/2012

China continues to amaze me with their lavish affairs. All this oppulence while the poor Chinese citizenry suffer...

[manmi1]

09:31 PM on 04/09/2012

China? You're only off by a few thousand miles.

[Ed whowannaknow]

11:42 PM on 04/09/2012

Idiot

[hattie54]

07:47 PM on 04/09/2012

Boy,she had one long last name.

[john bruno]

06:44 PM on 04/09/2012

How can such a desperately poor country spend such money for a "princess" whose name most people in the world can't even pronounce.

[manmi1]

09:32 PM on 04/09/2012

Thailand is not "desperately poor." They have a thriving middle class, and they have WONDERFUL healthcare, which I've experienced a couple of times.

[Ed whowannaknow]

11:43 PM on 04/09/2012

More efficient then American hospitals, I can tell you that!

[sniffing dog]

04:38 AM on 04/10/2012

Maybe they consider American names thuggish grunts in comparison that lack the beautiful sounds of their names. It's like the native Americans experience when Europeans first came to America. They were not exactly impressed with the short statures, hairy faces and bodies and incredible unwashed state of the Europeans. Yet I'm sure the Europeans as is typical with the Western world were very self absorbed in their certainty of superiority. Yet is was not superior weaponry that turned the tide it was disease the Europeans unwittingly imported created by their centuries of living with animals in their structures.

[firstamendment3]

05:41 PM on 04/09/2012

Meanwhile the child sex trade flourishes there...

[Randor]

10:27 PM on 04/09/2012

first ammend -- you obviously know nothing about Thailand.

[Ed whowannaknow]

11:44 PM on 04/09/2012

Oh? And you know this how? Baught yourself one perhaps?