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Thailand’s Caligula-like and useless new king
KENNY COYLE writes on the strangeness and waning support of Thailand’s King Rama X, a monarch with very few friends

THAILAND has a new king. King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun — or, if you prefer, King Rama X — was formally declared the new monarch in early December following the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) on October 13. No date has been set for either the coronation or for the late king’s funeral.

The gap between the death of the last monarch and the official proclamation of his son’s accession was unusual.

Instead of the expected “The king is dead, long live the king” proclamation immediately after his father’s passing, Vajiralongkorn postponed the announcement supposedly in reverence for Bhumibol’s memory.

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