Unpredictable and untested: Thai new king Maha Vajiralongkorn
BANGKOK: After spending much of his life outside the public eye, Thailand’s next monarch Maha Vajiralongkorn has been catapulted into the limelight as future king of a politically fractured nation still grieving for his revered father.
The 64-year- old inherits one of the world’s richest monarchies, an opaque institution shielded by a notoriously tough royal defamation law.
Yet the untested heir has enormous shoes to fill following the Oct 13 death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who charmed a nation that came to see him as a compassionate and unflashy monarch.
Bhumibol’s popularity and moral authority helped him wield vast influence during his seven- decade reign, despite the few legal powers granted to the constitutional monarch.
But he has left behind a deeply polarised country, trapped in a cycle of political protests, coups by an arch-royalist military and entrenched inequality.
Vajiralongkorn does not enjoy his father’s level of popularity and has spent much of his life overseas, particularly in Germany.
Rumours over his private life have also trailed him, gilded by three-high profile divorces and a recent police corruption scandal linked to the family of his previous wife.
After his father’s passing, he shocked many by requesting to delay his ascension to the throne.
That announcement was delivered on his behalf by junta chief Prayut Chan- O- Cha, who said the prince wanted more time to grieve with the nation.
In the past, heirs have typically been proclaimed king shortly after the throne is vacated.
The prince’s ascension, which is expected within days after the Thai cabinet yesterday submitted his name to the kingdom’s rubber- stamp parliament, stills Thailand’s royal rumour mill which for years had spun out theories of a back-room tussle over the succession.
Paul Chambers, a Thailandbased expert on the monarchy, said the Crown Prince’s decision to delay his proclamation suggests he ‘is someone who thinks very carefully before making decisions’.
“He appears effective in realising that he must consolidate his power and balance different political sides, thus staying above the fray,” he told AFP.
He will also need to manage the various competing factions among Thailand’s powerful generals, he added.
Yet frank discussion of the matter in Thailand remains impossible due to the kingdom’s harsh lese majeste law, which punishes any perceived criticism of the monarchy with a 15 year prison sentence for each offence.
Use of the law has surged under the ultra-royalist generals that seized power in 2014 — a coup many believe was staged to ensure a smooth succession.
Since Bhumibol’s death, Vajiralongkorn has attended many daily palace funerary rites for his father.
But he has also made at least two trips out the country and placed his younger sister, Princess Sirindhorn, in charge of overseeing the cremation arrangements. — AFP