🇹🇭 Thailand goes black for Princess Bajrakitiyabha

Hello friends!

Succession in Thailand is back on the agenda after the expected but still sad death of Princess Bajrakitiyabha last week. I find that endlessly fascinating and there’s a great Bloomberg freebie in here if you do too.

Erin Cook

Thailand is back in royal mourning mode with the death of Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the 47-year-old daughter of King Vajiralongkorn, last Thursday. This is a very sad one — she had been in a coma for over three years, and her death was widely anticipated in recent months with tightly-controlled updates indicating her condition had been worsening.

BBC has a lovely photo gallery here focusing on her accomplishments as well as the interesting role she was expected to play in a succession plan.

So where does that leave succession? Bloomberg’s brilliant Patpicha Tanakasempipat assesses the lay of the land as it stands now. The King has six children still alive, but four of them are living in exile (remember this!). As of now, 21-year-old Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti Sirivibulyarajakumar, the only son with a royal title and born to third wife Srirasmi Suwadee, is the hot ticket, Bloomberg reports. It’s a gift link and I highly encourage clicking through; it’s fascinating stuff.

Succession probably isn’t top of mind for the mourners who turned out across the country. This one from the Guardian speaks to mourners who braved the heat for the funeral procession over the weekend, some stunning snaps too.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and his family are no longer allowed into China, Hong Kong or Macau, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last week. Jeeze! Beijing accused Teodoro of “repeatedly made erroneous remarks concerning China” that has undermined China’s interests and its relationship with the Philippines, Al Jazeera reports in this wire mash-up. What did he say? I don’t know! But the South China Sea tensions have continued to bubble away as the rest of the country is preoccupied with the Mindanao quake and the Senate quake.

That’s “an unfriendly act that further complicates the bilateral relations,” the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said in response, as per the Associated Press. “Such measures do not contribute to building mutual trust, managing differences responsibly or creating the conditions necessary for constructive engagement between our two countries.”

It capped off a tricky week during which the DFA took “appropriate” action following the discovery of an “illegal presence” in the Scarborough Shoal. The South China Sea taskforce described a structure of 6 by 6 metres with an antenna discovered in the disputed waters, Reuters reports. It had first been sighted at the entrance of the shoal and then later in the lagoon and appears to be manned, the task force said, again thanks Reuters.

• Min Aung Hlaing is busy courting the neighbours! Only just back from his hang out with India’s Narendra Modi, he’s popped off yesterday for a five-day state visit to China. He’ll meet with Xi Jinping as well as Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, the third-placed heavy-hitter in the Politburo, Xinhua reports. I love reading that outlet sometimes: “China and Myanmar have stood together through thick and thin, looked out for each other and forged solidarity and cooperation, promoting China-Myanmar relations to achieve considerable progress.” Sure, why not.

• Would this count as the thick bit or the thin bit? Min Zin, a US citizen, high-profile Myanmar researcher and activist during 19888, was arrested June 3 after arriving in Yunnan province on the invitation of a Chinese academic institution. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Min Zin is suspected of “espionage and endangering Chinese national security,” NPR reports. The US State Department says they won’t comment specifically, but they’re on the case. I have seen speculation that the arrest and Min Aung Hlaing’s visit are linked, especially given US citizens are rarely arrested like this in China, but I have no real insight. I hope we learn more as the President and the ‘president’ meet.

• Elsewhere, Adam Castillo, the former president of the American Chamber of Commerce and founder security risk management firm AGS Myanmar, was detained at the Yangon airport last week upon his return to the country, DVB reports. “He was arrested because there was a crime and a lawsuit,” Home Affairs Ministry spokesperson Soe Lin Aung said. Yeah, cheers. No one is talking but there are reports the allegations stem from his time with AmCham.

• Philippine foreign minister Ma. Theresa Lazaro “intend[s] to meet with ​certain ethnic armed groups and to find ​out the situation and how we can really ⁠try to help,” she told the Nikkei Asia forum in Tokyo on Wednesday. Reuters adds Lazaro didn’t name any names on who she’d be meeting, when exactly or where. Intriguing!

• The country’s factories are slowing down, Nikkei Asia reports, with imports restricted and fuel being prioritised towards essentials. Can’t blame it all on the Strait of Hormuz. When the junta seized power, foreign investment went through the floor and resulted in a serious foreign currency shortage. For a while there, the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, just outside of Yangon and home to a load of Japanese firms, had been exempt from a restriction on import licenses. Things are getting so tight even Thilawa is feeling the pain.