Palace statement broadcast nationwide late Friday night.
BANGKOK — His Majesty King Vajiralongkorn issued a strongly worded rebuke to his sister’s bid to become prime minister late Friday night. After a day that saw political fault lines shift following the bombshell announcement that Ubolratana Mahidol had been nominated to be Thailand’s next prime minister, the king issued a statement that she could not hold office.
Although Ubolratana had renounced her title, she still “lives as a member of the Chakri Dynasty” and “having a high-ranking member of the royal family involved in politics, regardless in what way, is against the royal ancient tradition … and national culture, and considered highly inappropriate,” the king said in the statement, which was broadcast nationwide just before 11pm.
It said that in all constitutions – including the current – “the king stays above politics,” which also means the queen, the heir apparent and the king’s immediate family must remain “politically neutral” and “cannot hold any political positions, as it’s a violation of the constitution and the tradition of constitutional monarchy.”
Future Forward Party leaders Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, front left, and Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, speak at a Friday evening news conference in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — There was a sudden silence across most of the political spectrum Friday after a royal nomination left a smoking crater in everyone’s election plans.
Several political parties have chosen to remain silent or dissemble in response to this morning’s shocking nomination of Ubolratana Mahidol, daughter of the late king, to the post of prime minister.
Katerut Laothamatas of the pro-establishment Action Coalition of Thailand declined to comment when reached by phone this afternoon, saying that the party had yet to discuss the matter. He wouldn’t say if there were any plans to do so.
After nominating Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha this afternoon as his party’s candidate, Uttama Saowanayon of the Phalang Pracharat Party also declined to talk about Ubolratana.
Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-Ngam said at the Government House this morning he likewise had “no comment.” Asked if he was surprised by the news, he replied “Are you?”
The deputy leader of Thailand’s oldest party was also reticent.
Nipit Intarasombat of the Democrat wouldn’t give a specific response in a phone interview, saying “It’s still too premature. We’ll wait until the dust settles first.”
One of Thailand’s newest and most progressive parties reiterated its central goal of ending dictatorship along with its desire to see its leader become prime minister. But at an evening news conference, Future Forward party leaders backed off from what had been their litmus for any nominee, that they must have been elected by the people.
“If she passes the qualifications set by the [Election Commission], she has the right to run,” Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said at an evening news conference.
The party refused to answer directly whether it might join cause with Thai Raksa Chart or others to form a coalition government, and instead promoted itself as a political alternative even as it risks being overtaken by developments.
Thanathorn otherwise framed Ubolratana’s entry in positive terms.
“What happened this morning resets the equation. It’s no longer about yellow vs. red and opens the opportunity for the people to choose their sides anew,” he said, referring to the past decade-plus of factional strife.
LIVE: Future Forward Party responds to nomination of princess
โพสต์โดย Khaosod English เมื่อ วันศุกร์ที่ 8 กุมภาพันธ์ 2019
Action Coalition’s Suthep Thaugsuban, who helped bring down the last government, said at a rally in Nakhon Phanom that the party would respect the will of the people.
“Our party is a party for the commoners, founded to solve commoners’ problems. … We will follow our policies no matter what other parties are doing. We believe the people will choose the right path for the country.”
Even more parties made clear they would not challenge Ubolratana.
Another party affiliated with Thai Raksa Chart, the Pheu Chart Party, also did not nominate a candidate today. Pheu Chart is led by prominent Redshirt Jatuphon Phromphan and had been expected to nominate a former lawmaker. They joined at least one other party in declining to field a candidate.
Yet the morning’s second surprise was junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha’s decision to throw his hat in the ring, something that had been all but certain just days ago prior to Ubolratana’s candidacy.
One note of dissent to her ascension came from a royalist party hours after her nomination. The head of the People’s Reform Party submitted a legal challenge demanding election officials reject her candidacy, saying the monarchy was sacred and should remain above politics.
In a message posted later to Instagram, Ubolratana seemed to offer reply, saying she had relinquished all of her royal titles decades ago and was legally a commoner.
Update: His Majesty the King on Friday night issued a decree ruling that Ubolratana is still a princess of the royal family.
BANGKOK — Contradictory norms and practices left some wondering: Is Thailand’s latest contender for the prime minister seat a princess or not?
The answer to the question, which is likely to hang over coming campaign and touch upon issues of fair criticism and expression, for now depends on who you ask – though some of their answers are surprising.
Ubolratana Mahidol – daughter to the late King Bhumibol – insists she is a commoner after having surrendered her royal titles nearly five decades ago. But she is regarded as a princess by the media and much of society nonetheless.
