Thai queen wins SEA Games gold in sailing

BANGKOK, THAILAND - The queen of Thailand on Thursday won a gold medal in sailing at the Southeast Asian Games, a regional competition being held in her country this month.

Queen Suthida, the wife of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, competed in the mixed keelboat SSL47 category, on a 47-foot (14-metre) sailboat with nine other crew members.

The queen, 47, served as tactician and helmswoman to lead the Thai team to victory in the waters off Pattaya, ahead of Malaysia and Myanmar.

Her gold medal is to be presented to her on Thursday by King Vajiralongkorn, 73, whom she married in 2019.

A communications graduate, Suthida worked as a flight attendant for Thai Airways before embarking on a career in the military.

A keen athlete, she ran a half-marathon in 2:13:40 this month in the capital, Bangkok, alongside Kenyan running legend Eliud Kipchoge.

The queen led the Thai delegation at the opening ceremony of the SEA Games on December 9 in Bangkok.

Suthida is not the first member of the royal family to win gold in sailing.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej the father of Vajiralongkorn, sailed in the fourth edition of the regional Games, held in Thailand in 1967.

Competing in the OK class on a boat he built himself, Bhumibol won a gold medal alongside his eldest daughter, Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, according to the SEA Games website.

The Games end on Saturday, with host Thailand well ahead in the medal count, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam.

Eleven countries were initially scheduled to take part, but Cambodia withdrew for security reasons after a border conflict with the host country reignited days before the opening ceremony.