Pro-democracy politicians question official figures released after 45-day delay

Thailand’s junta looks likely to hang on to power after official results from the general election were finally announced following a 45-day delay that raised serious questions about the complex formula used to calculate the vote.

Thailand has been in political limbo for six weeks while the election commission refused to release the official results of the 24 March poll. It was the first in eight years and was supposed to mark the country’s return to democracy after five years of rule by a military junta.

King vows to ‘reign with righteousness’ as Bangkok becomes a sea of royal yellow

It was a day of parades, ancient rituals, Buddhist chanting and gold as far as the eye could see. For its first coronation in seven decades, Thailand pulled out all the stops.

In an elaborate ceremony that fused Buddhist and Hindu Brahmin rituals, King Maha Vajiralongkorn was doused with holy water, had the royal crown placed on his head and received a symbolic nine-tiered umbrella vesting him as King Rama X of Thailand.

Thailand has crowned its new king, Maha Vajiralongkorn, in an elaborate ceremony at the Grand Palace in Bangkok that fused ancient Buddhist and Hindu Brahmin rituals. Vajiralongkorn vowed to 'reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the people forever'

• Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn is crowned as three-day coronation begins
• King Vajiralongkorn: who is Thailand's new monarch?
  

King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been crowned at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, beginning three days of elaborate, centuries-old ceremonies

Eccentric, privileged and ‘a bit of a Don Juan’, he will hope to draw same loyalty as his father

The life of King Vajiralongkorn, who on Sunday will finally be crowned in Thailand two years after ascending the throne, has been defined by both privilege and eccentricity.

Rarely seen making public appearances or speeches, and known for spending most of his time living in Germany where he owns a $13m (£11.6m) mansion in an affluent area of Munich, Vajiralongkorn has yet to inspire the same devout loyalty and stature as his father, King Bhumibol, who died in 2016 after seven decades on the throne.

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has married his deputy head of security in a surprise ceremony broadcast on all Thai TV channels, days before the king's official coronation. Although the bride, Suthida Tidjai, had been linked romantically with the king before, the palace had never acknowledged any relationship

•  Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn weds bodyguard in surprise ceremony