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Thailand celebrated King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 80th birthday yesterday with festivities, prayers and a nationwide effort to wear yellow - the colour that symbolises devotion to the world's longest reigning monarch.
Before sunrise, thousands of people in yellow shirts packed the streets around the Grand Palace in Bangkok where Bhumibol was due to make a rare public appearance from the balcony of his ceremonial Throne Hall.
Bhumibol's birthday is a national holiday in Thailand and has increasingly become a day of tribute to the man who is the most influential figure in modern Thai history.
He has ruled for 61 years.
- AP
