Four years after the late king of Thailand mourned his beloved pet dog, the country has shown off eight new puppies related to the old royal hound.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on 13 October 2016, was smitten with his furry friend Khun Thong Daeng, who passed away the year before his owner due to old age.
To honour the king’s death, his son – who was crowned this year after a lengthy period of national mourning – gave the green light to a project to revive the bloodline of Khun Thong Daeng.
Five of the dogs were born in June
Three of the puppies were born in September
Kasetsart University used artificial insemination with frozen semen from two of Khun Thong Daeng’s sons that had been stored since 2005, and eight healthy puppies have been born.
Five arrived in August and three in September, and they were all shown off for the first time on Sunday to mark the third anniversary of the late king’s death.
In a statement, the university said: “King Maha Vajiralongkorn kindly wished that Khun Thong Daeng’s lineage be extended, so that the people may remember late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Khun Thong Daeng.
“The university performed the insemination on two royal dogs in April and July. Five puppies were born in June, and three more were later born in September respectively. The eight puppies are healthy.”
The dogs were shown off to mark the third anniversary of the old king’s death
Artificial insemination was used to give birth to the dogs
All of the dogs are said to be healthy
People in Thailand will no doubt take the puppies to their hearts, with Khun Thong Daeng having been loved by many because of her loyalty to King Adulyadej.
The first part of her name, Khun, is actually a title equivalent to madam – a sign of the respect she commanded.
The late Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej
King Maha Vajiralongkorn was crowned back in May
She was considered such a vital member of the royal family that in 2014 she became a propaganda tool during an attempted coup by the then-army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha.
In 2013, a story had gone viral on social media that Khun Thong Daeng had licked Mr Prayuth’s face and his supporters tried to use it as a sign of his legitimacy.
The coup wound up being successful and while direct military rule in Thailand came to an end in July, Mr Prayuth remains in charge of the new civilian administration as prime minister.
