Thailand is in mourning at the moment. I haven’t seen such an occurrence since Princess Diana died 10 years ago. After the death of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana yesterday, the Thai government declared 15 official days of mourning. Black is the color of choice for this period. Most newspapers incorporated black into their layouts today and the government has asked the public to wear black.

I went out and bought a black polo shirt to wear to work today. The dress code wasn’t strictly adhered to across Phuket. One recommendation that I won’t complain about came today when entertainment establishments were asked to tone it down and keep things quiet during the 15-day period.

In Phuket, Muang District Chief Wisit Kurattanavej said that any venues that do not keep calm things down during this time will be “blacklisted”. The basic premise is that bars and clubs are allowed to open, but they should not be too noisy. In Patong tonight, Seduction Discoteque is open as usual, apparently, but a ban on dancing has been imposed on partygoers.

Newspapers continue to be dominated by headlines relating to the death of HRH Princess Galyani. Some 10,000 people gathered on Wednesday at the Grand Palace to pay their respects. The unity of the nation at this time of unity is astonishing.

The recent elections have taken a back seat in the present climate, although today The Nation revealed that “the Election Commission Thursday endorsed election results in 397 constituencies and set aside 83 results for investigation of electoral fraud.”