Rumors about Thai king lead to arrests

THAI police arrested two people at a Bangkok airport yesterday on suspicion of spreading rumors about the health of the country's 81-year-old king that triggered a slide in Thailand's stock market, police said.

Thai stocks plunged a combined 7.2 percent on October 14-15 as rumors circulated over the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has been in hospital for more than a month, before rebounding 3.5 percent the day after.

"They were initially accused of feeding untrue information through a computer system which undermined the security of the nation," Captain Suttichai Tienbhodhi said.

They were taken to the police Crime Suppression Division for questioning, he added.

The king was admitted to hospital on September 19 with a lung infection and fever and has been seen only once in public since then, on October 23, when he visited royal monuments in the hospital grounds. The palace has said he is recovering.

Police said last week they may charge up to five people in the case.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has said it is seeking trading information on two accounts from two foreign brokers, Credit Suisse in China's Hong Kong and UBS in Singapore, in connection with the market plunge and was also looking at one domestic account.

Credit Suisse and UBS have so far not commented on the case.

The Thai king, the world's longest-reigning monarch, is regarded as semi-divine by many of the country's 63 million people.

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