Thread by @zenjournalist

For everybody wondering about King Vajiralongkorn's new official concubine Sineenat “Koi” Wongvajirapakdi, here's some information.

Her former name is Niramon Ounprom, นิรมล อุ่นพรม in Thai, and she previously worked as a nurse at the army's Ananda Mahidol Hospital. 1/19

After she entered royal service she became Vajiralongkorn's favourite mistress, and he gave her a new name.

The meaning of the Wongvajirapakdi name is:
Wong วงศ์ = family
Vajira วชิร = king's name
Pakdi ภักดี = loyal

2/19

For several years, Vajiralongkorn has spent much of his time with Koi and other mistresses, mostly at the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the German resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. grandhotel-sonnenbichl.com/en/ 3/19

Vajiralongkorn's wife Suthida "Nui" Tidjai spends most of the time away from the king, living in the Hotel Waldegg in the town of Engelberg in Switzerland. waldegg-engelberg.ch 4/19

Koi has been involved in several controversial episodes with Vajiralongkorn.

On June 10, 2016, she was filmed with Vajiralongkorn at the Riem Arcaden mall in Munich, with both of them dressed in revealing clothing and fake tattoos. 5/19

On December 26, 2016, Koi was photographed doing some kind of ritual semi-naked at the Rama V statue in Bangkok. 6/19

On April 25, 2017, Koi and Vajiralongkorn were photographed in strange clothing at another German mall, the Segmüller furniture store in Pasdorf near Munich. Vajiralongkorn was wearing another crop top, but this time with no fake tattoos. 7/19

In April this year, Vajiralongkorn and Koi were photographed wearing crop tops yet again, this time while they were waiting to board a cable car at Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze. 8/19

In May this year, the king promoted her to the rank of Major General in the army. She had previously held the rank of Colonel. 9/19

On Vajiralongkorn's birthday on July 28 this year, he promoted Koi to the special aristocratic rank เจ้าคุณ, or Noble Royal Consort. Goy is only the second woman in Thailand's history to receive this rank since the Rama V era. 10/19

The ceremony was explicit acknowledgement that Koi is a concubine of a king, and marked a return to official royal polygamy after nearly a century in which Thai kings abandoned the tradition of having a large harem and adopted the Western cultural norm of monogamy. 11/19

In the ceremony, Koi crawled at the feet of Vajiralongkorn as he sat in his throne, while Queen Nui sat beside him. We don't know what Nui feels about this new arrangement. 12/19

In the ceremony, Koi crawled at the feet of Vajiralongkorn as he sat in his throne, while Queen Nui sat beside him. We don't know what Nui feels about this new arrangement. 13/19

On July 30, a couple of days ago, Goy was seen by multiple sources at the Siam Paragon mall. She was with an entourage of at least 15 Royal Guards.

Koi was wearing a tight blue silk dress and showed no physical signs of pregnancy. 14/19

Meanwhile, my sources all over Thailand report that there is intense gossip about the recent elevation of Koi to the rank of Noble Royal Consort. 15/19

Among hi-so and middle-class Thais, who were staunchly royalist during the reign of the former King Bhumibol, there is widespread anger. People are openly criticising Vajiralongkorn and his harem, which is a remarkable development given the entrenched fear of the monarchy. 16/19

Some sample comments:

— "I don't care who she is, I am not stopping in traffic for her!"

— "I am going to hold back 2% of my tax as I am not paying for her holidays."

— "How many more does he want?"

— "And we are supposed to teach our children to behave at school."

17/19

Among less wealthy Thais in Bangkok and around the country, there is open mockery of Vajiralongkorn and a lot of earthy humour about his sex life, shared quite openly with a striking lack of fear about the possible consequences. 18/19

It's clear that Thai attitudes towards the monarchy are profoundly changing under Vajiralongkorn's reign, and the return to royal polygamy and elevation of Koi to the status of noble consort are only accelerating that process.
#AmazingThailand 19/19