Thai prime minister survives a challenge by rivals who say her father is pulling the strings

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra easily survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday, following a two-day debate in which rivals charged that she has mismanaged the country and let her father, a former prime minister, control her administration.

Opposition lawmakers argued that she has been unduly influenced by her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin is a popular but highly controversial political figure who was ousted in a 2006 military coup, fled into exile and recently returned to Thailand.

Paetongtarn’s opponents said her administration has improperly favored the personal and financial interests of her family and her father. They also accused her of tax evasion and mishandling many of the country’s chronic problems including the slumping economy, air pollution, crime and corruption.

Paetongtarn received 319 votes, with 161 voting against her and seven abstaining in the first no-confidence vote she faced since she took office last year after another Pheu Thai prime minister was removed by the Constitutional Court after it found he'd committed a serious ethical breach.

Afterward, she posted on social media thanking all parties for taking part in the vote.

“Every vote, whether in support or in opposition, is a force that will drive me and the Cabinet to continue to devoutly work for the people,” she wrote.

Paetongtarn heads the Pheu Thai Party, the latest in a string of populist parties affiliated with Thaksin. Thaksin has been at the heart of nearly two decades of deep political divisions pitting a mostly poor, rural majority that supported him against royalists, the military and their urban backers, who accuse him of threatening their status and that of the revered monarchy.

Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, fifth right on top, reacts after a no-confidence vote against her was defeated in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, third left, reacts after a no-confidence vote against her was defeated in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand's lawmakers take a selfie with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, foreground right, after a no-confidence vote against her was defeated in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, center, reacts after a no-confidence vote against her was defeated in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, left, and Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra react after a no-confidence vote against her was defeated in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrives at parliament before no-confidence vote against her in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrives at parliament before no-confidence vote against her in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)