Beijing – German auto giant Daimler said Tuesday it removed a top executive of its China trucks and buses unit, after his allegedly racist remarks in a parking row became national news.
Rainer Gaertner, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks & Buses China, got into an argument with a local driver after seizing the parking spot he wanted, Chinese state media reports said, citing a social media post.
“I have been in China one year already; the first thing I learned here is: all you Chinese are bastards,” it quoted him as saying in English, according to the website of the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official mouthpiece.
People nearby “approached to argue with him”, said the Global Times tabloid, which often takes a nationalistic tone, and he “attacked them” using pepper spray.
No videos were available of the alleged incident, in a Beijing neighbourhood popular with expatriates and wealthy Chinese. The Global Times cited police as saying they had “no information about the case to be shared with the public”.
But the story was nevertheless reported by major newspapers and television stations across the country.
In an online commentary, the Global Times said road rage in Beijing was often inevitable, but called Gaertner’s alleged remarks “unjustifiable”, stating: “No matter how dirty your words are, your heart should not be dirty.”
The ruling Communist party regularly appeals to nationalism as part of its claim to legitimacy, contrasting the country’s position in the world now with the “century of humiliation” it experienced at the hands of foreign powers — including Germany — from the mid-1800s onwards.
China has become one of Mercedes Benz owner Daimler’s biggest markets as its burgeoning middle class increasingly takes to the roads, and the company was quick to react.
The manager in question had been immediately relieved of his position, it said without naming Gaertner, apologising over the incident.
It was “detrimental to the standing of our company, unbecoming of a manager of our brand and prejudicial to our good name”, Daimler Greater China said in an emailed statement.
Chinese social media users remained incensed.
“They immediately dealt with this executive only to protect their Chinese business interests,” wrote one user of China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo. “I think Westerners look down on us Chinese.”
Another dubbed Daimler’s apology “perfunctory”, saying: “What it demonstrates is this company’s arrogance — it’s earning China’s money but at heart it doesn’t have an ounce of respect for Chinese consumers.”
Consumers in the world’s second-largest economy have begun to use their economic clout to their political advantage, threatening to boycott or ban companies, singers and movie stars who “hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.
Gaertner’s comments were not the first controversial remarks about Chinese people by a high-profile German to stoke outrage in recent weeks.
Last month, a Youtube video emerged showing EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger addressing a German business audience using the words “slitty eyes” and “chisellers” to refer to Chinese people. He later apologised.
Convicted drug trafficker Chijioke Stephen Obioha, who was hanged last Friday, was given every chance to fight his death sentence, including applying for re-sentencing, explained the Court of Appeal in judgement grounds released on Tuesday (Nov 22).
Instead, the Nigerian decided not to be re-sentenced, and launched an 11-hour bid last week to stay the execution by arguing that that the eight years he spent on death row amounted to cruel and inhuman punishment.
Highlighting that this latest argument could have been brought up at earlier hearings over the last year, the Appeal Court said the 11th-hour bid’s only purpose was to prevent the carrying out of his sentence, and amounted to an abuse of process.
Chijioke, 38, was found guilty and sentenced to death on Dec 30, 2008 for trafficking in 2,604.56g of cannabis here. His appeal was dismissed in 2010. When the review of the mandatory death penalty was conducted between 2011 to 2013, Chijioke was given a stay of execution. For two years after, he was given a chance to be re-sentenced under the new regime which gives judges the discretion not to impose the death penalty.
He repeatedly refused to do until a sudden U-turn in May 2015, after he lost a last-minute bid to overthrow his conviction. After several hearings his re-sentencing, he abruptly withdrew his application in August this year.
On Oct 12, he was informed that his stay of execution would be lifted on Oct 24, and that he had till Oct 21 to show there was a good reason not to. Instead, he filed his latest claim on Nov 16.
Wrote Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang, who sat in the Appeal Court alongside Judge of Appeal Tay Yong Kwang and Judicial Commissioner Hoo Sheau Peng: “A moment’s reflection will reveal that, quite apart from there not being any cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, the applicant has been guilty of an abue of process, as we have already stated.”
