BANGKOK – Thailand is making preparations for Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn to ascend the throne on Dec 1, two senior military sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Oct 13 at the age of 88 has plunged the Southeast Asian nation of 67 million people into a year of mourning.

News of the December timeframe follows the prince’s departure for Germany at the weekend where he had personal business to attend to, one senior military source told Reuters, adding that the prince would return in November.

“We are making preparations. Everything is being prepared for Dec 1,” said another senior military source who declined to be identified.

“But this timeframe also depends on His Royal Highness.”

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had said the prince’s formal ascension could be within seven to 15 days of the king’s death, or later.

Speaking on behalf of the prince hours after King Bhumibol’s death, Prayuth said the prince wanted to grieve with the people and leave the formal succession until later, when parliament will invite him to ascend the throne.

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Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, soon to be King

Source:

AFP

Reuters

Bangkok Post

The Nation/ANN

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His formal coronation, however, cannot take place until after the king’s cremation in a year’s time.

FACE OF ESTABLISHMENT

Prem Tinsulanonda, 96, who was head of the powerful Privy Council and is known as the face of Thailand’s traditional establishment, is acting as regent until the new king is named.

Thailand’s strict lese-majeste laws have left little room for public discussion about the succession. The laws have also severely curbed public discussion about the prince, who does not enjoy the same level of public support as his father.

Thailand has weathered more than a decade of political upheaval that has pitted the royalist-military establishment against populist political forces.

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A look back at Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s life

Source:

Reuters

AFP

The Straits Times

The Nation/ANN

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The latest chapter was a May 2014 military coup which removed the government of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and which the military said it carried out to end Thailand’s cycle of political instability.

Kan Yuenyong, executive director of the Siam Intelligence Unit think-tank, said he did not foresee any political violence over the next year but added that political divisions would resurface if the succession did not go smoothly.

“Political tensions might warm up again and struggles could follow,” he said.

Thailand’s baht has slid 0.9 percent throughout October amid concern the king’s death may increase political uncertainties and hurt economic activity in the near term.

SEOUL – The woman at the centre of a South Korean political scandal begged forgiveness on Monday as she arrived to meet prosecutors investigating allegations she used her friendship with President Park Geun-hye to influence state affairs and gain benefits.

Choi Soon-sil, wearing a hat and scarf and covering her face with her hand, pushed her way through a scrum of journalists and protesters demanding her arrest and Park’s resignation, losing a shoe in the melee, to enter the prosecution building in Seoul.

“I committed a crime I deserve to die for,” said Choi, according to pool reporters who followed her into the building, using a Korean expression to convey deep remorse. “Please forgive me.”

Choi returned to South Korea early on Sunday from Germany, where she had been staying, and was ready to answer prosecutors’questions, her lawyer said earlier.

She had been under intense pressure to return as the political crisis engulfed Park over allegations that she allowed Choi to use her friendship to exert improper influence and reap benefits.

Thousands of South Koreans rallied on Saturday seeking Park’s resignation over the scandal. They said Park betrayed public trust and mismanaged the government, and had lost a mandate to lead.

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Choi accused of interfering in state affairs using relationship with President

Source:

AFP

Reuters

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Opposition parties have demanded a thorough investigation but have not raised the possibility of impeaching the president.

Park is in the fourth year of a five-year term and the crisis threatens to complicate policymaking during the lame-duck period that typically sets in toward the end of South Korea’s single-term presidency.

RESIGNATIONS

In response to the scandal, eight of Park’s aides including her chief of staff and three advisers who tightly controlled access to her, have stepped down, her office said on Sunday.

Choi’s lawyer, asked if she was admitting guilt by asking for forgiveness, said she was just expressing her feelings, not stating a legal position. “It wouldn’t be right to take it as any kind of legal statement,” the lawyer, Lee Kyung-jae, told reporters outside the prosecutors’ office.

Park apologised last week for giving her friend access to draft speeches during the first months of her presidency but it did little to deflect demands that the president reveal the full nature of her ties with Choi and whether she enjoyed favours because of her friendship with the president.

Park, the daughter of a former president, Park Chung-hee, said she had consulted Choi with good intentions and Choi was someone “who gave me help when I was going through a difficult time”.

Choi, in her first comments after weeks of reports about her ties with Park, told a newspaper last week she did get drafts of Park’s speeches after Park’s election victory but denied she had access to other official material, or that she influenced state affairs or benefited financially.

Choi’s lawyer said she was in poor health and may be suffering from a heart condition, which he would discuss with prosecutors.

An unidentified man was taken into custody after dumping a container of what appeared to be animal dung at the door of the prosecutors’ office after Choi went in, demanding that prosecutors undertake a proper investigation.

Beijing – Construction has begun on a US$7 billion (S$9.75 billion) dollar Universal Studios theme park in Beijing, state media said Monday, as the studio looks to challenge Disney in China’s booming leisure market.

The complex is due to open in 2020 and has secured investment of 50 billion yuan (S$10.3 billion), the official Xinhua news agency said.

China is promoting consumer-driven growth and theme parks are being built in the country faster than anywhere else in the world, with more than 300 projects reportedly funded in recent years.

Mainland China’s first Disneyland opened this June in the commercial hub of Shanghai at a cost of US$5.5 billion.

Another US giant, DreamWorks Animation, is cooperating on an entertainment district in Shanghai.

Last year 21 theme parks opened, according to state-run media, and the National Business Daily newspaper said another 20 are under construction.

Box office receipts in China are booming, with Universal films such as Harry Potter and Transformers big hits among Chinese cinemagoers.

Universal’s three theme parks in the US have become so lucrative that executives are beginning to design movie sets with future theme park rides in mind, executives have said.

The company’s Beijing location will be its third in Asia after Singapore and Osaka. It is also planning a park in South Korea.

As well as a theme park, the four square kilometre complex includes two resort hotels and a retail complex, Xinhua said. Previous reports said it was being built as a joint venture with a state-backed tourism firm.