She’s back as consort

Yesterday we briefly noted that reports that King Vajiralongkorn had restored all of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi honors and awards, reinstating her as official consort.

At that stage we hadn’t seen the official announcement, which is now widely circulated.

While the king is known for his furious language when sacking people, this announcement is an official “love letter” and a kind of apology for having jailed her and destroyed some of her and her family’s assets.

The announcement states that Sineenat is not a defiled/guilty person. To maintain her dignity, her titles, military rank and royal awards are restored. In addition, these ranks and awards are deemed to have never been withdrawn.

This is truly remarkable. He’s never done this before, although his war with his first wife gradually eased over time. Other former wives continue to be treated very badly.

It was in July 2019 that Vajiralongkorn “bestowed the title of ‘Chao Khun Phra,’ or Royal Noble Consort, to Maj. Gen. Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, one of his royal guards.” She had been his minor wife for several years, often photographed with the prince-cum-king in Germany, and reportedly was some kind of “nurse” to his son when he was young. In August 2019, royal consort Sineenat got huge palace-arranged propaganda as the king’s favorite.

But, in October, Sineenart was out, disappeared, and dismissed. The official announcement accused her of attempting to prevent Queen Suthida from being crowned and abusing her royal status. According to that announcement, Sineenat not only “expressed her opposition and exerted her pressure in every possible way” regarding Queen Suthida’s elevation to the throne as the Queen of Thailand, she also sought to have His Majesty the King appoint her to the role instead.”

Clipped from the New York Times

The July promotion to official consort was “explained” as an (unlikely) attempt to “reform” her: “After her repeated disobedience and attempts of interference with the royal affairs, the statement said, … the King graciously bestowed her the title of Royal Noble Consort in July out of hope that Sineenat would “lessen her pressure” and change her tact [sic.].”

Sineenat was charges with having continued to display “ambition” and to have repeatedly “overstepped her authority by engaging in many royal court activities without … the King’s approval, which caused much confusion to the public…”.

That announcement concluded: “Her actions are considered disloyal, ungrateful, and ungracious of [the king’s] kindness…. They caused division among the royal servants and misunderstanding among the public; these amount to acts of sabotage against the country and the institution [monarchy].”

The king can be erratic and displays obsessive-compulsive behavior. That behavior is now the subject of numerous international media reports (see here, here, here, and here). Even Thai reports cannot ignore the king’s remarkable change of mind and how the new announcement contradicts the earlier announcement, just a few months ago.

An absolutist king in a royalist Thailand can do pretty much anything he wants. But this kind of behavior is eye-popping, especially when he is disdainful of Thailand and lives overseas. He’s even taken his reinstated consort to Germany to join his harem.