BANGKOK: Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has ordered police to stop completely blocking roads in Bangkok for royal motorcades, a government spokeswoman said.
The order followed rare criticism of royal motorcades and other inconveniences that Thais have aired online in recent months.
Thai police will instead block off only a part of the roads for the motorcade, said spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat on her Facebook page.
She also posted a video outlining the new rules, which also included allowing people to resume using bridges that tower over the motorcade route.
“His Majesty the King is concerned his royal travel or that of the royal family’s could affect Thai people’s commute,” said a voice-over in the video.
Bangkok is one of the most congested major cities in the world, ranking 11th on US-based traffic analytics firm INRIX’s Global Traffic Scorecard in 2017.
Last year, the #royalmotorcade hashtag became one of the top-trending subjects on Thai-language Twitter.
Another recent hashtag, #islandsclosure, also rose to the top of the Twitter trending list over the New Year’s holidays, as southern tourist islands were closed off for visits by the king’s youngest daughter.
Thailand has a tough law against insulting the king, queen, heir or regent. Anyone who violates this law faces up to 15 years in prison.
Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn orders new traffic rules after royal motorcades criticized
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Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn orders new traffic rules after royal motorcades criticized
- The order followed rare criticism of royal motorcades
- Thai police will instead block off only a part of the roads for the motorcade
Zelensky says Ukraine’s peace talks with US constructive but not easy
- Trump has said that ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, now nearing its fourth year and the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, remains his toughest foreign policy challenge
KYIV: Talks with US representatives on a peace plan for Ukraine have been constructive but not easy, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday ahead of his planned consultations with European leaders in coming days.
Zelensky held a call on Saturday with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and is expected to meet French, British and German leaders on Monday in London. Further talks are planned in Brussels.
“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”
Trump has said that ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, now nearing its fourth year and the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, remains his toughest foreign policy challenge.
Despite US mediation and periodic high-level contacts, progress in the peace talks has been slow, with disputes over security guarantees for Kyiv and the status of Russian-occupied territory still unresolved.
Moscow says it is open to negotiations and blames Kyiv and the West for blocking peace, while Ukraine and its allies say Russia is stalling and using diplomacy to entrench its gains.
European leaders have backed a step-by-step diplomatic process for Ukraine, tied to long-term security guarantees and sustained military aid. Trump, however, has focused on rapid deal-making and burden-sharing, and diplomats warn that any talks remain fragile and vulnerable to shifts in US politics.