This article was first published on November 22, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
SINGAPORE – British band Coldplay are aware of touts trying to profit from the resale of tickets to their upcoming National Stadium show on April 1.
Says Live Nation Lushington managing director Michael Roche: “Even the band saw what happened, and said, ‘Michael, we have to do something.'”
The organiser has taken steps to void some of the tickets re-sold online at inflated prices. It is the first time that Live Nation Lushington has ever had to do that for its concerts here, although Mr Roche, who is also the executive director of the Singapore Grand Prix, had taken similar steps against scalpers for the F1 races.
He declines to provide details of how his company went about tracing and voiding the tickets.
In 2012, the organiser of K-pop concert SMTown Singapore, Running Into The Sun, listed the names of four ticket-holders who tried to resell 34 tickets at a profit on its website. The tickets were invalidated and those trying to enter with them were barred from the show.
In Ontario, scalping tickets was formally illegal, but was made legal by the government last year as long as the tickets were authentic. In the United States, there is no federal law banning scalping, but some states have made it illegal.
Tickets to Coldplay’s upcoming show, their fourth here, were released in three batches from Nov 17 to 21, and all were sold out quickly. It is estimated that about 40,000 tickets have been sold so far.
The organiser is also planning to release additional tickets once it finalises layout and logistic issues on Wednesday and Thursday (Nov 23 and 24).
The rush for Coldplay tickets have resulted in many disappointed fans who could not get tickets and are venting their anger at Live Nation Lushington and ticketing agency Sports Hub Tix online.
While some ticket buyers have complained that the ticketing agency website crashed on them, a spokesperson for Sports Hub Tix says: “The Sports Hub Tix system was able to manage the surge of buyers, but could not open up inventory to those waiting in the system as tickets were either being transacted or held pending payment clearance.”
The spokesperson also said that the demand for the third batch of Coldplay tickets released on Monday (Nov 21) was the highest for a National Stadium concert to date. Almost 20,000 users were trying to get tickets online at any one time, in addition to hundreds of walk-in patrons who had queued, some overnight, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium main Box Office and SingPost outlets.
“Within 10 minutes of the public sale, all ticket inventory had either been snapped up or held in the online shopping carts while the customers completed their payment transactions. At the peak, thousands of tickets were being transacted each minute. With this level of demand and a limited number of tickets, some people were not able to complete the sales process and secure tickets. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Live Nation Lushington and Coldplay’s management are also aware of the high demand that has resulted in an online petition to add a second show in Singapore.
Says Mr Roche: “It’s the start of the tour so it’s difficult to make a decision that quickly.
“We’re looking at everything so let’s just see what comes up in the next two days.”
According to him, Coldplay had also asked that the organiser keep the ticket prices low. The tickets were eventually priced from $78 to $298.
“Our ticket prices were originally a little bit higher and they said no, move that price. They really care,” says Mr Roche.
He is also aware of a recent BBC report where the honcho of Live Nation Italy, Mr Roberto De Luca, had admitted to selling a small number of tickets to online ticket resale website Viagogo. But he stresses that Live Nation Lushington does not engage in such practices.
dinohadi@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on November 22, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
SINGAPORE – Former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei’s net worth escalated from S$2 million to nearly S$26 million in just 15 months after he left the Swiss private bank in Singapore, the court heard on Tuesday (Nov 22).
This wealth includes funds earned through “illicit means” and the “taking of secret profits” in transactions linked to Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), said prosecutors .
Among Yeo’s assets were three Singapore properties worth a combined S$6.15 million and two properties in Australia worth A$6 million (S$6.3 million), prosecutors said on day 12 of his trial on four charges of obstructing justice by tampering with witnesses.
“I put it to you that it is quite unbelievable to amass so much – S$23.9 million- in just one year and three months, by just acting as an ‘introducer, intermediary, independent consultant or relationship manager’,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng said in his cross examination of Yeo.
But Yeo, 33, disagreed. “This can be proven by facts,” he argued. “CAD forgot these are referral fees earned from one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world.”
He pointed to former BSI banker Yak Yew Chee earning S$27 million from salary and bonuses from BSI from 2011 to 2015.
