New on #SecretSiam — a deeply researched article on Vajiralongkorn's life in Germany since 2007, his unexpected 13 months in Thailand recently, and his decision to return to Bavaria secretsiam.news/p/bavarian-rha 1/18
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Bavarian rhapsody
The inside story of Vajiralongkorn's life in Germany, his unexpected 13 months in Thailand, and his return to Bavaria.
For the moment it is mostly behind a paywall for subscribers, but here are some key points. Please subscribe to #SecretSiam to read the full article, if you can 2/18
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When Vajiralongkorn moved to Bavaria in 2007, he had several motivations. He wanted to abandon third wife Srirasmi and live with new lover Suthida, he has a fetish for public nudity, and he wanted to seek unconventional treatment for his HIV and his son Dipangkorn's autism 3/18
But he also genuinely believed his life was in danger. During 2007, his mother Sirikit turned against him and his enemies leaked a (now notorious) video to discredit him. It was clear that powerful royalist forces were trying to destroy him. 4/18
A US cable numbered 07BANGKOK5522 entitled “GOSSIP” included some details but was so secret it was sent via diplomatic pouch rather than electronically so was not included in the documents published by WikiLeaks 5/18
But we can reconstruct some of what it said via reference to other cables, especially 07BANGKOK5718 and 09BANGKOK2967.
6/18
We know from another leaked cable, 10BANGKOK192, and multiple other sources, that royalists like Prem Tinsulanonda and Anand Panyarachun were actively plotting against Vajiralongkorn and the CIA-linked Siddhi Savetsila openly stated he hoped Vajiralongkorn would die 7/18
When he moved to Bavaria in 2007, Vajiralongkorn began living with Suthida & sought treatment for HIV and Dipangkorn's autism at a quack clinic called Villa Medica, which offers bogus cures that have been promoted by royalist talkshow host
vimeo.com
Woody Milintachinda promotes fake autism cure
Promotional video for Villa Medica
Vajiralongkorn's relationship with Suthida began collapsing even before he divorced Srirasmi, after he met former army nurse Niramon “Koi” Ounprom in late 2011 or early 2012 and quickly became obsessed with her. Over the years that followed she helped him recruit a harem 9/18
Vajiralongkorn moved from the hotel at Munich Airport to the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2016, with Koi, his harem and his entourage. Suthida was banished to the Hotel Waldegg in Engelberg, Switzerland secretsiam.news/p/angel-mounta 10/18
The king is so paranoid about risks in Thailand he tries to spend as little time there as possible. He usually aims to visit for just a day for essential ceremonies then return to Europe without spending a night in the kingdom. This causes severe disruption to Thai Airways 11/18
Vajiralongkorn never wanted to get stuck in Thailand for 13 months between Oct 2020 and Nov 2021 but various factors conspired to make him feel he was forced to stay. The protest movement was one factor but the main issue was his fear of being liable for tax in Germany 12/18
Vajiralongkorn now insists on flying out of Don Mueang rather than Suvarnabhumi, mainly because there is a mini-palace for him at the military wing of Don Mueang with an outdoor swimming pool and decorative F-5 fighter jet in the garden. There's even a bicycle track for him 13/18
This causes even more disruption to Thai Airways because they have to fly 777s on short flights between the two airports, and the runway at Don Mueang is currently supposed to be closed for renovation 14/18
There were at least 17 Thai Airways cargo flights between Bangkok and Munich in October and November 2020 because Vajiralongkorn is shifting a vast amount of cash, antiquities and jewellery to Germany, fearful that he could lose these assets if the monarchy is overthrown 15/18
Vajiralongkorn insists on being flown between Europe and Thailand on a Boeing 777, for unknown reasons, rather than on the RTAF Airbus A340 that was specially commissioned for VVIPs and which Dipangkorn routinely uses to come back to Thailand during his school holidays 16/18
The 777 that Vajiralongkorn usually uses, HS-TKY, has no first class cabin, only business and economy. So Thai Airways is taking delivery of a new 777-300ER, HS-TTA, named "Alongkorn" which will be the plane used for bringing the king back to Thailand for his day trips 17/18
Full story here, please subscribe if you can secretsiam.news/p/bavarian-rha 18/18
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