Thailand's coronation of King Vajiralongkorn

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The Living Force
Thailand began elaborate rituals on Saturday leading to the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who will be officially crowned in ceremonies from May 4 to 6.

Timeline: Rituals for Thailand's coronation of King Vajiralongkorn
FILE PHOTO: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn arrives for the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in central Bangkok, Thailand May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

FILE PHOTO: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn arrives for the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in central Bangkok, Thailand May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Vajiralongkorn, 66, also known as Rama X, ascended the throne after the 2016 death of his beloved father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for 70 years.

The coronation is being held after a period of mourning for the late king.

The following is a list of rituals and events:

SACRED WATERS
- April 6: The gathering of waters from all 76 provinces and Bangkok to be blessed and used for the sacred water ritual in the Royal Coronation Ceremony.

- April 8-12: Consecration rites for the collected waters at Buddhist temples nationwide. The sacred waters are transferred from 76 provinces to the Ministry of Interior in Bangkok.

- April 18: The sacred waters from all 76 provinces and the Grand Palace are combined and transferred to Wat Suthat, one of Bangkok’s oldest and most important temples, for a final consecration rite.

- April 19: The holy waters are taken in a procession from Wat Suthat to be kept at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha for the Royal Purification on May 4.

ROYAL HOROSCOPE, INSCRIPTIONS
- April 22: Ten monks chant prayers at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

- April 23: Brahmin astrological ceremony interprets the horoscope of the new monarch. The ceremony at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha also inscribes Vajiralongkorn’s official title and seal on the Royal Golden Plaque.

- May 2: Vajiralongkorn pays homage to his ancestors at monuments around Bangkok.

- May 3: The Royal Golden Plaque with the king’s official titles, horoscope, and seal is transferred from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to Baisal Daksin Throne Hall.

ROYAL CORONATION CEREMONIES
- May 4: Vajiralongkorn perform the “Song Muratha Bhisek” (Royal Purification) ceremonies using the consecrated waters.

He then proceeds to Bhadrapitha Throne to be officially crowned.

- May 5: The king is borne by palanquin in a royal procession around Bangkok to greet the public.

- May 6: The king grants audiences to the public and later to ambassadors and dignitaries.


Thailand collects sacred waters for king's coronation rituals
FILE PHOTO: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn attends the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in central Bangkok, Thailand, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Thailand began rituals on Saturday for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn next month, with officials collecting water in ceremonies across the country for use in purification rites.
 
Forty roads were closed in Bangkok as a band and officers on horseback marched past the Grand Palace on Sunday in a dress rehearsal for the next weekend's coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thailand's first in nearly seven decades.

Thailand rehearses elaborate $31 million coronation for king
Thai soldiers take part in a rehearsal of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn coronation procession which will take place next week in Bangkok, Thailand April 28, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Thai soldiers take part in a rehearsal of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn coronation procession which will take place next week in Bangkok, Thailand April 28, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Vajiralongkorn, 66, also known by the title King Rama X, became constitutional monarch after the death of his revered father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October 2016 after 70 years on the throne.

His coronation follows a mourning period for Bhumibol, whose grand funeral was held a year after his death.

The military-run government has set aside 1 billion baht ($31 million) for coronation ceremonies on May 4-6, about one-third of the cost of the funeral.

The official coronation will be a mix of Buddhist religious ceremonies and Hindu Brahmin rituals. The king will be crowned on May 4, and the procession follows the next day. On May 6, declared a national holiday, he will meet Thai and foreign dignitaries.

Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932, but the king is regarded as the spiritual protector of its people and culture.

A revival in the monarchy’s popularity has been helped by a formidable public relations machine - the evening news in Thailand includes a daily segment dedicated to the royals.

Thais have been invited to wear yellow - a color associated with the monarch and his late father - to show support for the king from April until his birthday in late July.
 
Thai king names his consort queen days before coronation (Photo)
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn announced on Wednesday that he had married his consort, General Suthida Vajiralongkorn, and named her Queen Suthida.