But DPP Tan countered: “Yak earned S$27 million in four years. You earned S$23.9 million in one year and three months.”
Yak was sentenced last week to 18 weeks’ jail and fined S$24,000 for forgery and for failing to disclose information on suspicious transactions – the first person to be sentenced here in the 1MDB-linked probe.
Yak was the relationship manager of Malaysian tycoon Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, suspected of playing a key role in the siphoning of billions of dollars from 1MDB.
BSI Bank caught in 1MDB scandal
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
The Straits Times, AFP, Reuters, Facebook screengrabs
Yeo on Tuesday defended his earnings as “referral fees that were directly earned”. He said that “Yak took commissions as a private banker. There is a big difference.”
DPP Tan accused Yeo of “playing poker” with the court when he did not admit to using secondary phone lines, meeting his former boss Kevin Swampillai at Springleaf Park on March 20, staying at Jho Low’s apartment in Hong Kong in order to downplay his relationship with Low.
“To prevent the truth about your illicit wealth and dealings from coming out in court, and the CAD investigations, you obstructed the course of justice,” DPP Tan said.
But Yeo said: “Nothing I have done is illegal.”
This article was first published on November 22, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
MANILA – Thailand reached the semi-finals of the Suzuki Cup on Tuesday thanks to a last-gasp goal from super-sub Sarawut Masuk.
The winger flicked a header into the Singapore goal in the 89th minute, latching on to a perfectly weighted cross from Theerathon Bunmathan to break the hearts of their opponents who looked to have done enough for a draw.
The Thais dominated possession in a game of few chances. Singapore right back Juma’at Jantan and striker Khairul Amri both wasted good chances to score against the run of play.
They now have six points from two games and are assured of a semi-final slot in the Southeast Asian tournament.
The Thais, the last Southeast Asian squad still in the running for the 2018 World Cup, have contested the last two Suzuki Cup finals. They are bidding to become the first country to win the biennial competition five times.
Indonesia and the Philippines, both badly in need of a win to reach the semi-finals, were deadlocked at 1-1 in the first half of the other match in Manila on Tuesday.
China’s internet was recently abuzz with the news about badminton superstar Lin Dan’s extramarital affairs.
Lin is two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion. He is married to two-time women’s world champion Xie Xingfang, whom he cheated shortly after she gave birth to their first child. Lin apologised, and was subsequently forgiven by Xie. One would assume that should end the interlude in their marriage.
However, I found the ending troubling, especially because Lin, comparatively speaking, had it too easy.
A short while ago, when news broke out that Ma Rong had betrayed her movie star husband Wang Baoqiang, netizens were furious for months, accusing Ma of infidelity and so many other things, including using Wang’s wealth and fame for personal gain. Some even accused Ma’s mother of bad parenting. Lin, however, attributed his action to alcohol and got away with it.
The media’s treatment of the scandals shows hidden biases, which are dangerous for society. Obviously, sexism plays a big role in the variation of consequences in the two scandals.
The Chinese public should reexamine the hidden gender bias against women when it comes to betrayals. Why hold women to a higher moral standard when both actions are equally wrong? Are men less capable of or expected to being faithful to marriages?
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Lin Dan apologises for affair with Chinese model-actress
Granted, a marriage can be brutal at times, but extramarital affairs should be even more brutal to a person. One should realise that marital commitment is equally binding for both partners.
The talk of public relations following such scandals, too, is worrying. While Ma had her waterloo moment in crisis management, Lin enjoyed something of a success story.
Yes skillful public relations campaign can cover part of the shame or at least minimise the damage of a crisis. However, such campaigns and manipulations should be irrelevant. One may succeed in covering up a wrongdoing, but that doesn’t mean you can be absolved of that wrongdoing. This is fundamentally a moral crisis – of gender equality and perception of marriage.
These celebrity scandals serve as a window to the distorted moral degradation in the institution of marriage and family values. People are known to easily forgive men for having extramarital affairs, or sometimes even see that as a sign of personal success.
