The funeral included a 50-metre-tall golden crematorium for the late king Bhumibol, who died last October aged 88. He ruled for seven decades and was considered one of the wealthiest monarchs.

Close to 80,000 security personnel were deployed and the government built 85 smaller replicas of the crematorium around the country.

The body of the king was transported to the crematorium by a 13-tonne royal chariot, pulled by more than 200 soldiers.

The day was declared a national holiday and authorities prepared for more than 250,000 people to arrive to say goodbye to the late king.

Bangkok’s metro services were free of charge all day on Thursday and various food shops offered free meals.

Television channels were ordered not to air upbeat content leading up to the cremation, and had to reduce their colour saturation out of respect for the king.

The preparations for the funeral took almost a year.

Since the king died, more than 12m people visited his coffin at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

The king was often referred to as “father” by Thais and helped lift many out of poverty.