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From Our Own Correspondent: Manners and the monarchy in Thailand

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12/12/2020 GMT

Manners and the monarchy in Thailand

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Manners and the monarchy in Thailand

Young Thais speak up against royal privilege; plus Tigray, Germany, and US/Mideast policy

A new generation voices discontent about royal powers. Plus: news of war trickles out of Ethiopia's Tigray region; German-Chinese trade links;how Biden's Mideast policy might look

Thai society has traditionally been hierarchical - with everyone knowing their place and the monarch firmly at the top. But from imagery to pronouns, a new generation of protesters has abandoned established etiquette to call for royal privileges and prerogatives to be reined in. Jonathan Head examines why their language has been so outspoken - and why royalists have found their attitude so shocking.

Pascale Harter introduces this and other insights, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers around the world.

Although Ethiopia's central government insists that it has put down recent armed conflict in the country's northern Tigray region, news of what is really going on has been tightly controlled and few first-hand accounts have emerged of the costs of the fighting. Simon Marks, based in Addis Ababa, has been speaking to civilians who've escaped desperate conditions there - and listening to the official version of events.

When you think of Germany's great trading cities, the names of established giants like Hamburg, Munich or Dusseldorf might be the first to come to mind. Duisberg? Not so much. Its international profile has been much lower. But as Caroline Bayley explains, its logistical advantages have made it an irresistible prospect for Chinese investors . In fact, this lesser-known spot is home to Europe's largest inland port - and the westernmost end of China's 'Belt and Road' logistics project.

Every new US President takes office bearing a heavy weight of public expectation - and not just from American citizens. When it comes to the Middle East, the stakes of decisions taken in Washington DC are particularly high. As Joe Biden prepares to move into the White House, Jeremy Bowen remembers a previous moment of high early hopes during the Obama era - and considers how a new era of policy for the region might look.

(Image: An anti-government protester at a rally in Bangkok calling to lift section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, which penalises defaming the monarch or the royal family. Credit: EPA/Diego Azubel)

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