Words: Tom Ward
The tweets, all 1.2 million of them posted by the Thai people, asked the same question: “Why do we need a king?” As Thailand struggled through the initial wave of the coronavirus pandemic while its king partied in a Bavarian hotel, it seemed, and remains, a vital question.
It’s a question that’s still being asked, loudly, by thousands of protestors. Earlier this month, 18,000 activists gathered outside the Grand Palace, calling for the end of the monarchy. Despite laws which prohibit any ill words against the monarchy, and are enforceable with up to 15 years in prison, a new generation is finally standing up for what they believe in, chanting “down with feudalism” outside the palace this past weekend.
In Thailand, around 75% of citizens are active social media users and, as in Hong Kong, protestors are finding it a great way to plan social movements. But with apps like Facebook and Twitter subject to increasingly strict government interference, protestors are getting creative, even using dating apps like Tinder to communicate.
Unhappy citizens in Thailand want three things: the dissolution of the parliament, to end the intimidation of citizens, and a new constitution. The thread running through it all? A cry to dissolve the Thai monarchy. In particular, protestors want King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the 68-year-old geriatric-terrible to step down from the throne. This may well be the final straw in an annus horribilis for the Thai monarch who has finally seen his youthful indiscretions, bizarre habits and lecherous lifestyle catch up with him. And not before time.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s coronation
But, as Vajiralongkorn gathers a private army around him amid ongoing protests, the future could go either way. In a country on the brink, only one thing is for certain; Vajiralongkorn will remain unpredictable to the last.
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Phrabat Somdet Phra Vajira Klao Chao Yu Hua, A.K.A Maha Vajiralongkorn, A.K.A King Rama X, accepted the Thai throne on 1 December 2016 and was crowned over a three-day celebration from 4-6 May the following year.
The coronation saw 1,300 people and not a few elephants parade past the palace over the course of six and a half hours at a reputed cost of $31 million. Swapping his usual crop top and low-slung jeans for something more formal, Vajiralongkorn – presumably a big fan of Disney’s Aladdin – appeared in a 7.3kg crown topped with an Indian diamond.
Educated in Britain and Australia, at 64, Vajiralongkorn was (and remains) the oldest Thai monarch in history. He’s also by far its most controversial. With a personal wealth of $30 billion, he has the cash to indulge his every whim too. All this despite the fact that, as a prince, he is believed to have had to beg a former prime minister for funds to cover his gambling debts.
Thailand was not a rich country after World War II. But today, much of the royal family’s wealth resides in property. It is thought to own around four square miles of central Bangkok as well as a large stake in the Kempinski hotel group. Vajiralongkorn also owns a mansion on Lake Starnberg, near Munich and is reported to frequently spend months at a time at the Munich Kempinski with a harem of women. However, it was to Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the Bavarian Alps that Vajiralongkorn fled – along with a 20-woman entourage – when Thailand was hit with coronavirus.
"Thailand struggled through the initial wave of the coronavirus pandemic while its king partied in a Bavarian hotel"
Vajiralongkorn, who has fathered seven children by three women and been married five times to four different women including an air hostess and soft porn actress, is famously lecherous. Reportedly, in his youth, Thai aristocrats would send their daughters to school in Europe to get them away from him.
Amid his first divorce, Vajiralongkorn reportedly plastered the royal palace with posters accusing his first wife of adultery, forcing her to flee to the UK then the US. Her daughter, meanwhile, was kidnapped and returned to Bangkok while the rest of the family had their royal titles revoked. Later, pictures from Vajiralongkorn’s fourth marriage in 2019 emerged showing his soon-to-be wife General Suthida Vajiralongkorn crawling on the floor while Vajiralongkorn, on his throne, anoints her head with holy water.
That same year, the king revived the title of Royal Noble Consort – the first time it had been used in 100 years – and bestowed it on Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, his former bodyguard who was also believed to have been a long-term girlfriend. Shortly thereafter tensions between Wongvajirapakdi – who had been pictured flying a plane in a crop top and shooting an assault rifle – and Queen Suthida came to light when the king accused Wongvajirapakdi of plotting against the queen and gave her the royal boot, announcing that he had stripped her of all royal and military titles for disloyalty.
