Thai calm urged; premier returns to Bangkok amid concern on king

The Thai government sought to quell speculation as concern about the health of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej drove down stocks and the baht Wednesday and sparked chatter on social media.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha cut short a provincial trip to return to Bangkok "in order to prepare for an audience with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for a routine presentation on the government's work in progress," Prayuth's office said in a statement. It urged Thais "to rely on official announcements for an update on situations, rather than uncorroborated information in social media circles."

Prayuth isn't planning any statement Wednesday, government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said, without discussing the subject of any rumors. Late Wednesday afternoon, Prayuth waved to reporters and said "Go home, go home!"

The Thai baht fell and stocks dropped for a third day after the royal palace said Sunday that Bhumibol's health was "unstable." #LongLiveTheKing was the top trending topic on Twitter in Thailand Wednesday, with more than 240,000 tweets depicting the monarch at various stages of his life. Posts showed Thais holding portraits of Bhumibol and photos of him meeting with his people or playing music.

The 88-year-old monarch has been a symbol of unity in Thailand, which has had 10 coups during his seven-decade reign.

In a statement Wednesday night, the Royal Palace said the king's overall condition remained unstable. His blood pressure had declined further and his heart rate had increased, while treatment carried out indicated an infection and abnormal liver function, it said in the statement. The king was on various medications and a ventilator, and had been given renal treatment.

Prayuth returned to Bangkok to greet Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, Sansern said. Vajiralongkorn, 64, is the king's designated heir. Prayuth, a former army chief, became prime minister after leading a May 2014 coup that deposed the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, whose brother Thaksin Shinawatra was also ousted by the military in 2006.

The baht fell 1 percent against the dollar after dropping as much as 1.5 percent. The SET Index retreated as much as 6.9 percent before closing 2.5 percent lower. The stock gauge has dropped 6.5 percent this week, the most among about 100 benchmark share indexes tracked by Bloomberg.

The king has been hospitalized since May 2015 and has been treated in recent months for hydrocephalus, a condition characterized by increased fluid in the cranium. In an Oct. 9 statement, the Royal Palace said his overall health status was unstable and doctors were closely monitoring his condition. On Oct. 1, the palace had said his condition had improved following a lung infection.