Aziz Phitakkumpol, the spiritual leader of Thailand's Muslims, died in a Bangkok hospital on Sunday morning at age of 76, one day after his younger brother was stabbed to death.
The Sheikul Islam Office announced that Aziz, the 18th Chularajmontri (Muslims' spiritual leader) of Thailand died at 10.32am on Sunday in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, where he had earlier been admitted.
His funeral rite was scheduled for 10am on Monday at the central mosque in Hat Yai district of Songkhla, his native province.
Aziz was born on March 6, 1947. He was a senator, chairman of the Central Islamic Council of Thailand and chairman of the Islamic committee of Songkhla.
On Saturday his younger brother Loh Phitakkumpol, 71, was repeatedly stabbed with a 50-centimetre-long knife by a 42-year-old man on a roadside in Sing Nakhon district of Songkhla.
Police arrested the suspect, Rohim Kongkalimeen, a local resident who appeared to be under the infuence of narcotics. Loh succumbed to his wounds at Songkhla Hospital.
The air force deployed a C-130 plane to transport the body of the late Chularajmontri (Islamic spiritual leader in the country) from Wing 6 in Bangkok to Songkhla province on Sunday. (Video from the air force)