“I’d also like to clarify that I have already relinquished all royal titles, and I am living as a commoner,” the former princess wrote online this afternoon.
Yet the royal palace has identified Ubolratana as a tul kramom – a royal title meaning a daughter born to the reigning king and queen – in every announcement ever since her return to Thailand in 2001. Tul kramom is often translated to be “princess” in English.
Those mentions are always infused with rajasap, a Khmer-inspired royal court language reserved only for the royal family. Rajasap is also employed by the local media, even in the very same news quoting her as saying she’s a commoner.
The Thai Raksa Chart Party, which nominates her as the prime minister candidate, also calls her a tul kramom in the registration document they submitted to election officials earlier this morning.
According to a reporter for TNN24 news site, she was instructed by the Royal Household Bureau to apply rajasap and “show the same royal respect” when writing about Ubolratana.
Participating in an online Q&A, lawyer and former Senator Kaewsan Atibodhi declared that Ubolratana is no longer a royal family member, and that fact should be made clear to the society.
“In fact, she can be prosecuted, jailed, ousted, impeached, criticized and reproved,” Kaewsan wrote. “Therefore, in order to maintain this principle, there must be a clear line that tul kramom is really separate from the monarchy.”
He added, “From a societal aspect, one cannot relinquish what’s in the blood.”
However, Kaewsan continued to address Ubolratana by the royal title tul kramom and urged others to do the same.
“We are Thai people. We are still her loyal people. If there is no explicit permission, we should not do so,” he replied to a question whether Thais can address her as “Mrs. Ubolratana.”
Ubolratana resigned from the royal family in 1972 just as she was about to marry an American. According to the royal court law updated in 1932, a princess must ask for the king’s permission in order to marry a person outside the palace circle. She must leave the nobility if permission is granted.
But technically Ubolratana never wrote down her marriage as the cause of resignation, preferring to cite her inability to carry various responsibilities as a royal family member.
Above Criticism?
A question being asked online is whether one can crack jokes or lash out at Candidate Ubolratana without fear of legal repercussion.
“The big question now is: Will it be allowed in the future to draw the Princess in a political cartoon if she becomes PM? And as a political candidate?” longtime political cartoonist Peray Stephane wrote online.
Although the lese majeste law only includes the king, the queen, the heir-apparent and the regent on the paper, the law has been applied to prosecute any negative comments about the monarchy in recent years.
In 2012, historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul was charged with lese majeste after criticizing Princess Chulabhorn – the youngest sister of Ubolratana – despite his protest that the law did not cover her.
As of Friday afternoon, many commentators were erring on the side of caution when referring to Ubolratana, but a challenge came from an unlikely source. Hardline royalist Sermsuk Kasitipradit urged his supporters to freely speak their minds about the former royal.
“Since she is without any royal rank, her interference with political parties can be admonished and criticized,” Sermsuk wrote. “And joining hand in politics with a party in which are some members accused of insulting the monarchy is something a certain group of people cannot accept.”
He also spoke in terms rarely heard when addressing the monarchy publicly until today: “Since she behaves like this, don’t expect any love or respect from the people of the king anymore.”
A bullet hole is seen on a window glass in a building at the site of an earlier gun battle between government forces and Muslim militants in June in Marawi. Photo: Bullit Marquez / Associated Press
MANILA — An Abu Sayyaf militant leader accused of plotting a recent suicide attack in a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines may be harboring a foreign would-be suicide bomber in his jungle base, a senior official said Thursday.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said Abu Sayyaf commander Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who allegedly plotted the Jan. 27 attack at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral on Jolo island that killed 23 people, was also behind a suicide attack last year that killed 11 people in nearby Basilan province. Sawadjaan’s goal was to assert his new role as Islamic State group leader in the southern Philippines, Ano said.
The Jolo attack, allegedly carried out by two Indonesian suicide bombers, has renewed terrorism fears across the Philippines. The national police have been placed on full alert and security has been strengthened in churches, shopping malls and other public areas. President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered troops to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, leading to a renewed military offensive in the south that has included sporadic air strikes and gunbattles.
Ano said in an interview that government forces have received intelligence about the presence of an Arabic man in Sawadjaan’s camp in the jungles of Sulu province’s Patikul town, and are taking steps to capture him along with Sawadjaan and his men.
“We’re watching this man because he’s also a trained bomber and a (would-be) suicide bomber,” Ano said. He said the militant could be a Yemeni or an Egyptian national and has married a local villager.
Ano, a former military chief of staff who as interior secretary supervises the national police, provided more details about Sawadjaan, a low-key Muslim insurgent in his 60s who he said was recognized last year by the Islamic State group as its lead representative in the country’s south, although IS also regards three other local militant factions as allies.