As long as that is the case, we cannot achieve true gender equality even though images of tiger moms seem to give Chinese women a false sense of control in family affairs and an illusion of equality in the society. There is still a long way to go. Our mainstream and social media should be more brutal in examining the hidden discrimination, because it needs to be rooted out of society.
For lack of ubiquitous religious values that underlie social norms, China used to have its own honour-shame culture to identify a wrongdoing as wrong. The blind worship of success may have blunted our sense of right and wrong, as remnants of male supremacy continue to erode our social values. When such factors work together, you have a fairly troubling phenomenon: male celebrities have an easy ride after being involved in a moral scandal while a female celebrity can be ruined. The same is true for the average man and woman.
There should have been consequences for personal actions. Following the days of Tiger Woods’ affairs in 2009, his personal income plummeted from US$121.9 million (S$173.6 million) in 2009 to US$55 million in 2014. His career never returned to the height he used to enjoy, and companies such as Accenture, AT&T, Gatorade and General Motors ended endorsement of the golf star.
According to researchers from the University of California, Davis, Nike, Gatorade and other sponsors may have lost up to US$12 billion following the scandal. These may be the consequences for Lin to face as well.
Stop over at a Canton Paradise outlet for a quick bite during tea time (3-5pm) on weekdays. Immerse in an alluring array of traditional dim sum, congee and noodle dishes!
SINGAPORE: In 15 months as an “independent consultant”, former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei earned S$23.9 million, a district court heard on Tuesday (Nov 22).
Prosecutors said he earned the money through “illicit means”, including secret deals with people linked to the multi-jurisdictional probe into scandal-hit Malaysian state fund 1MDB.
Those people include Malaysian tycoon Jho Low, close associate Eric Tan Kim Loong and Mohamed Ahmed Badawy Al Husseiny, former CEO of UAE’s sovereign wealth fund Aabar Investment PJS.
Yeo, 33, admitted he worked with the men but denied that his earnings were the result of under-the-counter deals. “In my mind, (this) is not illicit money,” he said.
His lawyer Philip Fong argued that the millions in referral fees that Yeo was paid was not unusual for deals worth billions of dollars.
At the close of his 12-day trial, Yeo blamed former colleagues and business associates who became witnesses for the prosecution for throwing him under the bus, accusing them of “lying to save their own skin”.
Yeo also questioned why despite incriminating themselves while testifying against him, his former boss Kevin Swampillai and former business partner Samuel Goh have not been charged.
The men had given evidence about a meeting they had with Yeo in March, during which he allegedly told them to “play poker” with the Commercial Affairs Department, so investigators would not uncover more incriminating evidence against him.
Throughout his four days on the stand, Yeo maintained that it was his boss, Mr Swampillai, who had instructed him to lie to the CAD.
“Basically, your defence in this case is a bare denial of the charges”, prosecutors retorted.
Court exhibit showing Yeo’s dealings with other figures linked to the probe.
Prosecutors argued that when investigators froze his bank accounts in March – a sign that the probe was escalating – Yeo tampered with another key witness, business associate Jose Pinto of Amicorp Group.
Yeo allegedly told Mr Pinto to get rid of his laptop as he was afraid that it may contain evidence linking him to Mr Low, Mr Tan and Mr Husseiny – all of whom Yeo had introduced to Amicorp bank.
Yeo is also accused of getting Mr Pinto to ask his colleague Aloysius Mun to feign ignorance about Yeo’s dealings with the bank should he be questioned by the CAD.
But Yeo’s lawyer pointed out there is a lack of evidence, apart from Mr Pinto’s word, to support the charge, since the alleged messages were sent via Telegram and have not been recovered.
The instant messaging app has an auto-delete function, which was why Yeo preferred to communicate via Telegram, prosecutors had argued during the trial. Witnesses, including Mr Pinto, had testified that Yeo told them to use Telegram to communicate out of paranoia that his communications were being tracked by investigators.
A verdict is expected on Dec 21, for charges of tampering with witnesses.
Yeo faces another seven counts, including for money laundering and cheating. Those will be dealt with at a separate trial expected to start in April next year.
Los Angeles – Rap superstar Kanye West was hospitalized on Monday with a “medical emergency” after canceling his tour, two days after a rambling onstage tirade against fellow artists Jay Z and Beyonce.
