(AFP) Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said today he had sent a deputy prime minister to represent Thailand at the funeral of the late King, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.

Deputy Prime Minister Phitak Intravittayanan had traveled here to pay respects to the King a day after he died of heart failure at the age of 75.

"I have assigned Phitak, who has already left for Kuala Lumpur, to represent the Thai government at the Malaysian king's funeral," Thaksin told reporters.

The Thai government ordered all government and state enterprise offices to fly the Thai flag at half mast for three business days, until Monday, to show respect to the late King.

Sultan Salahuddin died in a Kuala Lumpur hospital on Wednesday, almost two months after a heart operation in Singapore.

Chinese condolence

Meanwhile, Chinese President Jiang Zemin has sent a telegram expressing his condolences following the King's death.

"On behalf of the Chinese people and in my name, I express my deep condolences over the death of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah," Jiang said in a telegram sent yesterday, according to Xinhua news agency.

Ethnic Chinese make up about 26 percent of Malaysia's population of 23 million.