Thailand’s king recovering from ‘water on the brain’ and heart treatment – Palace

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat, Reuters BANGKOK, July 3 – Thailand’s 88-year-old king, the world’s longest reigning monarch, is recovering after being treated last month for “water on the brain” and narrowing of the arteries, the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement on Sunday. King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been treated for various ailments over the past year in a hospital in Bangkok. He was last seen in public on Jan. 11, when he spent several hours visiting his palace in the Thai capital. Anxiety over the king’s health and the succession has formed the backdrop to over a decade of political upheaval that has included two coups and sometimes violent street protests. An x-ray showed the king had “a lower amount” of cerebrospinal fluid surrounding his brain after a build-up was drained last month, said the palace statement. Echocardiograms showed a “satisfactory function of the King’s heart muscles,” it said. The [...]