The “Saint Pablo Tour” was set to run through December 31 but all 21 remaining shows have been canceled, a spokeswoman for promoter Live Nation told AFP.
Hours later it emerged that West, 39, was being treated at a University of California, Los Angeles clinic, with gossip website TMZ reporting that he was undergoing psychiatric tests after being examined for exhaustion.
Mike Lopez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, told AFP officers had responded to an early afternoon “call of a disturbance” at an address in Los Angeles known to be the rapper’s property.
“That disturbance became a medical emergency where the fire department came and treated the individual,” he said, without naming West.
The multiple Grammy Award-winning musician did not immediately make any personal statement and his representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Kim Kardashian & Kanye West’s wedding extravaganza
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
Reuters, AFP
Celebrity gossip website TMZ quoted an unnamed source saying the rapper was pulling out of the tour because he was exhausted.
“He’s been working around the clock on fashion design, both his own line and the Adidas line,” the source was quoted as saying.
Since August, West has performed around 40 dates in Canada and the US, rapping above the stage on an innovative “floating” platform.
He halted a gig in New York in the middle of his set when he was informed that his wife, reality TV queen Kim Kardashian, had been robbed at gunpoint in a hotel in Paris.
West has not spoken publicly about the incident but TMZ’s source said time spent away from family had added to the rapper’s stress.
He canceled several dates the following week but made a comeback in his hometown, Chicago, and performed without incident until a show in Oakland on October 22 where he described the Grammys as “rigged.” The latest cancelation followed a Saturday night show in Sacramento, where West showed up an hour late and performed three songs before berating other artists and defeated White House hopeful Hillary Clinton, and cutting the performance short.
West said he was “hurt” because Beyonce supposedly said she would not perform at a certain show – likely the Grammys – unless she wins video of the year over him.
“I’ve been sent here to give y’all my truth, even at the risk of my own life, even at the risk of my own success, my own career,” West said.
He implored Beyonce’s husband, the rapper Jay Z, to “call me, bro, you still ain’t called me,” adding that he was hurt that Jay Z had failed to visit his family after the robbery.
“Jay Z, I know you got killers. Please don’t send them at my head. Just call me. Talk to me like a man,” he added, appearing to suggest that his friend employed hitmen.
Kim Kardashian & Kanye West’s wedding extravaganza
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
Reuters, AFP
The rapper told an audience on Thursday that he did not vote but would have chosen Republican Donald Trump, sparking angry fans to boo the star and throw items on stage.
West – who has talked about plans to run for president in 2020 – earned US$17.5 million this year, according to Forbes magazine, which placed him 11th in the list of hip hop’s highest-paid superstars.
The magazine predicted West would lose around US$10 million from the cancellation.
There was some support for the star on Twitter as well as an angry backlash, with fans accusing him of “crazy talk” and having “lost the plot.” West himself raps about going off his medications on his latest album.
On the song “Feedback,” he raps, “I been outta my mind a long time,” and “Name one genius that ain’t crazy.” Another tune “FML” includes West’s rap: “You ain’t never seen nothing crazier than / this n-a when he off his Lexapro.” It is a psychiatric drug used to treat anxiety and depression.
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Kim Kardashian back in New York after robbery in Paris
Political uncertainty has gripped most of Asia, marking new areas of global concern even as attention is fixed on measures proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump.
The domestic events unfolding across the region-from the potential exit of South Korea’s president to fresh protests in Indonesia and Malaysia-are now at boiling point following weeks of steady simmering.
In addition to hurting long-term political stability, the unrest could also spell trouble for the region’s economic outlook, which is already looking shaky amid a potential radical twist in US foreign and trade policy, thanks to Trump’s shock election victory.
Here’s a breakdown of the tumult and its implications in each country.
In the latest chapter of President Park Geun-hye’s corruption scandal, the nation’s two major opposition parties announced on Monday that they will begin amassing signatures to remove the president from office and review procedures for the impeachment process.
