Former princess confirmed as PM candidate

On 8 February 2019, former Princess Ubolratana Mahidol was confirmed as having accepted an invitation to be a PM candidate, the first time in Thailand’s political history that a member of the royal family of this rank has stood for election. 

 


Princess Ubolratana

Today, Lt Preechapol Pongpanich, the leader of the Thai Raksa Chart Party (TRC), handed the party's list of PM candidates to the Election Commission of Thailand with the name of Ubolratana on it. He told the press that she has confirmed the invitation. 

"Everything is in accordance with the law and the constitution," Preechapol said at the press conference this morning, "it is up to the Thai people to decide."


Preechapol Pongpanich, the leader of Thai Raksa Chart Party (TRC)
told the press that Ubolratana Mahidol has confirmed the invitation

Ubolranata is the eldest child of the late King Bhumibol and sister of King Vajiralongkorn. She renounced her titles in 1972 to marry fellow MIT student Peter Ladd Jensen. The couple lived together in the US until 1998 when she divorced Jensen. Ubolratana returned to Thailand in 2001 and resumed her participation in royal life. 

This is the first time in Thai history since its democratic revolution in 1932 that a high-ranking member of the royal family has officially seeks a position in politics.

Updates will follow soon...

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