On says that great kings are revealed in major crises. That of the coronavirus has above all revealed the true nature of the king of Thailand, autocrat and cynic, who reigns over his country as absolute master. From the first signs of the pandemic, Rama X took the opportunity to round up his own business by manufacturing vaccines through his personal Siam Bioscience laboratory, which immediately obtained exclusivity on the manufacture of 200 million doses per year … And Too bad if the assembly resulted in failures and delays at start-up, since no one can criticize His Majesty.
In the process, the monarch deserted his kingdom at the height of the epidemic, in March 2020, to join dare-dare a four-star palace in the heart of the Bavarian Alps with his bodyguards and twenty of his concubines …
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Cruel, whimsical, megalomaniac, capricious… Thus is described the king Rama X by those who approached him, testifying since exile as the reprisals can be formidable – one risks several years of prison for crime of lese-majesty.
For five years Thailand has been living in the grip of this dingo king imbued with himself, protected by the military junta which grants him a billion dollars in annual pension to keep the country under an iron fist. A sum which adds a little more to the royal nest egg, estimated at least at 30 billion dollars, the most important fortune of the world monarchies – the Queen of England suddenly makes a poor relation with her 350 million pounds …
A court under orders
Rama X, 69, lives as he pleases in his golden palaces in Bangkok, with his praetorian guard, his disowned wife, his official concubine, a court of orders and a people asked to honor his portrait or stand up at the cinema as soon as a soothing account of his official outings appears.
Very attached to protocol, the sovereign cannot bear to see a missing button on a uniform and requires his subjects to crawl on all fours and head bowed in front of his august person – we thus regularly see his entourage prostrate at his feet, even for the inauguration of a metro train …
Four marriages and a “noble concubine”
For years, his escapades have never ceased to attract the attention of the foreign press. Like Caligula who wanted to make senator his horse, Rama X took the plunge by raising his poodle Fufu to the rank of marshal – his death gave rise to an official funeral with four days of religious ceremonies …
As for her private life, it is closer to that of Bluebeard than to the serene principles promoted by Buddhism: four successive marriages, in particular with a cousin and an actress, the last being a former air hostess who became his guard. of the body he married a few days before his coronation two years ago. Since then, her sentimental life has evolved further with the sudden arrival of an official “noble concubine”, a former nurse promoted to the rank of major general, who was then repudiated, thrown in prison, before returning to favor.
Youth cures
As for hobbies, this former pilot trained in the Air Force likes nothing more than taking the controls of helicopters or fighter planes and regularly leaves to practice in Germany, where he does empty loops with his Boeings by reserving airspace – much to the chagrin of the local press.
Always accompanied by an impressive suite, the sovereign rents several floors of a Bavarian palace all year round and owns a property on Lake Starnberg. There, he can feast on pork and veal sausages with sweet mustard – his sweet tooth -, walk around in jeans, display his tattoos or ski with his bodyguards who watch the curious with drones. According to Paris Match, he would also take the opportunity to treat himself to rejuvenation cures in a specialized clinic that offers injections of fetal lamb cells …
The throne is cracking
But so much excess is beginning to tire. Starting with Germany, which finds the sovereign somewhat cumbersome and informed the Thai ambassador that it was out of the question that he was running his country from Bavaria, a practice denounced by some deputies. For the first time, Rama X also had to face a sling in his country, especially during the pandemic, when part of the youth felt that he was pushing the plug a bit far … “Why do we need to a king ? »We could read at the time, a slogan that has since flourished on social networks, leading to a movement of protests among some young people and students, in favor of a reform of the Institution.
The pandemic saved Rama X time by imposing containment measures, but discontent is still high and protests resumed last November – some opponents fear fierce military repression, as in Burma. But if the throne is cracking, it is not yet broken: the monarch has increased his power in recent years and Thais still remain loyal to the monarchy, although many are starting to look differently at their fanciful king. Confident or reckless, Rama X already left for Bavaria last month, with a court of 250 faithful and around thirty dogs …
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