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'
King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been crowned at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, beginning three days of elaborate, centuries-old ceremonies
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...Josh Bratchley spent more than 24 hours in a cave in Tennessee before he was rescued by expert divers
A British diver who helped save a junior football team from a cave in Thailand has himself been rescued from a flooded tunnel in the US after more than a day underground.
Josh Bratchley failed to return to the surface with the rest of a party after they emerged from a cave in Jackson County, Tennessee, at around 3pm on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, an accomplished film director, has triumphed over stigma to enter politics as an equal
Thailand is no stranger to political instability, but Sunday’s election, the country’s first in eight years, proved to be a new frontier in chaos. Ineptitude and inaccurate results led to widespread confusion and accusations of cheating, two opposing parties claimed victory and as the days go by, Thailand is no closer to knowing who will form a government.
Yet in amongst the clamour, it was easy to miss small but significant outcomes of the poll. When the elected politicians eventually gather in parliament, Tanwarin Sukkhapisit will be among them as Thailand’s first transgender MP.
Continue reading...Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who formed the Future Forward party, faces nine years in jail if found guilty
The leader of a new party that has challenged Thailand’s military government has been charged on Saturday with sedition, the latest legal action facing the rising star after a disputed March election.
The sedition charge, which was filed by the junta, was the second criminal case opened against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, 40, since he formed the progressive, youth-oriented Future Forward party last year.
Continue reading...Early results show neither side win majority amid unexpected support for military
Thailand has proved to be more politically polarised than ever after the first election in eight years ended in a neck and neck race between the pro-military party and the opposition pro-democracy party.
Going to the polls for the first time since the military took power in a coup in 2014, Thais were given the choice between pro-regime parties, who supported the continuation of junta rule through the ballot box, and pro-democracy parties that were fundamentally opposed to the military and wanted to radically change the direction of the country.
Continue reading...Will the pro-junta parties help return Prayut Chan-ocha as prime minister or will the pro-democracy parties win a landslide?
On Sunday 24 March, Thailand will have its first general election in eight years. It will mark the end of five years of military rule after it took power in a bloodless coup in 2014, following months of political turmoil, social unrest and an election that was later ruled void by the constitutional court.
Continue reading...Headache Stencil’s work portrays Thai democracy as a game for the ruling elite
His works began appearing overnight on the streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai five years ago, incendiary satirical depictions of the military officials who took power in Thailand in the 2014 coup.
The authorities worked quickly to erase all trace of the graffiti, but there was no stopping the artist, who calls himself Headache Stencil and is often referred to as the Banksy of Thailand. Pictures of his works portraying the Thai prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, as Dr Evil from Austin Powers or the deputy prime minister on the face of a Rolex have been shared millions of times on social media.
Continue reading...Thai Raksa Chart party was closely aligned with Thaksin Shinawatra, the ex-premier who lost power in 2006
An opposition political party that attempted to nominate a member of the royal family as prime minister in Thailand’s upcoming election has been dissolved with immediate effect and its executives given a 10-year ban from politics.
In a ruling announced on Thursday afternoon, Thailand’s constitutional court declared that Thai Raksa Chart, a political party formed only in October last year, had violated the constitution by putting forward Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, the older sister of the king, to be its chosen candidate for prime minister.
Continue reading...Social platforms wield increasing power in Thai politics, where traditional media remain under the iron grip of the military
Just over a week ago, Thailand’s army chief began trending on Twitter.
It started with an order, made by General Apirat Kongsompong that 160 radio stations across the country must play the 1970s anti-communist propaganda song, Nuk Paen Din (Scum of the Earth) which glorifies the might of the armed forces, on a daily basis.
Continue reading...Bahrain will do anything to hunt down dissident athletes and their families. International sporting bodies must step up to protect the helpless
I can never truly express my gratitude to you all, the Australian people, for bringing me home. There were countless dark moments over the 76 days of my detention, when my future looked nothing but bleak. The prospect of never seeing my wife, family or friends again became too close to reality.
The moment I was reunited with my loved ones, hundreds of supporters made it to the airport to give me a warm welcome that went far beyond my imagination. It is something I will never forget for the rest of my life.
