Germany’s media reports on doubts that the Thai King will return

German media are reporting today that they doubt part-time Bavarian tourist and resident, Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, will ever return. Thailand’s King spent a large proportion of his time renting a large hotel in the southeast German state of Bavaria since becoming King in 2016 following the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The reports say that the Villa Stolberg in Tutzing speculated that HM the King and his entourage are “not coming back”.

King Vajiralongkorn has been back in Thailand since October to share some important state dates and anniversaries, ceremonies and unprecedented public ‘walkabouts’ with HM the Queen.

His return to public life in Thailand also coincided with student-led street protests demanding the resignation of the Thai PM, amendments to the constitution and reform of the role of the Thai monarchy. It was during this stay and his spontaneous meet-and-greets with his subjects that he made the only comments about the protests “Thailand is the land of compromise” and “We love all of them”, referring to the protesters. The comments were made to a British journalists who fired questions to His Majesty during a public “walkabout” meeting of Thais waiting to see Their Majesties following a ceremony at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

The Thai Palaces’ charm offensive has been in over-drive making up for much of the monarch’s absence over the past 4 years.

Germany is now is a series of fresh Covid-19 lockdowns and HM the King’s earlier schedule to return to Germany at the end of December appears to have been postponed further although there has been no official comment on the matter.

The palace has meanwhile launched an unprecedented public relations campaign to make the king appear less remote from his subjects. He has walked through crowds of royalists, and even posed for selfies with supporters.

Nikkei Asia reports that Holger Sabinsky-Wolf, a journalist from a local daily, Augsburger Allgemeine, recently reported that ‘diplomatic sources’ have explained they do not expect the Thai king to return to Germany.

Meanwhile, Berliner Morgenpost, had a headline on December 9… “Thai king has left Bavaria – will he ever be back?” The article reported that local shops, jewellers and restaurants “regretted his absence” as the full entourage, including “twenty accompanying business women” who had generated significant revenue for the small village.

Augsburger Allgemeine also reported that there was significant development on October 12 when a Royal Thai Air Force plane departed from Munich for Bangkok with the King’s 15 year old son, Prince Dipangkorn Rajismoti. The prince is the king’s 5th son and was schooling in the nearby Bavarian town of Geretsried.

HM the King has attracted considerable publicity in Germany for the length of his stay, the list of people who were sharing the hotel with him, the cost of security and alleged Covid-19 lockdown breaches.

The German Government were also dragged into Thailand’s spate of protests when rally was mounted outside the German embassy in Sathorn Road on October 26. Protesters delivered a letter personally to the German ambassador Georg Schmidt, openly asking for an investigation of HM affairs and legitimacy as a long-term resident in Bavaria. They directly addressed the issue of a foreign monarch conducting state affairs on German soil amongst other matters that could contravene German law.

Protesters, in a first for Thai public life, have been openly questioning the role of the Thai monarchy and demanding that the role of the Thai King be codified in a new constitution for Thailand.

That instigated debate in the German parliament. Addressing questions in the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas responded saying that German authorities would “permanently review the goings-on and act immediately if things are found that we perceive to breach the law.”

About the German prohibition on conducting Thai state affairs on German soil, journalists concluded that the German government would be able to tie any future visa for the Thai monarch to “explicit requirements that HM appoint a regent in Thailand to act in his place when he was visiting Germany”.

The appointment of a regent during his absence from Thailand was controversially removed from the new Thai constitution, signed by HM the King in 2017. The clause, which required a regent to be appointed if the monarch was not resident in Thailand, was removed by a compliant Government which were happy to accommodate the requirements of the new Thai King.

Besides the murmurings of Germany’s Green Party members, government lawmakers in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union are happy to continue with the longstanding “hands-off” approach and appear untroubled by the controversies raised by opposition parties and the Thai protesters.

SOURCE: Nikkei Asia