Thailand: Second son of Thailand’s king makes shock return after 27 years
BANGKOK: The second-eldest son of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn visited a child-care centre for underprivileged households on Tuesday throughout a shock go to to the dominion, the primary time he has been again in his homeland in 27 years.
The journey by Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, 42, comes at a fraught time for the Thai royal household, with the monarch’s eldest daughter in a coma since December.
Vacharaesorn, who works at a regulation agency in New York, visited the Basis for Slum Little one Care, which is supported by the royal household, and greeted well-wishers.
Clad in denims and an informal black shirt, he posed for pictures in entrance of portraits of his father and his grandfather, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016 after a 70-year reign.
“I’m delighted to return … I’ve been away for a very long time, 27 years,” Vacharaesorn informed reporters on the Bangkok basis.
“It is sort of a dream come true to be again,” he mentioned.
The Royal Palace has not commented on the go to. The Palace Family Bureau didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Many Thais have been stunned by Vacharaesorn’s return. An image of him in a “tuk-tuk” auto-rickshaw in Bangkok, that he posted on Monday on his Fb web page, which has greater than 80,000 followers, obtained tens of 1000’s of likes.
On X, the social media platform previously often called Twitter, the hashtag #SonOfTenReturnToThailand was talked about virtually 390,000 instances. His father’s formal title is King Rama X.
Those that noticed Vacharaesorn have been impressed.
“I’m very moved, he has been away for a very long time. To me he’s nonetheless a member of the royal household,” mentioned Angsana Seeprasit, 66.
Vacharaesorn is the second of 4 sons of King Vajiralongkorn’s second spouse, Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, a former actress whom the then-crown prince divorced in 1996.
He has no formal royal title although he technically retains a standing bestowed when he was a toddler as a grandson of a monarch.
He, his mom, three brothers and one sister have been estranged after the 1996 divorce, through which his mom was publicly accused of adultery, and so they moved overseas.
Vacharaesorn’s youthful sister was later re-embraced by the royal household and given the royal title Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana. She is a designer and equestrian who competed within the 2014 Asian Video games for Thailand.
The thrice-divorced King Vajiralongkorn has seven kids. He’s married to Queen Suthida, his former chief bodyguard whom he wed days earlier than his coronation in 2019.
The 71-year-old monarch has not named an official inheritor.
In late December, the king’s eldest baby, Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, 44, collapsed because of a extreme coronary heart situation. She stays in a coma.
