Thai Royal: News and Activities

[Elissa]

The King is dead. RIP 

https://www.theguardian.c...-dies-after-70-year-reign

[Principessa]

Wow a real "institute" is dead. But based on the news surrounding his health the last period it is probably for the best. RIP

[LittleThunder]

Wow a real "institute" is dead. But based on the news surrounding his health the last period it is probably for the best. RIP

  Probably. I hope he's gone in peace. He was king since 1946 ! 

Let's pray for Thailand's people, I hope there won't be any major crisis that innocent citizens'd suffer through. I hope for more freedom of speech. That's a lot of hope...

https://www.theguardian.c...-dies-after-70-year-reign

http://www.aljazeera.com/...ibol-150303101652647.html

"King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand – obituary"
http://www.telegraph.co.u...ej-of-thailand--obituary/

[pixiecat]

I know next to nothing about the Thai royals.  I heard on BBC world news this morning that the crown prince is very unpopular.  It will be interesting to see what happens. 

I do know that I'd like to see pressure put on the government to do something about the pedophilia tourism that this country is notorious for.  There's zero excuse whatsoever for Thailand to allow this to happen.

[LittleThunder]

I know next to nothing about the Thai royals.  I heard on BBC world news this morning that the crown prince is very unpopular.  It will be interesting to see what happens. 

I do know that I'd like to see pressure put on the government to do something about the pedophilia tourism that this country is notorious for.  There's zero excuse whatsoever for Thailand to allow this to happen.

Just found an article about him : 

"Crown prince is best known for making his poodle Foo Foo an air chief marshal, but his darker side has long caused concerns about his potential rule"

https://www.theguardian.c...ongkorn-crown-prince-king

The country?s fierce l?se-majest? laws, officially designed to protect much-loved King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his family from defamation, have kept the prince?s stranger exploits out of the Thai media, but the cover-up is only cosmetic.

Stories about Vajiralongkorn are a gossip mainstay nationwide, and he is loathed by many of his future subjects, including the elite circles expected to crown him and then help him rule.

?The l?se-majest? law criminalises publication of the prince?s exploits, but despite this, or indeed because of this, Thais have voracious interest in informal royal information and gossip, which they share privately with those they trust,? said Andrew McGregor Marshall, a British journalist who has written extensively on the monarchy.

?Almost all Thais know about the exploits of the crown prince, who has been a hated figure in Thailand since the 1970s.?

Distaste for the prince was spelt out in a leaked US diplomatic cable from 2010, in which members of the Thai privy council openly discussed their concerns about Vajiralongkorn including his meddling in politics and ?embarrassing financial transactions?.

?Anand [Panyarachun, the former prime minister] added that the consensus view among many Thai was that the Crown Prince could not stop either, nor would he be able, at age 57, to rectify his behaviour,? the cable reads.

In conversations with the then US ambassador summarised in the cable, Thai officials also discussed the hope shared by many in the elite ? but since all-but abandoned ? that the King would appoint his widely respected daughter, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, as heir. Thailand has never had a ruling queen, and the laws of succession specify a male heir.

?If the Crown Prince were to die, anything could happen, and maybe Prathep [Sirindhorn] could succeed,? the cable quotes the late air chief marshal Siddhi Savetsila saying ?almost hopefully?.

[PeDe]

I know next to nothing about the Thai royals.  I heard on BBC world news this morning that the crown prince is very unpopular.  It will be interesting to see what happens. 

I do know that I'd like to see pressure put on the government to do something about the pedophilia tourism that this country is notorious for.  There's zero excuse whatsoever for Thailand to allow this to happen.

Yup.

The Crown Prince of Thailand is no more. Now that his father, Bhumibol Adulyadej, has died, Maha Vajiralongkorn is about to be king.

Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced Thursday that Vajiralongkorn will take over for the late Bhumibol as head monarch, the Associated Press reported. The decision is sure to divide Thais, who will likely be not only mourning the loss of their beloved king but also warily eyeing his controversial successor.

"In a society that attaches celestial importance to the throne and largely views the monarchy as a force preserving Thai culture and values, the prince is thus seen as exceedingly unfit for kingship," Strategic Forecasting, Inc. wrote in a 2015 analysis of the political situation.

