Updated

An official statement says Thailand's new King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun has named an 11-member council of advisers, bringing in three new officials, including a former army chief and two representatives of the ruling junta.

The so-called Privy Council is almost half the size of the 16-member council of his father, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on Oct. 13. Vajiralongkorn took the throne on Dec. 1.

Tuesday's statement said Vajiralongkorn retained seven members from the old council, as well as the privy council head, Prem Tinsulanonda.

Among those removed through the contraction of the council are the director of the crown property bureau, the former chief of navy and former deputy chief of the military supreme command. The significance of the changes were not immediately clear.