First Stage Of Royal Succession Completed

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter -

 

(FILES) This file handout photo received from Thailand's Royal Bureau taken on August 01, 2011 shows Thai Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn reading a statement during the opening ceremony of the new parliament at Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall in Bangkok. / AFP PHOTO / ROYAL BUREAU / HO

 

BANGKOK — The first steps that would eventually lead to the formal succession of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn were completed Monday morning, with the cabinet convening to acknowledge his rightful claim to the throne as required by the constitution.

 

After the meeting ended at about 10:30am, government officials said a dispatch was on the way to the interim parliament, the National Legislative Assembly, to notify lawmakers of the royal heir’s wish to succeed the throne.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2016/11/29/first-stage-royal-succession-completed/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2016-11-29

Thailand's cabinet acknowledges appointment of a new king: defense minister

REUTERS

 

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday acknowledged the appointment of a new king, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said, more than one month after the death of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

 

The death of the much loved King Bhumibol on Oct. 13 plunged the Southeast Asian nation into mourning. Most Thais have known no other monarch.

 

According to procedure, the cabinet will ask the president of parliament to invite Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn to become king. The prince will then have to accept the invitation in order for him to be proclaimed king.

 

Full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-king-succession-idUSKBN13O05L

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2016-11-29

Thailand's parliament starts process of naming new king 

 

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's parliament has started the process of naming Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn the new king following the death of his father, Bhumibol Adulyadej, last month.

 

Completing a formality, the Cabinet submitted Vajiralongkorn's name to the National Assembly on Tuesday after a brief meeting.

 

National Assembly president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai announced that Vajiralongkorn, who was named by Bhumibol as his heir, will now be invited to take the throne. He did not say when that will happen.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-11-29

New king appointment acknowledged at joint meeting

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) today acknowledged the appointment of the new king at its joint meeting Thai morning.

 

The joint meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha at a weekly cabinet meeting at Government House.

 

The joint meeting gave acknowledged to the appointment of a new king, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan revealed after the meeting.

 

He said after this, the Parliament would be notified and would enter the parliamentary process.

 

He said an audience with the Crown Prince would be within the next one to two days.

 

According to procedure, the President of the National Legislative Assembly has to formally invite the Crown Prince to become monarch before proclaiming the new king to the public.

 

Earlier last month the prime minister said the Crown Prince had asked to delay the succession in order to grieve with the public.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/new-king-appointment-acknowledgd-at-joint-meeting/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-11-29

NLA proclaims HRH Crown Prince new King of Thailand
By The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- The National Legislative Assembly Tuesday proclaimed His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn the new King of Thailand.

 

NLA members changed “Long Live the King” after the chair of the NLA meeting proclaimed the new King at 11 am.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30301059

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-11-29

 

 

Prince Vajiralongkorn Proclaimed King Rama X

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter -

 

A file photo of then-Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn

 

BANGKOK — Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday became the new monarch of Thailand, succeeding his father King Bhumibol who died seven weeks ago at 88.

 

Ending nearly two months of royal interregnum, the prince assumed the kingship as the 10th King of his dynasty just three days before a public holiday commemorating the birth of his late father, who was widely revered as a national father figure. His Majesty the King Vajiralongkorn, 64, has been the designated heir since 1972.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2016/11/29/prince-vajiralongkorn-crowned-king-rama-x/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2016-11-29

Who Is King Vajiralongkorn?

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter

 

 

Born on July 28, 1952, Vajiralongkorn was the second child of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit, and their only son. After completing his basic education, the prince enrolled at a military academies in Australia, and he later returned to Thailand to take up military career.

 

Under Thailand’s century-old system of primogeniture, which prioritizes male heir, Vajiralongkorn was appointed a successor to King Bhumibol in 1972, at 20.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2016/11/29/who-is-king-vajiralongkorn/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2016-11-29

 

NLA chants “Long Live the King”

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) today chanted "Long Live the King" after a special session to acknowledge the ascension  to the throne by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn as the 10th King of the Kingdom.

 

The NLA with a total of 243 members attending convened the special meeting at 11.19 am after it was officially notified of the earlier acknowledgement of the ascension to the throne this morning at a joint meeting of the Cabinet and the National Council for Peace and Order chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.

