Farewell to the King

• Photographer
  JANUSZ DAGA

Bangkok. State funeral for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej 1927 - 2016. Five days, two cameras, three nights, so much rain, stifling hot, so much sun, umbrellas, raincoats, blacks, shoes, foot pain. Being with the people. Thousands of Thais dressed in black prostrated themselves and wept as the funeral urn for their former king Bhumibol Adulyadej, a man revered as a demigod who became the world’s longest-reigning monarch, was carried by chariot to his cremation pyre. Despite monsoon-season downpours punctuated with searing subtropical temperatures, many mourners have spent days in tents hoping to be close to the official send-off for the ninth head of the Chakri dynasty.

Jan Daga is an Italian documentary photographer and filmmaker. He has lived and worked in Asia for more than eight years, based in Bangkok. After a degree in communication/advertising and a master’s degree in digital communication, he worked in the world of advertising, photography and journalism in Milan. After moving to Asia, he followed the events and created projects related to the social, human rights and political spheres, following the major protests in Korea, the political clashes in Thailand and the problems of Hong Kong, among others.