“The bombing of the cathedral and the bombing of Basilan were Sawadjaan’s moves to assert leadership,” Ano said. Police have said the Abu Sayyaf staged the cathedral bombing to gain attention and possible funding from the Islamic State group.
In the July 31 Basilan attack, a militant believed to be of Moroccan descent was killed when drums of explosives exploded in a van he was driving. Ten Filipino militiamen and villagers were also killed in the powerful blast, which wounded 11 others.
Police said the foreign militant had targeted a gathering of about 2,000 mostly students and teachers in Basilan’s Lamitan city but his vehicle stalled and villagers whom he asked for help became suspicious when they saw wires protruding from plastic gallon containers in the vehicle. The vehicle exploded as troops approached.
Ano said the militant, who used the nom de guerre Abu Kathir Al-Maghrib, had stayed in Sawadjaan’s camp in Jolo before he traveled to Basilan. Both the Basilan and Jolo attacks were delayed because of funding problems, he said.
“That Moroccan lived in the camp of Sawadjaan. He was seen by hostages,” Ano said.
An Indonesian militant who allegedly carried out the cathedral attack stayed in Sawadjaan’s stronghold for a while and arranged for his wife to travel to Jolo to help carry out the bombing, Ano said. The Jolo and Basilan bombs were made of similar explosives and most likely were assembled by a foreign militant, he said.
The Philippines will ask the help of Indonesian authorities in identifying the two suicide attackers through their remains, he said.
Early this week, national police Director-General Oscar Albayalde said five suspected Abu Sayyaf militants who escorted the Indonesian couple around Jolo ahead of the bombing have been taken into custody and charged with murder and attempted murder.
The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 300 to 400 armed fighters, has been blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. Sawadjaan is a Muslim preacher who has been linked to ransom kidnappings and the beheadings of hostages, including two Canadian men in 2016, before the cathedral bombing.
BANGKOK — A dear daughter who sailed with her monarch father. A rebellious princess who surrendered her titles for love. A survivor of the worst tragedy a mother can experience. Ubolratana Mahidol was all these things long before she entered politics today in a life that has never been far from the public eye.
As her spotlight refocuses into scrutiny befitting a candidate for the highest political job – a first for a member of the immediate royal family – here’s a look at what’s known about the 67-year-old’s circuitous route to becoming the prime minister nominee of the Thai Raksa Chart party.
Ubolratana was born in Lausanne, Switzerland on April 5, 1951, the eldest child of Rama IX and Queen Sirikit. Part of her royal name is “Ubolrat,” a name meaning “glass lotus” that was derived from her maternal grandmother, Bua Kitiyakara.
Ubolratana’s parents nicknamed her Pay, short for poupee, the French word for doll. To her siblings, His Majesty King Rama X and Princess Sirindhorn, she is known as “P’Ying.” In the media and Thai households, she is called her Tul Kramom, a title denoting the offspring of a reigning queen.
She attended Bangkok’s Chitralada School, one of the most exclusive schools in the country that was founded for royal enrollment. After graduating, she went to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the same city where her father, King Bhumibol, was born in 1927.
By all accounts she was dear to Rama IX, and her decision to renounce her title to marry a student she met there strained their relationship.
On Aug. 19, 1972, Ubolratana married Peter Jensen at All Souls Episcopal Church in San Diego, California. Both were 21. As a student, she had gone by Julie Mahidol, and after her wedding used the name Julie Jensen.
In an announcement of their wedding, she told the New York Times back then:
“I just couldn’t be a person. But now, am no longer royalty and am free.”
She went on to graduate in 1973 with bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and mathematics. She would later complete a master’s degree in public health at UCLA.
Ubolratana became a mother in 1981 upon the birth of Ploypailin Jensen. Over the next few years, she and Jensen had two more children, Poom Jensen and Sirikitiya “Mai” Jensen.
The couple divorced in 1998 after 26 years of marriage. She returned to Thailand in 2001 and enthusiastically re-embraced royal life. She soon became a household name for her colorful fashion sense and the launch of an anti-drug foundation she maintains to this day. She also acted in various soap operas, films, hosted TV shows and kept everyone up to date with her life on Instagram.
Other than her well-known To Be Number One foundation, she has also launched the Cheewit Sodsai Foundation, a community center foundation in the Deep South, and the Miracle of Life Foundation, which promotes welfare and education through youth development programs.
Tragedy struck her family three years after her return. While on a family vacation in Phang Nga province in 2004, a massive tsunami struck. Poom, who was autistic, was among the thousands to be killed.
