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BANGKOK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The Thai king's health is improving but he needs time-consuming therapy, a palace official said on Thursday after concerns over his health sparked a second day of foreign selling in Thailand's financial markets.
"His Majesty's condition is improving and he does not need further medical treatment other than physical therapy which may take a long time," said the official in the Bureau of the Royal Household, who declined to be identified by name.
"Now what he simply needs is exercise to help ease fatigue."
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch at age 81, has been in hospital since Sept. 19 when he was admitted with fever. On Wednesday the palace said he was recovering from pneumonia.
The king's disappearance from public view has raised concern in largely Buddhist Thailand where many of his subjects regard him as almost divine. Most of the country's 67 million people have lived under his 63-year reign.
Thai stocks slid for a second day, dropping more than 5 percent to a one-month low, led by foreign selling. The baht currency also fell, trading at 33.42 per dollar. It has lost 0.7 percent in value since Tuesday.
The health of the king, Thailand's single unifying figure during a long series of military coups and constitutional experiments, is followed closely in financial markets, in part because of concerns about succession.
Bhumibol's son and presumed heir, 57-year-old Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, does not yet command his father's popular support.
A focus on the issue of royal succession would add another element of uncertainty to a polarising four-year political crisis that has already hurt foreign investment in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
INTRACTABLE POLITICAL CRISIS
"Because we don't know what will happen with the king's health, investors want to reduce their exposure," said one senior investment broker who declined to be identified by name, referring to Thailand's stock market.
Hundreds of Thais have gathered each day at Siriraj Hospital where he is being treated to sign get-well books for the king or lay garlands in front of a monument of Prince Mahidol of Songkla, the king's father, to pray for a speedy recovery.
"I have been praying every night asking all holy spirits in the universe to help with his quick recovery," said Phakamas Jongkasemwong, 50, from Bangkok's suburb of Bangprakok, as she stood near a large portrait of the king.
"I am extremely relieved to hear that His Majesty is improving, but better still we wish him to recover enough to return to the palace."
The slide in the market comes at a delicate time as an intractable political crisis showing no signs of abating.
Thousands of red-shirted, anti-government protesters plan to rally on Saturday to demand the government submit a petition backed by 3.5 million people seeking a royal pardon for fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
They hope clemency by the king would lead to his political return. Though a constitutional monarch seen as above politics, the king's influence over policy is seen as critical. Most analysts, however, doubt a pardon would be granted. (Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by John Chalmers)