Thai king strips his consort of royal titles for disloyalty

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Thai king strips his consort of royal titles for disloyalty

2019-10-21 23:53 Last Updated At：10-22 00:00

Thailand's king has stripped his royal consort of her titles and military ranks for disloyalty, accusing her of seeking to undermine the position of his official wife, the country's queen, for her own benefit.

The royal command by 67-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn, made public Monday, came just three months after he granted 34-year-old Sineenatra Wongvajirabhakdi the consort title, reviving an old palace tradition of taking a junior wife.

Sineenatra had her title of Chao Khun Phra Sineenatra Bilasakalayani withdrawn, along with other royal and military titles and decorations.

In May, the king named longtime companion Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya his queen when they were married a few days before his formal coronation. Vajiralongkorn assumed the throne after the 2016 death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for 70 years.

Monday's command condemned Sineenatra in harsh terms, concluding that her actions "are considered dishonorable, lacking gratitude, unappreciative of royal kindness, and driving a rift among the royal servants, making misunderstanding among the people, and undermining the nation and the monarchy."

Both the 41-year-old Suthida and Sineenatra have served as senior officers in palace security units. Suthida was previously a flight attendant with Thai Airways, while Sineenatra was an army nurse.

Vajiralongkorn has seven children by three previous marriages, all of which ended in divorce.

The royal command went into unusual detail in explaining why the action was taken against Sineenatra.

It accused her of misbehaving by actively seeking to block Suthida's appointment as queen in order to take the position herself, and said that when she failed to block her rival, her "ambitions and aspirations" led her to continue to seek ways to promote herself.

The statement said the king tried to alleviate the problem and take pressure off the monarchy by appointing Sineenatra his official royal consort.

However, it said, "She wasn't satisfied with the royally bestowed position and still did everything to be equal to the queen."

Further describing her alleged transgressions, it said she took advantage of her position by falsely claiming royal prerogatives to order people around, "making people misunderstand her position to gain profit and popularity for herself" in a manner she hoped would lead to the king giving her a position equal to that of the queen.

"She wasn't satisfied with the royally bestowed position and still did everything to be equal to the queen," the statement said.

Sineenatra's most recent whereabouts have not been publicized, leading to rumors that she had fallen from grace. She had previously appeared openly in palace-issued media.

Just two months ago, a palace website released scores of photos of her and the king, some in formal settings and others in markedly casual poses, such as taking part in flying, shooting and skydiving. Others showed her and the king holding hands, unusually intimate photos for members of the royal family.

The last time a Thai monarch had an official consort was during the reign of King Vajiravudh, who died in 1925. But consorts were more common in the 19th century, when they often received their appointments as a way of cementing alliances with regional power brokers when the kingdom was still known as Siam.

During his decades as crown prince, Vajiralongkorn's personal life was often the subject of hushed gossip, and he was once described by his mother, then the queen, as "a bit of a Don Juan." But public discussion of such matters is hampered by Thailand's harsh lese majeste law, which mandates prison terms of up to 15 years for those found guilty of insulting members of the royal family.

Athletics express sadness, some relief at moving out of Oakland at the end of the season

2024-04-06 01:24 Last Updated At：01:30

DETROIT (AP) — The Oakland Athletics no longer have to wonder where they'll play the next few seasons. That won't make the long goodbye any easier.

The A's reacted to the announcement that this will be their last year in Oakland with a mixture of sadness and relief.

“At least as a player, you know where you’re headed,” outfielder Seth Brown said Friday before a game against the Tigers in Detroit. “There’s obviously a lot of moving parts, a lot of stuff we’re not privy to, so it’s just been kind of a waiting game on our end. Where are we going to go? Where are we going to be? So I think just having that knowledge -- at least we know where we’re going to be playing next year.”

Vivek Ranadivé, who owns the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, and Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher announced Thursday that the A’s will temporarily relocate to West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park for at least three seasons. The A's are moving to Las Vegas after a new ballpark is constructed.

The River Cats, who are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants, will continue to play at the same facility.

Fisher was unable to reach an agreement with Oakland city officials on extending the lease at Oakland Coliseum, which expires at the end of this season. The A's have played in the city since 1968.

“There's direction now, which we've talked a lot about,” Oakland A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “We've got time to kind of reflect on what this really means from an organizational standpoint, the history that we've had in Oakland, with this being now the final season. There's a lot of emotion that goes behind this.”

It will not only cause some upheaval for the players and staff but also members of the organization that work behind the scenes.

“At the end of the day, we know where we're going to be for the next three seasons after the finish this year and that in itself gives a little bit of stability,” Kotsay said. “At the same time, in the present, it's challenging in certain ways to think about the finality of this organization in Oakland.”

Sacramento will be a much smaller environment to house a major league team. Ranadivé said the River Cats venue currently seats 16,000 when counting the stands, the lawn behind center field and standing room only.

First baseman Ryan Noda is concerned with the facilities. He's hopeful that significant upgrades will be made, much like the Toronto Blue Jays did at Buffalo's Triple-A facility. The Blue Jays played at Buffalo's Sahlen Field in 2020 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New walls, new dugouts, new locker rooms — everything they needed to become a big league stadium,” said Noda, who played some games in Sacramento as a minor leaguer. “As long as we can do something like that, then it'll be all right. But it's definitely going to be different than playing in stadiums that hold 40,000 people.”

Kotsay is confident the upgrades will occur.

“I know it will be of major league baseball quality,” he said. “It's has to be of major league baseball quality. I know the Players Association will make sure that takes place, as they did in Buffalo.”

For the rest of this season, the A's will have to deal with small home crowds and disappointed fans.

“We’re sad for the fans, the diehard fans, who always come to our games, always support us, always support the boys wearing the jersey,” Noda said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Thai king strips his consort of royal titles for disloyalty

Thai king strips his consort of royal titles for disloyalty

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Athletics express sadness, some relief at moving out of Oakland at the end of the season