EXCLUSIVE—Why does King Vajiralongkorn have a 100-million-baht Boeing 737 with a fake registration parked in the middle of Bangkok? A detective story... 1/17
A few days ago, Somsak Jeamteerasakul shared Google Earth images showing a large aircraft with Thai Airways colours parked in the grounds of Ampornstan Palace in Bangkok. Photographs of the plane, plus a picture of it arriving at Ampornstan Palace by road, have now emerged. 2/17 
The photographs show a Boeing 737-400 with the registration HS-TDK.
But why does he have it in his garden at Ampornstan Palace? I have been doing some investigation. 3/17
But why does he have it in his garden at Ampornstan Palace? I have been doing some investigation. 3/17
The first discovery was that while the photographs show a 737-400 with Thai Airways colours, it can't be the real HS-TDK. 4/17
HS-TDK, which was named "Sri Surat" when it was in the Thai Airways fleet, was sold in 2017 to a UK air freight company called West Atlantic. It was given a new registration, G-JMCK, and its passenger windows were removed. airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane… 5/17
G-JMCK continues to fly in the UK, and was actually in the air today flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/… 6/17
So what's the plane at Ampornstan Palace? Further investigation shows it must be another Thai Airways 737-400, registration HS-TDG, which was called "Kalasin" when it was part of the TG fleet. The plane is 27 years old. 7/17
Aviation records show that Thai Airways says the plane was put in storage in September 2018. In fact, it's not "in storage", it has become an ornament in Vajiralongkorn's palace garden. 8/17
It would cost at least 100 million baht to buy a second-hand 27-year-old Boeing 737-400 controller.com/listings/aircr… 9/17
I am contacting Thai Airways investor relations to see if they can explain how their plane ended up in the king's garden, and whether they received payment for it. With the airline now in bankruptcy, investors and Thai taxpayers deserve a clear answer. 10/17
The king is known to be crazy about flying, and has vintage planes parked at Sukhothai and Thaweewattana palaces, but why would he want to put a Boeing 737 with a fake the registration at Ampornstan?
To answer that question, we have to go back to January 5, 2007. 11/17
To answer that question, we have to go back to January 5, 2007. 11/17
On that day, Vajiralongkorn piloted a charity Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The 118 passengers paid a large amount for the privilege of being flown by the crown prince, raising money for flood victims. 12/17
One of the Thai Airways flight attendants that day was 28-year-old woman called Suthida "Nui" Tidjai. After meeting Vajiralongkorn aboard the plane, she soon became his favourite mistress, and he began living with her in Germany. 13/17
Publicity photographs from the flight show Vajiralongkorn in the cockpit, and the plane registration number is on the console — HS-TDK. 14/17
So the most likely explanation is that the king wanted to have the plane where he first met Suthida as an ornament in his garden at Ampornstan Palace. But it had already been sold. So he took another Thai Airways 737-400, and repainted it with a fake registration number. 15/17
Maybe he wanted to fool Suthida into thinking it really was the plane on which they met. She may be less impressed once she finds out it's not the right plane. 16/17
And Thai taxpayers, as well as investors who have lost money due to the collapse of Thai Airways, are unlikely to be impressed that they had to pay for the king's bizarre romantic gesture. 17/17
