King Maha Vajiralongkorn is present everywhere in Thailand. On the walls in public buildings, in homes and at restaurants, hanging portraits on the 65-year-old man who took over the throne in 2016.

But Maha Vajiralongkorn has far from the same good reputation as Bhumibol. He painted out as a ladies ‘ man, has been married three times and is said to like to gamble. To the less kungalika the properties that he is said to have named their poodle Fu-Fu to the officer in the air force and let the drink out of the prominent guest’s glass when they visit. When he would take up the leaked in addition, the images in the foreign press by a fully clothed Maha Vajiralongkorn at the pool with his wife topless eat the cake on the ground. After the couple divorced and imprisoned the princess’s parents and brothers for insulting the king.

speak loudly about in Thailand, which has the world’s toughest laws on lèse majesté cases. The laws are arbitrarily designed, and can strike from historians who have views on the king’s interference in a elefantkrig 400 years ago by a swiss tourist who painted over a portrait of the king. Anyone can report anyone and for the most part taken the statements seriously because the police and prosecutors themselves are worried of being accused to be disloyal to the king.

In this year’s election campaign has the royal family got a lot of attention since princess Ubolratana was nominated as premiärministerkandidat for the party Thai Raksa Chart. She quickly had to withdraw his candidacy after her brother the king declared that the monarchy is above politics.

however, It is a matter of definition. Got the king into a change in the new constitution which allows him to be the regent, even though he lives in Munich for large parts of the year. He has also taken control of the royal real estate company that owns land worth tens of billions of dollars, and had shut down Bangkok’s 80-year-old zoo as well as an even older race track for horses.

of human rights organisations to put a lid on freedom of expression. When the DN hit an activist, he stresses several times that what he says must be anonymous. But his opinion is clear: Thailand is no democracy as long as people don’t get to criticize the royal family.

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