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn announced on Wednesday (May 1, 2019) that he had married his consort, General Suthida Vajiralongkorn, and named her Queen Suthida.

The announcement, carried in the Royal Gazette, came just before the official coronation of the king, 66, on May 4-6.

Vajiralongkorn, also known by the title King Rama X, became constitutional monarch after the death of his revered father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October 2016, after 70 years on the throne.

In 2014, Vajiralongkorn appointed Suthida Tidjai, a former flight attendant for Thai Airways, as a deputy commander of his bodyguard unit.

Some royal observers and foreign media have linked Suthida romantically with the king, but the palace had previously never acknowledged a relationship between them.

The king made Suthida a full general in December 2016, and the deputy commander of the king’s personal guard in 2017. He also made her a Thanpuying, a royal title meaning Lady.

While the king took the throne after the death of his father, his formal coronation follows a mourning period for King Bhumibol, whose royal cremation was held a year after his death.
 
Factbox: Thai king's elaborate coronation by the numbers
A billboard shows Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn's regalia to be used during his  three-day coronation ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand April 30, 2019. Picture taken April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Thailand's coronation ceremonies for King Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 4-6 will be the first the Southeast Asian nation has seen in 69 years, when the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned in 1950.

Factbox: The royal instruments for Thai king's coronation
A billboard shows Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn's regalia to be used during his  three-day coronation ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand April 30, 2019. Picture taken April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

During Thailand's main coronation event for King Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 4, the monarch will be presented with five royal regalia, which are treated as symbols of kingship, marking the legitimacy of his reign.

Factbox - The 10 Ramas: the kings of Thailand's Chakri dynasty
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Thursday paid tribute to his ancestors in a ceremony ahead of his official coronation this weekend, when he will take the formal title King Rama X, the 10th king in the Chakri dynasty.

Thai king to pay homage to ancestors ahead of coronation
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Queen Suthida and Princess Bajrakitiyabha leave after paying their respect at the statue of King Rama V at the Royal Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand, May 2, 2019. Pool via Reuters

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn will pay homage to his ancestors on Thursday as part of preparations for his elaborate coronation ceremonies this weekend.

Thailand's new queen: flight attendant to bodyguard to royalty
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his consort, General Suthida Vajiralongkorn named Queen Suthida attend their wedding ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand May 1, 2019, in this screen grab taken from a video. Thai TV Pool

Thailand has a new queen just in time for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in elaborate Buddhist and Brahmin ceremonies this weekend in Bangkok.

The 66-year-old king unexpectedly married the deputy commander of his personal bodyguard unit on Wednesday in a surprise ceremony, giving her the title Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhaya.

Suthida, 40, is expected to participate in some of the coronation events.

Here are some facts about the new queen from the palace’s household bureau, past royal decrees and media.

- She was born June 3, 1978, as Suthida Tidjai.

- She graduated from Assumption University, a private university in Bangkok, with a bachelor’s degree in communication arts in 2000, according to the Thai Rath newspaper.

- She worked as a flight attendant at Thai Airways before joining the protection unit of then-Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn.

- Criticizing or insulting her is a crime under Thailand’s lese majeste laws, which carry punishment of up to 15 years in prison. The king, queen, heir to the throne and regent are covered under the law.

- She already held the rank of general in the Royal Thai Army before her marriage, having been promoted to the position in December 2016 by King Vajiralongkorn by royal decree shortly after he took the throne following the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

- Before the wedding, she was deputy commander of the King’s Own Bodyguard Regiment. The king himself is commander of the unit, and he first designated her to the special officer unit of Crown Prince’s Bodyguard Regiment in 2013.

- She made her debut on Royal News, a nightly segment about the king and his family aired on all Thai television channels, on Wednesday, hours after her wedding.

- The wedding came as a surprise to many Thais because the palace had never previously acknowledged any personal relationship between her and King Vajiralongkorn, who has previously been married and divorced three times.

- She has been awarded royal honors in 20 royal decrees, the first in 2012 when King Bhumibol awarded her the Order of the White Elephant for her “honesty, loyalty and responsibility ... dedication and sacrifice” in service to then Prince Vajiralongkorn. The royal decree named her as Lieutenant Colonel Suthida Vajiralongkorn.

