The Kingdom of Thailand
His Majesty the King passed the 70th anniversary of his accession to the throne. The government suggested everyone should wear yellow to mark the occasion. No monarch has served the country as long. His Majesty is the d longest-serving head of state in the world, r Congratulations poured in from around f the world, including from US President Barack Obama, who noted His Majesty is "the only reigning monarch born in the United States" Celebrations began early on Thursday. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over a ceremony at the Grand Palace in which 770 men were ordained into the monkhood. The national celebration followed the 27th statement by the Royal House- hold Bureau on His Majesty's medical condition. A team of doctors conducted angioplasty to repair narrowed blood vessels near the monarch's heart. Animal traffickers Sad fact: The traffickers and exploiters
Animal traffickers Sad fact: The traffickers and exploiters are winning, against both the animals and decency. Start with the exotic-ani mal trafficking centre pretending to be a Buddhist temple known as Wat Pa Luang Ta Maha Bua. Its 140-or-so tigers, its medicine-making rooms, its talismans
made from tiger teeth and bones, 2,000 tiger carcases all existed without the knowledge of the venerable Phra Wisutthi sarathera, also known as Luang Ta Chan, also known as the abbot. We know that because the abbott says and abbots don't lie. While that case devolves into mass legal confusion, there's the arguably even worse case of the Bang Phra Breed ing Centre, because it was entrusted by good people to care for highly endan gered species. One night, all 78 nearly extinct Madagascan tortoises just "disappeared" It's probably not relevant that "collectors" pay a million or more baht per brilliantly beautiful ploughshare radiated tortoise that the Bang Phra officials didn't look after, The director on the night the tortoises disappeared has been moved to an inactive post.