Prince in Germany

A couple of weeks ago, PPT posted on why it might be that King Vajiralongkorn prefers living in Germany rather than Thailand.

Dipangkorn and his half-sisters

We thought that one of the reasons for preferring Germany might be that the king has had his son Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti in school there. While no one speaks about it, the 15-year old appears to have “learning difficulties.” His life in Germany is mostly private, although several videos of his life in Germany, with his father and friends have appeared.

Interestingly, several German media outlets have reported on the prince:

Prinz Dipangkorn: 5 Fakten über den künftigen König

Then Crown Prince and his kids from an earlier marriage

So leidet der kleine Sohn des großen Thai-Königs

These reports don’t say much that is worthy of translation, mentioning that he might be the king’s successor. It doesn’t mention the other boys.

It adds that he has no known connection with his mother, Srirasmi, having been ditched by  the king and essentially held under house arrest. There’s this:

According to press reports, Prince Dipangkorn lives in Tutzing on Lake Starnberg in Bavaria. There he also goes to school and has made many friends. In 2018, the palace published photos of its birthday party with its German classmates. Other pictures show him hiking in the mountains or cycling.

Most recently, it is the Daily Mail with a story. As usual, the paper has a long headline: Thai King Rama X’s son lives a life of ‘loneliness and rejection’ in German villa while his father spends lockdown with harem of 20 army ‘sex soldiers’ in nearby hotel.

The story cites Bild: “the little Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, 15, lives in a villa with a pool and a view over a lake, with two dozen servants.” It adds:

Last known photo of Dipangkorn and his mother

A former palace employee, who has not been named, told Bild: ‘Dipangkorn is autistic. That was definitely the reason why he came to Germany.

‘Maha Vajiralongkorn is ashamed of his son’s developmental disorder….

And continues:

As the King’s only legitimate son and thus the heir to the throne, Dipangkorn has been removed from the public eye and is on a ‘development program’, according to the German publication.

Rama X has reportedly been living in Germany since 2007.

Dipangkorn has been attending the Waldorf School in Wolfratshausen since 2011. He is said to speak German, with a Bavarian accent, better than he does Thai.