• Cancellation after Queen Sirikit, mother of King Vajiralongkorn, dies at 93

ISTANBUL 

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul canceled his trip Saturday to attend the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia, following the death of Queen Sirikit. the Bangkok Post reported.

Sources said Anutin is expected to attend a signing ceremony with Cambodia on Sunday, which he wants rescheduled from the afternoon to the morning. But if the US delegation, led by President Donald Trump, is unable to adjust to the schedule change, Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow will sign on Anutin’s behalf.

The ASEAN summit begins Sunday and continues until Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, where Trump will witness the signing of the peace accord between Cambodia and Thailand, which agreed to a ceasefire July 28, after a border dispute escalated into armed conflict, killing and injuring dozens.

Anutin's attendance at the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting and related meetings in Gyeongju, South Korea, from Tuesday to Saturday was also canceled. Sihasak will attend on his behalf.

Sirikit, the mother of Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn, died Friday in Bangkok. She was 93.

She died at a hospital at 9.21 pm local time (1421GMT), according to the Thai Royal Household Bureau.

It said that a team of doctors that had been monitoring her health since Sept. 7, 2019, found she had multiple illnesses and abnormalities across several systems that required ongoing medical care.

Physicians said Sirikit developed a bloodstream infection Oct. 17, and despite treatment, her condition gradually worsened.

Sirikit was married for more than six decades to Thailand’s longest-reigning monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016.

King Vajiralongkorn has declared a one-year mourning period for the royal family and Royal Court officials, starting from the date of Sirikit’s death.

Sirikit’s birthday is observed as Mother’s Day in Thailand and marked as a national holiday.