Hashtags #RIPPrayuth and #ผนงรจตกม are trending on Thai Twitter due to the prime minister’s dreadful handling of the Korat massacre. But Prayut will hang on a few years more before the regime replaces him. 1/5
Although he is prime minister, Prayut is just a puppet of the royalist military regime that really runs Thailand, with most major decisions made in Germany by the king and his inner circle. Prayut is just a figurehead to give the illusion of democracy and hide the reality. 2/5
Army chief Apirat Kongsompong retires later this year and is Vajiralongkorn’s current choice to be the next prime minister. But according to the constitution he’d have to wait two years after retirement before he’d be eligible, in October 2022. 3/5
So the regime will probably keep Prayut in place until late 2022 or early 2023 before engineering a way to get rid of him and instal Apirat. And because of the votes of the Senate, the regime choice will always be PM regardless of election results. 4/5
This is the reality of Thailand’s fake democracy — the country is run from Germany, the prime minister is a puppet, and the regime has rigged the system so it can never lose. 5/5
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
⚠️New on #SecretSiam — In August I published a story on Vajiralongkorn's new favourite concubine. It was a tale of parachuting concubines, cryptic cartoons, symbolic silver heart-shaped pendants, & a mysterious woman identified by the colour pink & the code number 002. 🧵1/35
Since then, things got even stranger. The biggest bombshell is the reappearance of consort Sineenat “Koi” Bilaskalayani. Other concubines are also amassing more influence. And all of this may have a connection with Queen Suthida taking part in a yachting race in Mallorca. 3/35
In 1967, Britain's ambassador to Bangkok sent a cable to London that was highly insulting about the intelligence and character of Thais, and scornful about Thai culture. 42 years later it caused a minor diplomatic kerfuffle. A 🧵 1/15
For centuries, until the practice was stopped by the government in 2006, there was a tradition for British ambassadors departing a posting to write a valedictory despatch, in which they threw all diplomatic niceties to the wind and gave their uncensored opinions 2/15
Christopher Meyer, who was ambassador to Berlin and then Washington, wrote about the practice in The Telegraph in 2015. 3/15tomfletcher.global/articles/detai…
⚠️ UPDATE — I have more details from royal and medical sources about what happened to Princess Bajrakitiyabha last Wednesday, and also spoke to a specialist foreign-based ICU and trauma consultant to help interpret the information. 1/
To make this clear once again, I have no personal animosity against the princess, and while everybody knows I am not a fan of King Vajiralongkorn, his grief is clearly genuine and he deserves compassion and understanding right now. 2/13
But the people of Thailand also deserve to be told the truth, instead of being dragged into days or weeks of royalist theatrics to pray for the recovery of a woman who has already been dead for four days according to any sensible definition of what it means to die. 3/13
⚠️ UPDATE — Here is the latest on what we know so far about the death of Princess Bajrakitiyabha on Wednesday and what will happen next. You can also read the post on Facebook: facebook.com/zenjournalist/… 1/26
The latest information from royal sources is that the palace may try to keep her artificially alive on an ECMO machine at Chulalongkorn Hospital for days, maybe even until after New Year, at which point they will turn off the machine and announce she has died. 2/26
They're worried that if New Year festivities are cancelled and the tourism & hospitality industries take another hit at this crucial time of year, after all the pain they suffered during the pandemic, it will further inflame anti-monarchy sentiment which is already rampant. 3/26
⚠️UPDATE — Here is what we know so far about the health emergency suffered by Princess Bajrakitiyabha yesterday. While running with her dogs in Khao Yai national park she had a heart attack. She is only 44 years old. 1/9
She was initially taken to Pak Chong Nana Hospital where CPR was attempted for hours without success. Vajiralongkorn rushed to the hospital in a military helicopter. 2/9
A decision was made that the only viable option was to fly her to Bangkok for ECMO treatment, which is a way of keeping people alive when their heart and lungs cannot function en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracorp… 3/9
A fascinating note written by former prime minister written by former Sanya Dharmasakti in June 1979, while he was head of the Privy Council, details the meddling of Queen Sirikit and the rifts in the palace. 1/14
The note says Sirikit's political meddling was causing severe problems in Thailand and the royal family had become "completely divided". It says King Bhumibol had warned that Sirikit became violent when angry. The situation was getting "getting more serious every day". 2/14
According to the document, Sirikit wanted Bhumibol to abdicate on October 14, 1973, when Thailand's military dictators fled into exile after a student uprising and the country entered a period of democracy. He was persuaded not to abdicate by his advisor Vasit Dejkunjorn. 3/14