Rama X or Maha Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand

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Rama X or HM Maha Vajiralongkorn is the son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (died on 13 October 2016) and Queen Mother Sirikit.

He was proclaimed king on 1 December 2016.

Youth and education of Rama X

The King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun was born in Bangkok in 1952.

His father King Bhumibol Adulyadejsays Rama IXHe had been on the Thai throne for six years.

He attended primary school in his home town before going on to secondary school at Millfield School in Somerset, a British public school, and then to university in Sydney.

The future king has three sisters:

• Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanyaborn on 5 April 1951.
• HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhornborn on 2 April 1955
• HRH Princess Chulabhornborn on 4 July 1957

Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya lost her predicate of royal highness (Chao Fa) when she married a foreigner: Peter Ladd Jensen.

In 1972, at the age of 20, his father, Rama IXs, refers to it as theheir to the throne.

He subsequently received military training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra, and then studied art at Bangkok and is a graduate.

Military career of King Maha Vajiralongkorn

Rama X  has a career in the Thai army.

He became a fighter pilot as well as a helicopter pilot and took part in numerous military manoeuvres.

He also served occasionally in the US, British and Australian air forces.

He even had his first experience of fire during some battles in the north of the country and on the Cambodian border against the Khmer Rouge forces.

At the same time, he received the rank of general in the air force and then took command of his father's bodyguard regiment.

In 1978, he interrupted his military career to become a Buddhist monk for a season.

He was later appointed General of the Royal Army and Admiral of the Thai Fleet.

Religious experience

The prince was ordained a monk on 6 November 1978 (he was 26 years old) at Wat Phra Sri Rattana Satsadaram in Bangkok (Temple of the Emerald Buddha).

He then stayed at Wat Bowonniwet Vihara for 15 days and was given the monastic name 'Vajiralongkornno'.

Family and private life of King Maha Vajiralongkorn

In January 1977, Maha Vajiralongkorn wife Soamsavali Kitiyakaraa cousin of her mother's. Queen Sirikit.

The marriage was unhappy, however, and the couple soon separated but refused to divorce.

The couple has a daughter:

Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha (born 1978)

HM Maha Vajiralongkorn was then living in a marriage with an actress, Yuvadhida Polpraserthwho gave him five children:

• His Serene Highness Prince Juthawachara Mahidol (born 1979)
• His Serene Highness Prince Vacharaesorn Mahidol (born 1981)
• His Serene Highness Prince Chakriwat Mahidol (born 1983)
• His Serene Highness Prince Vatcharawee Mahidol (born 1985)
• Her Serene Highness Princess Busya Nambejra Mahidol (renamed Chakkrityabha Mahidol and then Sirivanvari Mahidol), titled Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana (born 1987)

In 1993, he finally divorced his first wife and remarried to Yuvadhidaan act disapproved by the Queen.

But again, the union fails and the couple do not get along well.

In 1996, the princess fled to Britain with three of her children, allowing the prince to accuse her of adultery with a field marshal.

After this incident, he obtains a divorce and gets his children back.

In 2001, at the age of 49, he married for the third time Srirasmi Akharaphongpreecha.

However, this marriage remained secret until the birth of their first child:

His Royal Highness Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti (born 2005), second in line of succession to his father.

In December 2014 the Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn divorced his last wife, who was disgraced after a corruption scandal involving her family.

On 1 May 2019, a few days before his coronation, the King married Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya, a close relative who had been commander of his bodyguard unit.

Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhya, who turned 40 last June, is the King's fourth wife and has become the new Queen of Thailand.

Political activities

In the second half of the decade, the Prince Vajiralongkorn is becoming increasingly important as a result of his father's old age.

He frequently replaces his father on official visits and ceremonies.

He thus inaugurates the 2007 South East Asian Games in his place. Nakhon Ratchasima.

On 21 January 2008, he presided over the opening ceremony of the new Parliament.

In December of the same year, he and his sister made their first speech in the Princess Maha Chakri SirindhornThe traditional birthday speech of the king, who is unavailable due to illness, was given.

New King of Thailand

After the death of his father on 13 October 2016, he was to succeed to the Thai throne directly but required time to grieve.

On 1 December 2016 he finally accepted the throne and became the tenth king of the Chakri under the name of Rama X.

Coronation

Rama X was officially crowned on 4 May 2019.

At the ceremony, Rama X declared that he would follow in the footsteps of his father, King Bhumibol, and vowed to :

to continue, preserve, develop and rule justly for the benefit and happiness of his people.

Flag of the new King of Thailand

The colour of the flag is the same as his father's because he was born on a Monday.

For more information on colours, see : Recognising Thai flags

Popularity of King Rama X

The King has been the subject of numerous attacks by opponents of the regime, some of whom have been convicted of crimes of lese majeste.

In July 2007, many unfounded rumours announced the death of the Crown Princewho is reportedly suffering from a serious illness.

These rumours, although erroneous, have created a controversy about the opacity of the members of the the royal family.

The popularity of the king is far less important than that of other members of the the royal family.

For many years the king Maha Vajiralongkorn was mainly in Europe, in his residence in Germany.

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Sources : en.wikipedia.org