Handsome and well-mannered, the crown prince of Bhutan has become the talk of Thailand.
Women have swooned over the bachelor prince's shiny, neatly combed hair and easy smile. Front pages have featured him as "Prince Charming," and a poll named him the most popular of all 25 royals who visited Thailand this month to celebrate King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 60th anniversary on the throne.
Now, a small scandal -- involving one woman in particular -- has spiced things up.
PHOTO: AP
Among the many pictures of Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck that circulated around Thai Internet sites after his visit is one that has sparked an uproar.
It shows the 26-year-old prince staring into the camera, leaned in close to a smiling mystery woman. He looks relaxed, with his chin resting on the head of the woman, who is wearing a halter top and dangling earrings.
The picture has trees in the background, leading some to speculate it was taken in his Himalayan kingdom, and it suggests a close relationship -- which is precisely the problem.
In Thailand, a royal's private life is not for public consumption.
Thai media never intrudes on the personal life of the country's royals, who are respected with a genuine reverence. Much of the country is honoring 78-year-old King Bhumibol during this celebratory year by wearing yellow shirts every Monday, the color that symbolizes the day of the week he was born.
Out of respect for the Bhutanese prince, police this week called for a halt to the online distribution of the photo and are searching for the culprit who initially posted it. Questions have arisen over whether the picture was doctored, which police say would carry criminal charges.
Police have asked the Bhutanese Embassy, which declined comment, to help determine its authenticity.
Thai authorities say it's their job to protect Jigme, who returned to his Himalayan kingdom more than a week ago after visiting a Thai beach resort following the king's June 9-12 celebrations.
"This may violate the prince's reputation. It requires thorough and careful examination," said police Major General Prachin Waree of the national police force's cyber crimes unit.
One Thai-language newspaper splashed the image across the top of its front page on Tuesday, but apparently sought to deflect criticism with an accompanying banner headline that denounced the picture as "very inappropriate."
Online chat rooms are abuzz with criticism over the photograph's circulation, speculation that it's a fake and general disgust over the prospect of offending the Oxford-educated prince, who became a media darling during his trip to Thailand.
Much talk was generated by widely publicized images of the prince giving a "wai" -- the Thai greeting of palms pressed together with a head bow -- during his outings in Thailand. A sign of humility and respect, it showed his "charm and easy manners," the Nation newspaper reported.
As a result of all the attention, tourism from Thailand to Bhutan is projected to increase this year, said Somyos Limthongkam, vice president of the Thai Travel Agents Association.
"Ever since Prince Jigme's visit, TV, radio and newspapers have been talking nonstop about Bhutan," he said. "Many people are interested in traveling to the country -- and they're mostly women."
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS