Former princess nominated as candidate PM

This junta election is now officially in disarray, for the junta. Khaosod has a series of stunning reports. First, the not stunning: Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha will stand for Palang Pracharath. That’s totally expected.

Second, and this is a real shock for all:

Ubolratana Mahidol, the eldest child of the late King Bhumibol, was nominated Friday to be Thailand’s next prime minister [by Thai Raksa Chart Party].

In a stunning move that immediately remade the political landscape going into next month’s election, Ubolratana was nominated for the post by a party aligned with a fugitive former prime minister. It is the first time a close member of the royal family has sought political office in the kingdom’s 86 years as a constitutional monarchy.

And third, the paper has a brief rundown of Ubolratana’s somewhat flaky life in recent years.

Finally, Khaosod has an unofficial Thai Raksa Chart statement:

“The Thai Raksa Chart Party is deeply honored to have received Ubolratana Mahidol’s kindness in accepting the party’s nomination to be prime minister.

“The princess completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees from leading American universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC Los Angeles respectively.

“The princess led a commoner’s life by working to pay for her tuition while in the United States and resigned her royal title in 1972.

“After returning to reside in Thailand, she established the ‘To Be Number One’ project to encourage Thai youth to stay away from drugs, she traveled throughout Thailand and saw the people’s suffering. She is concerned and wishes to take part in lifting Thais out of poverty and giving them good futures.

“Having been a representative promoting tourism for over 10 years, she concluded that it’s time to volunteer to serve as prime minister, assisting the country and the people by utilizing the knowledge and abilities she accumulated over the years in various aspects both locally and abroad.

“We would like to thus inform the public about her kindness.”

Wikipedia has this to say about her somewhat unclear royal status:

Ubol Ratana was born with the titles of Her Royal Highness and Princess Chao Fa, but gave these up on her marriage to an American citizen. The title Chao Fa was lost because she married a commoner. She had previously held the royal title Chao Fa Ubolratana Rajakanya. She still retains the style of Tunkramom Ying, which means “Daughter to the Queen Regent”. Since her return to Thailand, she has increasingly taken part in royal ceremonies, though not to the extent of her siblings.

Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya (1951–1972)
Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Jensen / Mrs Julie Jensen[4][5] (1972–1998)
Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya / Mrs Ubolratana Mahidol (1998–present)
The Princess’ style and title in full: Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi (Thai: ทูลกระหม่อมหญิงอุบลรัตนราชกัญญา สิริวัฒนาพรรณวดี; RTGS: Thunkramom Ying Ubonrat Ratchakanya Siriwatthana Phannawadi).