- During this weekend’s coronation, the king is likely to bestow his new bride with new royal titles. It is a tradition for a new monarch to grant new titles to family members.

Thailand's King Rama X - from pilot prince to powerful monarch
FILE PHOTO: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn marches during the royal cremation procession of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, October 26, 2017.   REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun will be officially crowned as the 10th king of the Chakri dynasty on May 4, after taking the throne following the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in late 2016.

During 18 months of his reign so far, Vajiralongkorn, also known by the title King Rama X, has moved to consolidate the authority of the monarchy, including taking more direct control of the crown’s vast wealth with the help of Thailand’s military government.

In one of his most visible initiatives he has signed up some 5 million Thais to a new volunteer corps, whose members salute a portrait of the king before going out to work on community service projects such as cleaning public spaces.

Devotion to the monarch is an ingrained part of Thai culture that deepened during Bhumibol’s 70-year reign. Vajiralongkorn’s portrait has replaced or hangs alongside that of his late father in many streets, public buildings and private businesses.

Public criticism of the king or his family is illegal, with insults to the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison under Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws.

Vajiralongkorn was born on July 28, 1952, the second of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit’s four children and their only son.

After completing primary education in Thailand, he was educated at private schools in Britain and Australia, before attending Australia’s Royal Military College Duntroon, in Canberra, and earning a bachelor’s degree in military studies from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

According to the king’s official biography, he is a qualified helicopter and fighter pilot and served as a career officer in the Royal Thai Army, where he saw action against communist insurgents in Thailand in the 1970s.

As king, he is now commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

“DECISIVE KING”
Since he ascended the throne, Vajiralongkorn has asserted his authority in several ways, according to analysts observing his public actions.

In July 2017, the military-appointed legislative assembly amended a 1936 law to give the king full control of the Crown Property Bureau, which manages the crown’s multi-billion dollar holdings and was previously under the supervision of the Finance Ministry.

The exact value of the bureau’s real estate and other assets is not made public, but its Bangkok holdings alone were estimated at $33 billion in a 2011 biography of his father “King Bhumibol, A Life’s Work”

Courtiers and royal guards are ordered to recite from memory the “Ratchasawat” or basic code of conduct for those entering royal service rooted in the old absolutist court of King Rama VI (1881-1925). The code, in the form of a Thai poem, exhorts those close to the king to have “humility and never be boastful”, to “never be presumptuous about the King’s kindness” and to “not react even when facing the King’s wrath”.

In December 2017, the chief of the Royal Thai Police told reporters that the king has provided uniforms with a consistent khaki color tone for all police officers, as there had previously been variations in hue.

In the same year, the 400,000-strong military also adopted a new salute and haircut, both modeled after those used by the king’s own bodyguards.

The king has also publicly punished members of the royal staff, including Grand Chamberlain Distorn Vajarodaya, who was dismissed in November 2017 and stripped of all royal decorations for “extremely evil behavior”, according to a published royal command.

The document lists Distorn’s alleged wrongdoings as falsifying a 25 million baht ($785,000) charity receipt and tax evasion. Distorn’s location is not known. According to local media reports in March, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for dereliction of duty and fraud by a criminal court in August 2018.

More than a dozen other royal staff have been sacked in similar public fashion for varying degrees of offences, ranging from tardiness and adultery to corruption.

In December 2018, a royal guard was dismissed and stripped of his decorations for “breaching military discipline by being lazy and being careless in abandoning royal duties”, according to a published royal command.

“The king has been very decisive and bold in pointing out what is right and wrong. Those who did good he praised, those who did wrong he punished,” said Sulak Sivaraksa, a Thai academic who has sometimes been a critic of the monarchy.

“This king also follows in his father’s footstep by not consulting with his advisors but uses them as his representatives in state functions.”

“GOOD PEOPLE”
The king also moved swiftly to block his elder sister earlier this year when Princess Ubolratana, 67, broke with the tradition of the royal family remaining aloof from politics and announced her surprise bid to run for prime minister.

