Bangkok's streets have turned monochrome again as the military government urges the public to wear black-and-white and mute celebrations in the weeks leading up to the cremation of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.The kingdom has been prepping for the elaborate royal funeral since the October 2016 death of Bhumibol, a charismatic monarch who commanded a cult-like following during his 70-year reign.

On October 5, 2017 Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (71), kicked off the celebration of his 50-year-rule of the oil-rich nation. After the passing of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Hassanal has become the second longest reigning monarch after United Kingdom's revered Queen Elizabeth II – who has reigned for 66 years to date.

“His passing means the Thailand that many Thais and I have known has come to an end.” This was one of the first things that Thitinan Pongsudhirak from the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand said when The ASEAN Post contacted him for a comment on the passing of Thailand's late monarch. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX was the world’s longest-reigning monarch at the time of his death.

"Montesquieu once said 'There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice'," Thaksin Shinawatra tweeted on August 29, 2017. Thaksin broke his two-year silence on Twitter by issuing the tweet in both English and Thai which quoted the 18th century French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu. The tweet went viral on Thai social media and has been retweeted 11,700 times to-date.

At a studio near Bangkok, a pair of immaculate metre-high statues of the dogs of Thailand's late King Bhumibol Adulyadej are getting a last lick of paint before adorning his funeral pyre.Bhumibol, a monarch whose reign spanned 70 years, died last October, plunging the country into mourning.