The 42-year-old Thai lawyer,Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, was believed to have been stripped off his royal status, like the remaining three, until now. Thailand was amidst the run up to a new government when this news broke. Vivacharawongse was assumed to have no place in the line of succession to the throne.
After Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the king’s eldest daughter and the plausible heir collapsed last December, the determined line of succession became precarious.
There had been subdued talks going around in Thailand about the possibility of one of the estranged sons to be reinstated in the country to play a role in the royal roulette, for years. Vacharaeson’s sudden visit is hence being viewed as a start to this apparent plot, however, no official statement has yet been made by the palace.
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One of the five children born to King Vajiralongkorn’s second wife Sujiranee, Vacharaeson along with his three brothers and their mother was banished from Thailand, following his parents’ divorce in 1996. They were then habituated in the US and have been there since. Princess Sirivanavari was however, brought back to Thailand to live with her father. The four sons did write to their father, appealing to reconcile and be allowed to return to Thailand, but all efforts proved futile.
On this trip, the 42-year-old contested royal spent his initial three days in Bangkok as a tourist, rediscovering the city, visiting temples, devouring Thai food and riding in tuk-tuks. He conveyed his excitement as he told the journalists about it being like a dream come true for him.
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Vacharaeson, has also met with Thailand’s most senior religious figure, the Supreme Patriarch of the Buddhist Sangha, and visited a childcare centre that came under the financial ambit of the palace. The people of Thailand decode the series of development around his re-emergence as a hint to his royal competency.
In the US too, he was the most visible of the four sons- active in the Thai community and openly supportive of the Thai monarchy. Furthering his chances to assume a higher profile role in the royal family, as the best suited. Until last year, the Princess, now in a coma was viewed as the most accomplished of the king’s children living in Thailand. Princess Bajrakitiyabha is also a lawyer and had worked with the UN and been Thailand’s ambassador to Austria.
Considering the learning impediment of the King’s youngest child- Prince Dipangkorn, Princess was assumed to fit into the role of regent, or even become the Queen after her father’s demise. However, as per the Thai succession law, the authority to designate his successor rests with the King, which he has not yet done.
More visits by Vacharaeson are expected in the future, to see how he copes in the public spotlight, amidst rigid protocol.