Vajiralongkorn issued a public command calling her candidacy for a populist opposition party “inappropriate” and unconstitutional. The princess was quickly disqualified by the Election Commission and the party that nominated her was later banned from the election.

Ubolratana has not responded to interview requests, but said on Instagram after her disqualification she was “sorry my genuine intention to work for the country and Thai people has caused such problems that shouldn’t have happened in this era”, ending with the hashtag “#howcomeitsthewayitis”.

On the eve of the March 24 vote, the palace also issued an unexpected statement saying Vajiralongkorn was “concerned about the country’s security” and the Thai people’s happiness.

It did not directly mention the election, but recalled a comment made by Vajiralongkorn’s late father on the need to put “good people” in power and prevent “bad people from ... creating chaos”.

The results of the election, touted by the ruling junta as a return to democracy five years after the military seized power, are still unclear, though rules written by a military make it likely that a pro-army party will form the next government.

Official election results are due on May 9, three days after the coronation ceremonies end.

The palace did not respond to requests for comment about the election.

ROYAL MARRIAGE
Three days before his coronation, Vajiralongkorn broke the news to Thais that he had married the deputy commander of his bodyguard unit, Suthida Tidjai, 40. A former flight attendant for Thai Airways, she was given the title Queen Suthida after the Wednesday ceremony, shown in the nightly Royal News segment screened on all Thai television channels.

Some royal observers and foreign media had linked Suthida romantically with the king after he appointed her to deputy commander of his bodyguard in 2014 and made her a full general in 2016, but the palace had previously never acknowledged a relationship between them.

Vajiralongkorn, who has been married and divorced three times, has continued spending time since taking the throne in Germany, where his 13-year-old youngest son from his third marriage, Prince Dipangkorn, attends school.

He often pilots his own Boeing 737 jet on trips abroad and has a large lakeside villa in the German town of Tutzing, on Lake Starnberg, 40 km (25 miles) from Munich.

In 2014, he divorced his third wife, former lady-in-waiting Srirasmi Suwadee.

Their split followed the arrest of several of her relatives as part of a corruption investigation into people accused of making false claims of having links to the monarchy for financial gain. Srirasmi was never charged herself. Her uncle, parents and three brothers were later convicted of lese majeste and remain in prison.

Srirasmi, who relinquished her royal titles during the investigation, lives outside Bangkok and has rarely been seen in public since the divorce.

The king also has a daughter from his first marriage and four sons and a daughter from his second marriage to a former actress.

“VOLUNTEER SPIRIT”
One of Vajiralongkorn’s signature programs has been the new “Volunteer Spirit” recruitment drive that began in 2017.

The Thai government says the corps has signed up about 5.2 million civilians who are deployed to carry out tasks from cleaning public spaces to helping police direct traffic.

The most high-profile moment was when the volunteers, wearing blue caps and yellow neck scarves, joined an international effort to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand last year.

Once they put on their new uniforms, the volunteers do a military-style salute to the king’s portrait and, in a new tradition, must line up and salute the king’s portrait before every community activity they take part in.

The new volunteer corps, linked directly to the palace, has helped boost Vajiralongkorn’s image ahead of the coronation.

It also has created a vast and visible force personally linked to the monarch, interpreted by some analysts as fostering his own powerbase.

Slideshow (9 Images)
Thailand's King Rama X - from pilot prince to powerful monarch
 
Thailand to crown its newlywed king in elaborate ceremonies
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida attend a religious ceremony for the coronation inside the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, May 3, 2019. The Committee on Public Relations of the Coronation of King Rama X via REUTERS

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida attend a religious ceremony for the coronation inside the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, May 3, 2019. The Committee on Public Relations of the Coronation of King Rama X via REUTERS

At the astrologically auspicious time of 10:09 a.m. (03:09 GMT), the king will be dressed in white as he undergoes a royal purification ritual in which consecrated waters will be poured over his head.

King Vajiralongkorn, 66, became constitutional monarch after the death of his revered father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October 2016 after 70 years on the throne.