His bizarre and unappealing behaviour doesn’t stop there. In a piece titled The Depraved Rule of Thailand’s Caligula King, The Spectator explains that, while Caligula planned to appoint his favourite horse as consul before his assassination, Vajiralongkorn went one step further, appointing his dog Foo Foo as chief air marshal in 2009. When the dog died in 2015, four days of state mourning followed.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn with Queen Suthida
In a country where, pre-coronavirus, the average wage was 20,854 baht per month (around £515.67), an expensive four-day extravaganza on behalf of a pet is near unforgivable. Not to mention a mockery of the office. Likewise, Vajiralongkorn’s – which means ‘adorned with jewels or thunderbolts’ in Thai – less than regal penchant for wearing faded jeans, crop tops and (reportedly) fake tattoos in public. Understandably, the Thai people – or at least the large portion of them brave enough to speak out – have had enough.
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For the longest time, the Thai people were near powerless to question the king’s rule. The Thai monarchy is protected by what is said to be one of the strictest Lèse-majesté laws in the world, making it illegal to question or criticise the royal family. In Thailand, photos of Vajiralongkorn hang in every home, restaurant, office, bus, etc. Speak to any Thai in public and they’ll tell you how great he is.
Yet, as the New York Times reports, with criticism of him becoming more vocal and overt among the younger generation, his power may not remain absolute. The king’s temporary abdication to Bavaria at a time when his country needed him most was the final straw, launching the hashtag ‘Why do we need a king?’
The revolt isn’t just backed by students, either. As the Financial Times reports, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, of the youth-backed Future Forward party, was vocally bringing the royal family to task over its excessive spending.
One of Thanathorn’s revelations was that the royal family has amassed a fleet of 38 private planes and helicopters. “People are getting furious about this, especially when you look at the macro-economy,” Thanathorn told the Financial Times. “Thailand’s GDP growth is projected to be negative 8 per cent at best this year, so we need all the resources we have to spend on the recovery.”
Queen Sirikit and King Bhumibol Adulyadej
At 41 years old, Thanathorn is himself a billionaire, and heir to the country’s biggest car parts manufacturing company. Under his leadership, Future Forward gained 17% of the votes – representing some 6.3 million people – in last year’s general election despite the party being barely a year old.
But, this February, Future Forward was ordered to disband over alleged funding irregularities. Human Rights Watch described the move as “politically motivated”. Undeterred, the group’s MP’s got back together under a new moniker – Move Forward – and returned to the fight.
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Naturally – Bavarian sojourns aside – Vajiralongkorn isn’t taking this lying down. Since 2016 he has personally taken control of two military units and consolidated his privy council, royal security office and office of the royal household into a single royal office in what is surely a grab for even more power.
Most worryingly, in 2017 he instigated the drafting of a new constitution by the military junta which would grant him new powers over the appointment of regents, as well as asserting his right to ‘manage’ the country during a constitutional crisis. A crisis, say, like thousands of protestors taking to the streets.
Vajiralongkorn’s family have previous form when it comes to this sort of behaviour. Thailand has endured 17 military coups since 1932 and, as recently as 2007, Vajiralongkorn’s father Bhumibol Adulyadej used fear an intimidation to crush his opponents.
"The king’s temporary abdication to Bavaria at a time when his country needed him most was the final straw"
In 2001, Thaksin Shinawatra – who had made his money in mobile phones and would go on to buy Manchester City FC – rose to prominence as the leader of the Thai Rak Thai political party. The party pushed a populist agenda calling for health and education reform and won a huge electoral victory in 2005. Of course, Bhumibol despised Thaksin and is said to have given support to the coup that sent him in to exile; standard operating procedure for a monarchy that crushed all opposition until Bhumibol’s death in 2016.
But, with his crop-top wearing, bicycle-obsessed, dog-promoting, womanising son in charge, and the advent of social media, we now live in different times. Social media movements of the past few years have demonstrated its power to topple despicable and powerful men. At 68 the playboy king Vajiralongkorn may not have much vim and vigour left to combat a new wave of socially-active Thais.
Might the social uprising force Vajiralongkorn to leave the country, and the throne, for a final and permanent escape to Bavaria? For 1.2 million Thais, this will certainly not be punishment enough.
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