Continue reading...When the 2004 tsunami struck, the Moken were saved by their knowledge of the sea. But a catastrophic blaze has exposed authorities’ errors in the rebuilding of their homes
Where stilted huts once stood on the white sand, now there are just charred remains. “This is worse than after the tsunami,” says Hook, a Moken sea nomad surveying the damage fire has wreaked on his former village home in Au Bon Yai bay, Surin island.
After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed the previous Moken settlement here on Thailand’s Andaman sea, Hook says people were able to recover some belongings. This time, when fire broke out on 3 February this year, nothing was left. Now the community fears for the future as the authorities begin to reconstruct the village in its original design, an unsafe housing model consisting of highly flammable structures, densely packed together. And it has reignited a row about the Moken’s rights to their ancestral lands.
Continue reading...Regional trend sees criminal law repeatedly weaponised to target journalists and muzzle free and fair reporting
Standing on the court steps earlier this month after spending a night in detention, Philippine journalist Maria Ressa spoke defiantly to the dozens of gathered cameras. This was, she pointed out, the sixth time she had posted bail in the space of 18 months. “I will pay more bail than convicted criminals,” said Ressa. “I will pay more bail than Imelda Marcos.”
Ressa, the editor and founder of Rappler, a Philippine online news outlet which has been highly critical of president Rodrigo Duterte, has borne the brunt of a targeted crackdown on opposition media in the Philippines, a country which just two years ago was considered something of a beacon of free press in south-east Asia.
Continue reading...Thailand is due to go to the polls next month, but after a short-lived political earthquake it looks likelier than ever that the military will entrench its hold. The country has been waiting for this election since general Prayuth Chan-ocha took power five years ago, via the 13th successful coup since 1932, and promised an election within months. Despite the military’s unpopularity – it pledged to “return happiness”, tackle corruption and reconcile the country, and has failed on all counts – it has formed a party and its man is standing as a candidate. Rigged rules introduced by the junta require a prime minister to have a majority of the combined houses of parliament: having appointed the 250-seat senate, it need only cobble together a coalition of 126 seats in the 500-seat elected lower house.
The plan was thrown into doubt this month by the seismic announcement that a member of the revered royal family, Princess Ubolratana Mahidol, would stand as a potential prime minister, as the candidate for a party loathed by Thailand’s royalist elites because it is aligned with its controversial exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The aftershock was equally powerful: within hours her brother the king announced that her decision was “inappropriate” since the monarchy is “above politics”. Although his sister relinquished her title when she married an American in 1972, she has been treated as a royal since returning to Thailand on her divorce.
Continue reading...King’s sister says she is sorry for causing ‘problems’ as authorities recommend dissolution of her party
The political turbulence in Thailand has continued to escalate in the build-up to the election, with a political party likely to be forcibly dissolved, the military suspending a critical TV station and the king’s sister apologising after she was disqualified from running for prime minister.
The latest incident in a week that has stunned Thailand, saw the election commission recommend the Thai Raksa Chart party be dissolved by the constitutional court, preventing it from running in the election, for violating the rules of a constitutional monarchy. The constitutional court is expected to approve the election commission’s request.
Continue reading...Hailed for mobilising the global football family, the SBS commentator now says ‘we are just warming up’
On 7 December, 10 days after the Australian refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi was arrested at Bangkok airport, the former Socceroos captain Craig Foster sent a letter to the president and secretary general of Fifa reminding them that they had a human rights policy.
“I am sure that all in our global football family are delighted that Fifa have committed to the protection of basic human rights across its global football activities,” he wrote.
Continue reading...Refugee Bahraini footballer returning to Melbourne after extradition case dropped
The refugee Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi has boarded a flight to Australia after Thai authorities withdrew an extradition case against him.
Thai authorities said the Bahraini government had decided to end its pursuit of Al-Araibi, who fled Bahrain in 2014 before being granted permanent residence in Australia, where he has lived since.
Continue reading...Twenty-four hours of high drama in Thai politics ended abruptly on Saturday when a party that nominated a princess to run for prime minister ended her brief candidacy. The move came after her brother, Thailand’s king, attacked the candidacy as unconstitutional.
The Thai Raksa Chart (Save the Nation) party swore loyalty to King Maha Vajiralongkorn in a statement issued after his late-night intervention. It also expressed gratitude to Princess Ubolratana Mahidol for her kindness toward the party.
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