His coronation, after a period of mourning for the late king, comes amid the uncertainty of an unresolved election battle between the current military junta chief and a “democratic front” trying to push the army out of politics.

Thai kings’ coronation rituals are a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu Brahmin traditions dating back centuries. One of the many official titles King Vajiralongkorn will take is Rama X, or the 10th king of the Chakri dynasty founded in 1782.

Saturday’s rituals, which will see the king bathed in holy waters and crowned, are about transforming him into a “Devaraja”, or a divine embodiment of the gods.

As the waters start pouring, ancient cannons from the 19th century, used specifically for the coronation, will fire 10 volleys each.

The king will then change into a full uniform and take a seat on an eight-sided, carved wooden throne to receive sacred waters on his hands in an anointment ritual.

Selected officials, including military junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, the head of the National Legislative Assembly, and the chairman of the Supreme Court, will pour the waters from eight directions, representing the cardinal and ordinal directions on a compass.

The waters used in both rituals were collected from 117 sources last month, blessed by Buddhist monks and Brahmin priests in temples around the country, before they were combined and consecrated.

Before noon, the purified and anointed sovereign will sit under an elaborate nine-tiered umbrella, where he will receive the royal golden plaque containing his name and title, the royal horoscope, and the royal seal, which were made in a three-hour ritual last week.

The king will also receive and wear five articles of the royal regalia from the chief Brahmin.

Once in full regalia, the king will give his first royal command, a short utterance that will highlight the essence of his reign.

The king will proclaim himself the royal patron of Buddhism later in the evening, and perform a private housewarming ritual at the royal residence where he will stay the night, as previous kings have done.


Thai king conducts final rituals before coronation; to pardon prisoners
A portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn is seen outside Wat Suthat temple on the eve of his coronation in Bangkok, Thailand May 3, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

A portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn is seen outside Wat Suthat temple on the eve of his coronation in Bangkok, Thailand May 3, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

On Friday, the king visited the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to pay respects to one of Thailand’s most sacred Buddhist relics.

“Long live the king,” chanted a group of people dressed in yellow, an auspicious color in Thailand, as the king and his new queen walked on a red carpet to the Grand Palace, shielded from the hot afternoon sun by a big yellow umbrella.

The king lit auspicious candles at 4:19 p.m. (9:19 GMT), a time that court astrologers determined was propitious, as 80 Buddhist monks chanted.

Yellow is particularly significant as it is the color of Monday In Thai culture, which is steeped in astrology, the day the king was born, and also the color of the sun, which represents the monarch in the cosmos.

Thais have been urged to wear yellow until the end of July, the king’s birth month.

Earlier on Friday, a senior palace official transferred a golden plaque inscribed with the king’s official name and title, his horoscope and the royal seal from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to the Grand Palace in preparation for Saturday’s events.

The three items, which were made in a three-hour ritual last week, will be presented to the king by the chief Brahmin, along with five royal regalia, the symbols of kingship in Thailand.

ROYAL PARDON
Ahead of the grand ceremonies, the king said he would grant royal pardons to some prisoners to “give them a chance to become good citizens”, according to the Royal Gazette.

The order, which will take effect on Saturday, listed many criteria of prisoners eligible for the pardon, including those with disabilities, chronic or terminal diseases, or those within a year of completing their sentence.

The king will also reduce sentences for some prisoners, including those imprisoned for life, and commute some death sentences to life.

It is not clear how many people will qualify for pardons, and the Department of Corrections said it would finalize a list of eligible prisoners, and release them or commute their sentences, within 120 days.

The order did not exclude foreigners, nor did it exclude prisoners convicted of insulting the monarchy, a crime known as lese-majeste, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Slideshow (27 Images)
Thai king conducts final rituals before coronation; to pardon...
 