“It was the most heartbreaking incident, but I had to move on,” she would later say in a televised interview. “And if I had to live, I had to live a good life. I had to succeed and live a prosperous life.”
Following his death, his mother founded the Khun Poom Foundation, a royal charity to help children with autism and disabilities.
Ploypailin Mahidol Jensen with her husband David Wheeler and their children attend the Oon Ai Ruk Winter Fair in January.
Her oldest daughter, Ploypailin, followed her into entertainment and appeared in a television drama. A pianist and soprano singer, she married David Wheeler in 2009. She lives in Thailand and the pair and have three children; Maximus Wheeler, Leonardo Wheeler and Airy Wheeler.
Sirikitiya, 33, holds a degree in history and occasionally attends functions with her mother or aunt Princess Sirindhorn.
Sirikitiya at the Oon Ai Ruk Winter Fair in January.
Athletically, Ubolratana enjoys sailing and raced with her father on many occasions while at their Klai Kangwon Palace. At the 1967 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, she and her father sailed across the finish line in first place, even after a wind change forced them to take a roundabout route, with Rama IX’s dinghy overturning many times during the race. They earned the gold medal for Thailand in OK dinghy class, he in a TH27 and she in a TH18.
Queen Sirikit awarded them the gold medal on Dec.16, 1967. Since then, Dec. 16 is Thailand’s National Sport Day.
A China Airlines Boeing 747-400 parked in 2004 at the Los Angeles Airport. Photo: Frank Kovalchek / Wikimedia Commons
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Pilots from Taiwan’s China Airlines went on strike Friday in the middle of the Lunar New Year travel rush, forcing the cancellation of at least 18 flights over coming days and stranding thousands of passengers.
Hundreds of the state-owned carrier’s 1,300 pilots were believed to have joined the action over complaints of long work hours on long-haul routes and the refusal of management to make improvements in order to suppress costs.
“We chose this date to strike because we are left with no other choices. Since we announced on February 1 that we will go on strike, we were expecting a positive response,” union leader Chen Pei-pei told reporters.
The union is calling for an additional backup pilot to be added to flights lasting 8 hours or more, a more transparent system of promotion, a year-end bonus and other concessions.
The airline has said it is willing to continue negotiations but that the union’s demands in talks are different from those it makes in public, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.
The airline said on its website that 18 flights had been canceled, including those bound for Hong Kong, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Manila and Tokyo. Earlier reports said 26 flights were expected to be canceled and the number of cancellations is expected to rise if the strike drags on.
“We deeply apologize to all the customers for any inconvenience about the pilots’ strike,” CAL said on its Facebook page. “Most colleagues in China Airlines still stay at their position and provide the best flight service.”
The strike led to chaotic scenes at Taiwan’s three main airports as angry passengers demanded answers from airline staff.
The Lunar New Year is Taiwan’s busiest travel period, with thousands flying home to island or taking trips abroad. CNA said a one-day strike of the airline’s flight attendants in 2016 forced 76 flights to be canceled. Founded in 1959, China Airlines is one of the island’s two largest carriers with a fleet of 88 aircraft.
BANGKOK — Speaking for the first time since she accepted the nomination to be Thailand’s next prime minister, former princess Ubolratana thanked her supporters and vowed to lead the country toward a golden age.
In an online post titled “Thank you,” the former royalty said she is exercising her political rights as a commoner by contending atop Thai Raksa Chart Party’s ticket. The 67-year-old surrendered royal titles when she married an American in the 1970s, though she remains revered by many as a tul kramom, an honorific roughly equivalent to princess.
“I’d also like to clarify that I have already relinquished all royal titles, and I am living as a commoner,” Ubolratana wrote. “Therefore, I’d like to exercise my rights and freedom as a commoner under the constitution and the law.”
Ubolratana sent shock waves through the political landscape earlier this morning when Thai Raksa Chart, a party allied to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, nominated her to lead the next government.
She is now the first royal family member to run for office since absolute monarchy was overthrown in a 1932 coup.
This is an unofficial translation of the message in full she posted to her private Instagram account.
“Thank you for the love and support of every fellow Thai. I am deeply touched. I’d like to say I want to see all of us have the opportunity to build happiness in our country.
“I’d also like to clarify that I have already relinquished all royal titles, and I am living as a commoner. Therefore, I’d like to exercise my rights and freedom as a commoner under the constitution and the law, and I consent to Thai Raksa Chart Party’s nomination as the prime minister to demonstrate my rights, freedom and lack of any privilege over the Thai people under the constitution.
“I have undertaken this action with sincerity and a resolve to sacrifice for a chance to lead Thailand toward progress and prosperity.”