For nearly a month now, President Park has been under pressure for allowing a close friend, Choi Soon-Sil, to interfere in state affairs. Choi, 60, is also accused of embezzlement, forcing conglomerates to make massive donations to nonprofits, and getting preferential treatment from banks for loans.
Monday’s impeachment news comes a day after local prosecutors said the president acted as a criminal accomplice in Choi’s extortion.
Massive protests have gripped the country and despite Park’s attempts at mitigating the crisis, including a cabinet reshuffle, she may have no other choice except to quit. “There’s a 70 per cent probability the president will resign, with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn assuming her duties until a new president is chosen in an election held within 60 days of Park’s resignation,” according to Eurasia.
But whether she quits or is impeached, strategists widely believe the crisis will create a political power vacuum and potentially paralyse the government for months to come.
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Tens of thousands of South Koreans stage protest in Seoul calling for President Park Geun Hye to resign
Tens of thousands took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak over his alleged involvement in a grand corruption case, resulting in a fresh clampdown on anti-government critics. Led by Bersih, a coalition of non-governmental organisations, it was the fifth mass protest since 2007.
At least 15 activists and members of the political opposition were arrested, drawing criticism from human rights groups who say the arrests were a silencing measure on Najib’s part and impinged on the freedom of peaceful assembly.
But Najib won’t resign anytime soon, Oh Ei Sun, Najib’s former political secretary from 2009-2011 and current senior fellow at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told CNBC on Monday. The country’s ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), has been in power since 1963 so it will be difficult to dislodge Najib as long he retains UMNO’s support, Oh explained.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy also witnessed a massive rally over the weekend as citizens called for national unity amid deepening religious divisions.
An investigation focusing on Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is underway after the 50-year old Christian cited a Koranic verse during a Sept. 27 speech. The verse suggests Muslims should not take Jews or Christian as their allies or leaders and in his remarks, Ahok said Indonesians should not be deceived by opponents who use the verse to influence the election.
Blasphemy is a criminal offence in Indonesia and conservative Muslims demanded for Ahok’s arrest during a massive riot earlier this month, in which dozens were injured and one person was killed.
“Ahok assumed his current position when former governor Joko Widodo was elected president. And while the two have been political allies in the past, the blasphemy investigation may strain ties between them and project an image of Indonesia as a nation of religious intolerance,” the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) said in a recent note.
Myanmar
The country’s western Rakhine state, home to 1.1 million people who identify themselves as Rohingya Muslims, has witnessed mounting brutality since coming under security lockdown in early October.
Following attacks on three police border posts, which the government believes was the work of a jihadist organisation, military troops armed with attack helicopters were sent into the region last month.
“Over 130 people have died and 234 have been arrested in the heaviest wave of violence in the region since 2012,” according to the CFR, who noted the additional issues of scarce food, rape and looting by soldiers.
The United Nations (UN) has criticised the lockdown and urged the government, led by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, to allow aid organisations into the area and conduct investigations into military abuse. Last week, former UN chief Kofi Annan warned that the recent violence was “plunging the state into renewed instability and creating new displacement.”
Hong Kong
Beijing’s historic interference in a domestic Hong Kong legal case has sparked renewed trouble in the special administrative territory (SAR).
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to “uphold national unity and maintain social and political stability” on Monday after a Beijing court banned two elected Hong Kong lawmakers from taking office earlier this month.
Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching-who insulted the mainland during their oath ceremonies-filed to appeal the ruling last week, which was criticised for undermining the city’s judiciary.
Under the “One Country, Two Systems” formula, Hong Kong enjoys high levels of autonomy from China, but the recent ruling sparked fears of growing Chinese encroachment and pressure on pro-democracy advocates.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s death in October has resurfaced concerns about the country’s return to democracy two years following a military coup.
“Although the king’s formal political role in Thailand is highly limited, he was nevertheless a person of great moral authority who was able to calm many conflicts. His son is widely perceived to neither have anything like the moral authority nor the depth of affection from his subjects,” explained Societe Generale in a recent note, adding that it remains difficult to judge how the royal succession will complicate Thai politics.
In the meantime however, the country is in official mourning period until late 2017 and the military junta is widely expected to continue to consolidating power and push back elections to 2018.
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A look back at Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s life