Thailand holds ornate coronation ceremonies for king
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, donning white robes, undergoes a purification ritual during a ceremony before being officially crowned in Bangkok, Thailand, May 4, 2019 in this still image taken from Reuters TV footage.  REUTERS/Reuters TV

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, donning white robes, undergoes a purification ritual during a ceremony before being officially crowned in Bangkok, Thailand, May 4, 2019 in this still image taken from Reuters TV footage. REUTERS/Reuters TV

The king appeared dressed in white as he underwent a royal purification ritual, sitting under a canopied fountain that poured consecrated waters over his head.

The country’s Buddhist Supreme Patriarch also poured sacred waters over the king’s body, followed by Brahmin priests and royal family members.

Explainer: What to watch for - Thailand's Brahmin and Buddhist coronation rituals
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, donning white robes, undergoes a purification ritual during a ceremony before being officially crowned in Bangkok, Thailand, May 4, 2019 in this still image taken from Reuters TV footage.  REUTERS/Reuters TV

The three-day coronation of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn this weekend includes a mixture of Buddhist and Brahmin traditions.

Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn formally crowned as divine monarch
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn was formally crowned as a divine monarch on Saturday.
 
'I shall reign with righteousness': Thailand crowns king in ornate ceremonies
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn is transported on the royal palanquin by royal bearers during his visit to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to proclaim himself the Royal Patron of Buddhism, inside the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, May 4, 2019. The Committee on Public Relations of the Coronation of King Rama X/Handout via REUTERS
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Saturday completed Buddhist and Brahmin rituals to symbolically transform him into a living god as the Southeast Asian nation crowned its first monarch in nearly seven decades.

Crowds gather for coronation procession of Thai king
A child holds a Thai flag as people wait for a coronation procession for Thailand's newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn in Bangkok, Thailand May 5, 2019. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

Crowds of Thais lined roads under Bangkok's blazing sun on Sunday for the royal procession of newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn, hoping to get a glimpse of the constitutional monarch who is revered in Thai culture as a living deity.
 
Thailand's newly crowned king begins procession around Bangkok
General views shows the coronation procession for Thailand's newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn in Bangkok, Thailand May 5, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
Thailand's newly crowned King Maja on Sunday began seven km (four-mile) procession from the Grand Palace to three Buddhist temples in Bangkok.

Newly crowned Thai king carried through Bangkok in royal procession
Thailand's newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida are seen during the coronation procession, in Bangkok, Thailand May 5, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn visited Buddhist temples and greeted his subjects for the first time since his crowning in a royal procession around the old quarter of Bangkok on Sunday, as part of intricate coronation ceremonies held over three days.

Slideshow (39 Images)
Newly crowned Thai king carried through Bangkok in royal procession

Thai King crowned amid pomp and ceremony
Thai King crowned amid pomp and ceremony
Members of the royal family at the coronation ceremony at the Grand Palace yesterday include (from left) the King's son, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, his daughters, Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana and Princess Bajrakitiyabha, his elder sister, Prin

King Maha Vajiralongkorn sitting on the throne after being formally crowned during his coronation ceremony at the Grand Palace in Bangkok yesterday. It is part of a three-day elaborate traditional ceremony to complete the monarch's accession to the throne.PHOTO: EPA-EFE
 
:knitting: Well, that didn't take long ... claws and fur flying in the Royal Palace ........

Thai king strips 'disloyal' new royal consort of titles
General Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, the royal consort is seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters, August 27, 2019.  Royal Household Bureau/Handout via REUTERS
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped his newly named royal consort of her titles and military ranks for being "disloyal" and conducting a rivalry with Queen Suthida, the palace said late on Monday.

It made the extraordinary announcement just months after the king, who was officially crowned in May, made Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi a royal noble consort - the first such appointment in almost a century.

Sineenat, 34, had breached a code of conduct for courtiers and was disloyal, a two-page palace statement said.

“Royal Noble Consort Sineenat is ungrateful and behaves in ways unbecoming of her title. She is also not content with the title bestowed upon her, doing everything to rise to the level of the queen,” the statement said.

The royal family had been scheduled to participate in the Royal Barge Procession on Thursday, one of the last ceremonies in the king's year-long coronation celebrations, but last week the event was postponed (here) until later in the year, with officials citing weather conditions.