 

NLA president Pornpet Wichitcholchai told the NLA members that the acknowledgment was in line with Section 23, which remains in effect, after the nullification of the 2007 Constitution and of Section 2 of the interim constitution.

 

Under these sections, if the King has appointed His Heir to the Throne, the cabinet will notify the NLA president, who will seek an acknowledgment from the assembly. The NLA president will then invite the Heir to ascend the Throne.

 

Mr Pornpet said after the NLA has acknowledged the endorsement by the joint meeting and the next step the president will seek an audience with the Crown Prince and invite him to ascend the throne.

 

He then told the NLA members “In this most auspicious occasion, I would like all NLA members to stand up and bless the new King.”

 

All the 243 members then chanted “Long Live the King”.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/nla-chants-long-live-the-king/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-11-29

Thailand's parliament invites crown prince to assume throne 
KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA, Associated Press
GRANT PECK, Associated Press

 

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's parliament on Tuesday named Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn as the new king, completing a formal step for the heir to take the throne following the death of his father last month.

 

The Cabinet, following a 1924 law on succession, submitted Vajiralongkorn's name to the National Assembly after a brief meeting, where members formally acknowledged him as the new monarch.

 

"I would like everyone to stand up and give their blessings to the new king," said National Assembly president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai. His statement was followed by a cheer of "Long live the king" by all assembly members.

 

Pornpetch said he would invite Vajiralongkorn to take the throne, the 10th in the Chakri dynasty, which was founded in 1782. He did not say when Vajiralongkorn would formally accept, but Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters earlier that the royal audience would be in the next few days.

 

Vajiralongkorn was originally supposed to assume the throne the day his father died, but in a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the prince asked for the ascension to be put off so he had time to mourn.

 

Vajiralongkorn's father, the much-revered Bhumibol Adulyadej, who took the throne in 1946, died on Oct. 13 at age 88 after many years of ill health. In 1972, Bhumibol had designated Vajiralongkorn — his second child and only son — to be his successor.

 

The 64-year-old Vajiralongkorn, with a less intense interest in state affairs and a reputation as a playboy, does not command the same level of respect as his hardworking father. He has gone through divorces with three women who have borne him seven children, and his love life is still gossiped about, though privately because of harsh laws that mandate a prison term of three to 15 years for anyone found guilty of insulting the monarchy.

 

Prayuth's military government declared a full year of mourning for public offices, and most Thais have been somberly dressed in black or white since the king's death, while revelry has been discouraged.

 

Huge crowds have been paying respects to the king's remains at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. His body will be cremated in an elaborate ceremony that may take place a year or more after his death.

 

The official coronation of Vajiralongkorn will take place only after the cremation. Bhumibol's coronation was in 1950, four years after succeeding his brother King Ananda Mahidol, who died of gunshot wounds in unclear circumstances.

 

Although he attends the requisite royal ceremonies and in recent years filled in for his father for some ceremonial and diplomatic duties, Vajiralongkorn is generally a private figure.

 

The nightly royal news has frequently shown his three sisters carrying out official duties at home and abroad, while his activities are usually personal and unpublicized, outside of the occasional tabloid story in the country he is visiting. He has spent significant time in Germany, where he maintains several residences.

 

In 2015, however, he made two high-profile public appearances in Thailand, leading thousands of people in mass bicycling events to mark the birthdays of his mother and his father. Many saw the events as an attempt to boost his image as his succession to the throne loomed.

 

Efforts to prepare the prince for the throne began in earnest in his early teens. He was commissioned as an officer in the three branches of Thailand's armed forces, and by age 14 was sent to boarding school in England. He continued his studies at a school in Sydney in preparation for Australia's Royal Military College at Duntroon, which he entered in 1972 and graduated from in 1975, shortly after Thailand's neighbors Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam fell to communist forces.

 

Palace elders tried to encourage Vajiralongkorn's enthusiasm for military duties with training stints abroad. A 1980 course of advanced military training in the United States whetted his appetite for flying, a passion carried on to this day, sometimes in the wide-bodied jets of national carrier Thai Airways.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-11-29