Author seeks to reopen probe into 1946 death of Thai king

He files petition after publishing a book that disputes the official explanation of regicide

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A Thai court is holding hearings on a petition seeking to reopen one of the most controversial cases in the country's modern history the death of King Ananda Mahidol, who was found shot dead in his bedroom in 1946 at the age of 20.

The former ruler, who was also known as Rama VIII, reigned from 1935 to 1946, and was the uncle of the present Thai monarch Maha Vajiralongkorn and the elder brother of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

King Ananda, who was found lying face up in bed with a gunshot wound to his head on June 9, 1946, was murdered, according to official investigations and three court verdicts that concluded in 1954.

Three palace officials were found guilty of being accessories to the King's murder and were executed in 1955. The three men pleaded not guilty, and no one else stood trial.

Initial investigations by police blamed a conspiracy plot led by the then Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong.

Mr Pridi went into exile and died in France in 1983, but he was later essentially exonerated by the government, which nominated him in 1997 to the Unesco millennium list of great personalities of the 20th century.