King Vajiralongkorn was crowned (here) as constitutional monarch in May after first taking the throne following the 2016 death of his father, who reigned for 70 years.

Days before his coronation ceremonies, the king married the deputy head of his personal bodyguard, Suthida Tidjai, 41, giving her the title of Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana.

Rise and Fall

Before July’s of Sineenat’s elevation, the title of royal noble consort had not been used since before the end of Thailand’s absolute monarchy in 1932.

The following month, the palace released a set of unusually candid pictures (here) of Sineenat, along with her official biography on its website.

Some of the pictures were in the usual royal tradition, with Sineenat wearing Thai dress and sitting at the king’s feet. She was also pictured in the cockpit of a fighter jet and wearing a gray camouflage pattern crop-top at the controls of a light aircraft.

The page appeared to have been taken down on Monday.

As recently as last week, Sineenat was featured in official photographs released by the palace doing volunteer works in Bangkok.

Monday’s statement described vivid details of Sineenat’s behavior, saying she had opposed Suthida’s appointment because she had hoped to be named queen herself.

It also called her “ambitious” in trying to obtain royal titles and “self-promoting” in exercising her royal activities.

“She lacks the understanding of the good traditions of the royal court. She displays disobedience against the king and the queen,” the statement said.

Code of Conduct
During his reign so far, King Vajiralongkorn, also known by the title King Rama X, has moved to consolidate the authority of the monarchy, including taking more direct control of the crown’s vast wealth and transferring two military units to his personal control.

He also reintroduced the “Ratchasawat,” a basic code of conduct for those in royal service rooted in the old absolutist court, and has punished royal staff who have breached this code in the past.

Public criticism of the king or his family is illegal under Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws, with insults to the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

King Vajiralongkorn, 67, was previously married three times when he was the Crown Prince before ascending the throne.

In 2014, he divorced his third wife, former lady-in-waiting Srirasmi Suwadee, after the arrest of several of her relatives in an investigation into people making false claims of having links to the monarchy for financial gain.

Her uncle, parents and three brothers were later convicted of lese majeste and remain in prison. Srirasmi, who was never charged herself, lives outside Bangkok and has rarely been seen in public since the divorce.

Slideshow (6 Images)
Thai king strips 'disloyal' new royal consort of titles

Newsmaker: Thailand's ousted 'royal consort' had swift rise and fall
General Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, the royal consort, is seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters, August 27, 2019. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped his newly named royal consort Sineenat of her titles and military ranks for being disloyal and conducting a rivalry with Queen Suthida, the palace said late on Monday.  Royal Household Bureau/Handout via REUTERS
When Thailand's newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn named one of his bodyguards as Noble Royal Consort on his birthday in July, no one had held the title for nearly a century, dating back to the days of absolute monarchy.

Thai king fires palace officials for 'extremely evil' conduct
FILE PHOTO: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida attend the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in central Bangkok, Thailand, May 9, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has dismissed six palace officials for "extremely evil" conduct, a palace announcement said on Wednesday, in a shake-up that come days after the sacking of the king's royal consort.

Thai king fires more officials for 'extremely evil' conduct, poor performance
FILE PHOTO: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn attends an event commemorating the death of King Chulalongkorn, known as King Rama V at the Royal Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawognmetha/File Photo
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has fired four more officials, two palace announcements said on Tuesday, the latest shake up after the sacking of the king's royal consort last week.

In one announcement, two palace officials, identified as bedroom guards, were fired for “extremely evil misconduct” and “adultery,” which it said was a violation of a code of conduct for courtiers.

In another document, two military officers were fired for being “lax” in their duty as palace guards and “behaving unbecomingly of their ranks and titles.”

The four were all stripped of their ranks and titles, the announcements said.

The four dismissals on Tuesday followed those of six palace officials last week, who were accused of severe disciplinary misconduct that caused harm to the royal service.

Since taking the throne following the death of his revered father in 2016, King Vajiralongkorn has proved to be an assertive constitutional monarch, taking more direct control of royal affairs and the crown’s vast wealth, and transferring two military units from the army to his personal control.
 
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