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From Our Own Correspondent

The King and Thais

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Thailand has been rocked by months of student street protests that have intensified in recent days. They're unprecedented in that they don't just criticise the government, but also the monarchy - a taboo in Thailand. Jonathan Head in Bangkok reports on what may be a critical turning point in a political upheaval. This week it’s exactly a year since the Spanish government exhumed the remains of dictator General Francisco Franco from his mausoleum. But the question of how to handle the divisive legacy of the country’s 1930's civil war and the ensuing decades-long dictatorship under Franco remains a contentious issue in Spanish politics and society. And now there are new efforts to tackle it, as Guy Hedgecoe reports from Madrid. In Jordan, the already high unemployment has risen further during the pandemic, but the country remains attractive to migrant workers from nearby Egypt where wages are lower. But, as Charlie Faulkner hears from an Egyptian cobbler, the choice to stay in Jordan to keep his job, comes at a high price. In the US, attitudes to China have hardened in recent years, with trade tariffs, and blame for the coronavirus. In China, attitudes to the United States have changed too, but also in more positive terms, at least when looked at over a longer period of time, such as the lifespan of the grandfather of Vincent Ni. The 15th Rome Film Festival is running this week - taking place in a city that is, itself, an iconic cinematic location that still holds an irresistible allure for filmmakers across the world. This brings welcome jobs and much-needed money to the cash-strapped capital, and, as Joanna Robertson reports, headaches – and questions - to many residents.

Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:05.0

Good morning.

0:06.2

Today the Civil War in Spain and the 1930s left deep scars,

0:11.4

not least in how it's remembered. Now there's a new government effort to deal with

0:16.0

entrenched and differing versions of the past. Will it work? We hear about an Egyptian cobbler hanging on his job in Jordan, despite rising unemployment there, but at what price?

0:30.0

Our correspondent's grandfather has died in China. He was 95 and lived through turbulent times,

0:38.0

seeing the early days have now fraught Chinese-American relations. And would you like Tom Cruise to visit your neighborhood?

0:47.0

It's going to inconvenience you somewhat as he's on yet another mission impossible

0:52.0

though in Rome a movie means money.

0:56.8

First to Thailand, where hitherto any slightly unacceptable mention in public or the media of the royal family

1:05.0

has had harsh consequences. A constitutional monarchy but one which demands

1:10.7

deference and obedience from its subjects until now as there's a rising

1:16.6

tide of protest about royal prerogatives, something hitherto unthinkable.

1:22.4

The government in power is still traditionally

1:24.7

monarchist, but Jonathan Head explains what's behind the change in attitudes.

1:31.2

There are moments in every political upheaval that come to be seen as critical turning points.

1:36.7

Thailand may just have had such a moment.

1:39.8

Months of street protests led by young students have shaken a government barely coping

1:44.8

with the ruinous economic impact of COVID-19, in that Thailand is no different from many other countries.

1:52.0

Zeroing in on the extraordinary wealth of King Wachara Longhorn, as the students have done

1:56.8

and his decision to live in Germany, contrasting his luxury lifestyle with the plight of millions

2:02.2

of impoverished ties, that is something new and shocking.

...

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