International media outlets frequently refer to Vajiralongkorn, 64, as a playboy with a penchant for partying. The pilot has been married at least three times, and his previous relationships have been dramatic. For example: During his first marriage, Vajiralongkorn had five kids with a mistress ? who would later become his second wife and, after the breakup, leave the country with the couple's daughter. Vajiralongkorn abducted the princess and took her back, according to the Daily Beast.

His most recent divorce was in 2014, and he reportedly has plans to marry a former Thai Airways flight attendant, according to the Guardian. She's rumored to live in Munich, where Vajiralongkorn was photographed earlier this year wearing jeans, a tank top and temporary tattoos.

Vajiralongkorn's political history is storied. The only son of Bhumibol and his wife, Vajiralongkorn went to school in England and Australia before serving in the Royal Thai Armed Forces, according to his bio on the Royal Thai Embassy in Singapore. He created a chain of hospitals and has long worked with Thai farmers to improve agriculture.

But he also has ties to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire living in exile amid allegations of corruption. Some fear that Vajiralongkorn's relationship with Thaksin could mean the new king would adopt some of the tycoon's stances, the Diplomat reported.

Residents and pundits have long speculated about Bhumibol's succession plan but were not able to fully discuss it due to l?se-majest? laws that threaten critics of the royal family. Long story short: One way or another, Vajiralongkorn will likely be a shakeup for Thailand.

"Unlike the revered King Bhumibol, Vajiralongkorn is widely disliked by the general public ? and hated by those who know him," expert Jonathan Manthorpe wrote in an iPolitics column earlier this year. "The palace and its loyalists among Thailand?s class-conscious elite fear that if Vajiralongkorn comes to the throne, he will usher in a period of revolutionary upheaval that could destroy the structure of Thai society."

[Laprincess]

Just heard on the news that Thai King has passed away.

[Laprincess]

Oops. Just posted the news in another thread. I didn't see this one.

[Maria]

It doesn't even seem clear who's his heir (per Wiki). It feel very worrying, when the monarch is actually needed to secure stability in a country and the new one isn't one who's likely to secure it

[Rita]

sad news he was very important for his country stability and now the futut seems uncertain

may he rest in peace.

[SavageGrace]

RIP

I honestly have a bad feeling about Maha Vajiralongkorn... never gotten a good vibe from him and, though I do not follow the Thai RF, the things I have happened to read/heard about him are not good... as soon as I saw the news about the King passing, I had a horrible feeling about the future of Thailand...

[RoyalMusings]

My friend is in the Peace Corps and she just landed back in Thailand today. We're waiting to hear what is going to happen (if they'll send the volunteers home or move them to another site temporarily).

[Countess of Cows]

http://www.dailymail.co.u...onarch-dies-hospital.html

"playboy son provoked mystery by requesting his succession to the throne be delayed."

OMG how did I forget Foo Foo's birthday  party!!   

 "a video emerged during the Thai military coup in 2014 of the pair throwing a party in honour of their pet dog Foo Foo in the royal palace in Bangkok.  Srirasmi could be seen cavorting in just a tiny G-string as she fed the dog cake before they later sang happy birthday to the animal."

[pixiecat]

http://www.dailymail.co.u...onarch-dies-hospital.html

"playboy son provoked mystery by requesting his succession to the throne be delayed."

OMG how did I forget Foo Foo's birthday  party!!   

 "a video emerged during the Thai military coup in 2014 of the pair throwing a party in honour of their pet dog Foo Foo in the royal palace in Bangkok.  Srirasmi could be seen cavorting in just a tiny G-string as she fed the dog cake before they later sang happy birthday to the animal."

Sounds like the Sultan of Brunei's trashy brother. 

[Rita]

http://www.dailymail.co.u...onarch-dies-hospital.html

"playboy son provoked mystery by requesting his succession to the throne be delayed."

OMG how did I forget Foo Foo's birthday  party!!   

 "a video emerged during the Thai military coup in 2014 of the pair throwing a party in honour of their pet dog Foo Foo in the royal palace in Bangkok.  Srirasmi could be seen cavorting in just a tiny G-string as she fed the dog cake before they later sang happy birthday to the animal."

OMG!!!!!
is he serious? i am speachless