BANGKOK: The queen of Thailand on Thursday (Dec 18) 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 14m 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 Dec 9 in Bangkok.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-queen-suthida-sea-games-sailing-gold-mixed-keelboat-ssl47-5637681