The Amazon logo is displayed at the Nasdaq MarketSite, Tuesday in New York's Times Square. Photo: Richard Drew / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Thursday he was the target of “extortion and blackmail” by the publisher of the National Enquirer, which he said threatened to publish revealing personal photos of him unless he stopped investigating how other private photos and messages were obtained by the tabloid.
Bezos, who is also owner of The Washington Post, detailed his interactions with American Media Inc. in an extraordinary blog post Thursday on the Medium.com website.
After the tabloid published a story about his extramarital affair last month, Bezos ordered a team of private investigators to get to the bottom of how the Enquirer obtained risque texts between the executive and former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. Since then, there’s been a public relations battle.
Earlier this week, the tabloid’s editor, Dylan Howard, emailed an attorney for Bezos’ longtime security consultant in order to describe photos the Enquirer “obtained during our newsgathering.” The photos include a “below the belt selfie” of Bezos, photos of him in tight boxer-briefs and wearing only a towel, and several revealing photos of Sanchez, according to the email Bezos released in his blog post.
According to emails Bezos posted, an attorney for American Media Inc., the Enquirer’s parent company, offered a deal Wednesday: The tabloid wouldn’t post the photos if Bezos and his investigators would release a public statement “affirming that they have no knowledge or basis” to suggest that the Enquirer’s coverage was “politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”
Bezos’ investigators have suggested the Enquirer’s coverage of his affair was politically motivated. Bezos has been the target of criticism from President Donald Trump over the Post’s critical coverage of the White House, and AMI has admitted that it engaged in what’s known as “catch-and-kill” practices to help Trump become president.
That admission was part of a deal between AMI and federal prosecutors, who agreed to not pursue charges against the company for secretly assisting Trump’s campaign by paying $150,000 to a Playboy model for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with the then-candidate. The company then intentionally suppressed the story until after the election.
Last month, the Enquirer reported that Bezos sent “sleazy text messages and gushing love notes” to Sanchez, months before Bezos announced he was splitting up with his wife, MacKenzie. Reporters for the Enquirer followed Bezos and Sanchez “across five states and 40,000 miles” and “tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and ‘quality time’ in hidden love nests,” the tabloid said in its story. The Jan. 9 story carries the bylines of Howard and two reporters.
In his blog post Thursday, Bezos said he decided to publish the emails sent to his team “rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail,” despite the “personal cost and embarrassment they threaten.”
An attorney for AMI did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Thursday.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 taxis in 2011 in Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy. Photo: Alan Wilson / Wikimedia Commons
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands is in diplomatic discussions with Russia about the European country’s assertion that Moscow bears legal responsibility for its role in the 2014 downing of a passenger jet over Ukraine, the Dutch foreign minister said Thursday.
Foreign Minister Stef Blok said the initial diplomatic contacts were aimed at paving the way for formal talks and conducted in “a positive atmosphere.” He said it was too early to say where and when formal talks might take place.
“There are diplomatic contacts to see if we can begin formal talks about national responsibility for shooting down MH17,” Blok told Dutch reporters.
The Netherlands and Australia said last year they held Russia legally responsible for providing the missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over conflict-ravaged eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers and crew members were killed.
About two-thirds of the people killed when a Buk missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels slammed into the Boeing 777 were Dutch. The Netherlands has been one of the main driving forces behind seeking accountability for the attack.
Silene Fredriksz-Hoogzand, whose son Bryce was on board the scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with his girlfriend, tweeted in response to Blok’s update: “It’s about time … 5 years on.”
International investigators last year said they had strong evidence the Buk missile system that shot down the airplane came from a Russia-based military unit.
Russia has denied involvement and dismissed the findings from the international criminal probe because it was not invited to be part of the investigation team.
If Russia were ultimately to acknowledge some form of legal responsibility, it could lead to compensation claims from relatives of the people killed.
When the Netherlands and Australia last year said they were holding Russia responsible, they quickly got backing from the United States, Britain and other allies.
“It is time for Russia to acknowledge its role in the shooting down of MH17 and to cease its callous disinformation campaign,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement at the time.
By all accounts she was dear to Rama IX, and her decision to renounce her title to marry a student she met there strained their relationship.
Athletically, Ubolratana enjoys sailing and raced with her father on many occasions while at their Klai Kangwon Palace. At the 1967 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, she and her father sailed across the finish line in first place, even after a wind change forced them to take a roundabout route, with Rama IX’s dinghy overturning many times during the race. They earned the gold medal for Thailand in OK dinghy class, he in a TH27 and she in a TH18.
