Thailand’s new King Maha Vajiralongkorn has issued a mass prisoner pardon, a first act of “mercy” as monarch as he reaches out to his subjects following the death of his beloved father.
Revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej died in October aged 88 after a seven-decade reign, leaving the politically febrile nation without its unifying figure.
His only son was proclaimed king. But the thrice-divorced monarch is yet to draw the same level of devotion from a public well-versed in rumours over his private life.
The prisoner pardon was Vajiralongkorn’s “first chance since he succeeded the throne to show the king’s mercy,” according to a statement.