In an outpouring of grief, a transformation seems to have occurred.
For more than seven decades, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was generally regarded as a deity, a God-King.
The late monarch was deeply revered for his benevolence yet considered a sacred being, a divine ruler ordinary people should always bow their heads to and never look in the face.
Slightly more than a week after his death, however, it seems it is the monarch's more human side -- his being a dedicated son, father, tireless development worker, artist, teacher or sportsman -- that is being committed to the nation's collective memories.
Atiya Achakulwisut is Contributing Editor, Bangkok Post.
On social media, rare video clips have been shared that show the late King during off-duty moments.
One clip uploaded by JS 100 Radio's Facebook page shows the King as he went to pick up the late Princess Mother from Siriraj Hospital.
Instead of the usually solemn figure most Thais are familiar with, we get to see a more casual persona of HM King Bhumibol in the clip as he eagerly greets the Princess Mother, telling her she looked better and taking her photos as she was helped out of the hospital room.
The gentle moments between mother and son, how the King bent down so his mother could kiss him on the cheek and how he moved quickly to push her wheelchair himself instead of letting the staff do it, would move anyone as they could easily relate to such bonds.
The footage, coupled with knowledge from an anecdote widely shared online about how the late King would take time out of his busy schedule to have a meal with his mother five days a week, could easily bring tears to people's eyes.
While the image of HM King Bhumibol in his full regalia solemnly presiding over such official functions as the Trooping of the Colours, the opening of parliament or royal celebrations during the past seven decades will always remain in the public's mind, this newly emerged identity of the late King as a man, an ordinary human being who accomplished extraordinary feats, who sought to perform his duties to the best of his abilities in the face of extreme hardship and ordeals, will be seared into their souls.
As Thais looked into HM King Bhumibol's archive and brought out more and more of his stories, photos and videos, some of them never circulated before, they are probably trying to address a sense of loss and the great void in their hearts.
In the shared anguish, and seemingly mutual attempts to tackle it, however, certain taboos appear to have been lifted.
The late King was by all means a cool man but he was never referred to as such in his life. Now, however, members of the younger generation seem to be remembering him that way, at least as far as the social media are concerned.
A video clip of HM King Bhumibol ice-skating deftly in his youth, a story about how he was startled out of his toothache and sleepiness during a degree conferment ceremony by an enthusiastic graduate who shouted "Long Live the King" as he took his degree from the King's hands, or old, black-and-white photos depicting the King tending to his children when they were young like any father are materials that have become popular online as people mourn their King.
Even though the bits and pieces ascertain to HM King Bhumibol's more human side, they inevitably work to reinforce the monarch's astonishing achievements.
As people look back to old photos of the King, they could be aware of his recalling how difficult it was for him, a teenager when he came to the throne, to have brought the institute of monarchy to the magnificent status it is enjoying today.
"So I came, when I was 18 years old. Now 36 years ago, quite a long time. When I came to this function in the palace, the chairs and carpets had holes. The floor creaked," HM King Bhumibol said in an interview with National Geographic magazine in 1982.
"The palace was crumbling. It was just after the war, and nobody had taken care of things. I had to reconstruct. I don't demolish. I put things together piece by piece. Slowly, for 36 years," the late King said.
In the same interview, HM King Bhumibol also said his reign was characterised by an evolutionary approach, how he took old traditions, transformed and reconstructed them to be used in the present time and the future.
The King is no longer with us and nobody knows how long it will take for the nation to recover from such a great loss.
Amid the heartache, however, the transformation seems to continue.