All four once-exiled sons of the king of Thailand have been allowed to return to their home country for the first time in nearly 30 years – a development expected to be closely watched as the rich 72-year-old monarch is yet to officially endorse an heir.
Two of the princes had previously travelled to the country, but images on social media of the arrival on Friday of the eldest and youngest sons from the king’s doomed second marriage marks a new twist in a fascinating but secretive succession drama.
Its outcome will shape the fate of a multibillion-dollar property and business empire, a country of 70 million people and a beloved tourist destination that has often been ruptured by political upheaval and violence.
Three of the Thai king’s four sons in Bangkok on Friday. Vatchrawee (left) and Juthavachara (right) have not been seen in Thailand since the 1990s, while Vacharaesorn (centre) returned in 2023.Credit: Facebook
When Maha Vajiralongkorn, now King Rama X, was a crown prince, he divorced his second wife and cut his four eldest sons out of his life.
In 1997, he wrote to the boys’ English boarding schools, saying the teens had decided to live with their mother and despite his “natural fatherly inclination to secure their future happiness” he would “suspend all contacts with the children for any purpose whatsoever”. He would not be paying their tuition and even name-dropped Queen Elizabeth II as a source of support.
The boys had their diplomatic passports snipped, were turned into refugees and were granted asylum in the US by the Clinton administration.
Suddenly, they are back in the picture. Two princes had previously returned, testing the waters; one has a job in Bangkok while the other is establishing himself as a public figure. On Friday, the other two joined one of their brothers in walking through Suvarnabhumi airport and into the Bangkok sunshine.
Brothers (from left) Vatchrawee, Vacharaesorn and Juthavachara Vivacharawongse, are back in Thailand. They were exiled in the 1990s.Credit: Facebook
Their first stop, according to social media, was a temple to pay tribute to their ancestors in the Chakri dynasty. They later ate noodles.
Vajiralongkorn is a 72-year-old international man of controversy with massive personal wealth but no clear heir.
His first child, a daughter with his first wife, suffered a massive brain injury in December 2022 from which she is not expected to recover. His younger daughter is a fashion designer who holds a top military rank. The princesses are not considered candidates for the throne, although there is speculation they could act as guiding hands to their youngest half-brother. At 19, Prince Dipangkorn has spent much of his life out of the public eye, and there are questions over his ability to take the throne.
This leaves the four exiles, or Team America as they have been called by some on social media. All were born between 1979 and 1985, to Vajiralongkorn’s second wife, an actor.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida, his fourth wife, wave to supporters in Bangkok in 2020.Credit: AP
The brothers were stripped of their titles after the divorce and given a new name, Vivacharawongse, but their status in the royal line of succession has always been murky.
The eldest, Juthavachara, has a career in aviation. The youngest, Vatchrawee, has business degrees and a career in finance. They are the latest to return.
The second son, Vacharaesorn, was the first to return and has been the one most open about his desire to return to public life; while his words are modest, he poses as if performing royal duties.
“I came here privately,” Vacharaesorn, a lawyer, told the Bangkok Post last year. “No one told me to come. I am not representing anyone. I don’t want to compete for anything … I have no resources, no power. I don’t have aspirations beyond providing value in my own capacity.”
The third brother, Chakriwat, is a doctor who has battled chronic illness but lately found work at a Bangkok hospital.
Sources close to the family, forbidden from speaking openly because of the country’s notorious lese-majesty laws that can impose 15-year jail terms for criticism of senior royals, point out the four brothers each have their own complicated relationship with their father and their homeland. What they have in common, these sources say, is their desire to protect their mother.
Law and societal conventions prevent open discussion of the monarchy and the succession drama that will play out as Vajiralongkorn ages, but the very fact of the princes’ return suggests a shift within the palace. Those around the king may be positioning themselves for the future.
Other factors may be at play: the king’s mother is in her 90s and has long been ill, and with his eldest daughter not expected to recover there is a need to project a sense that the family is strong and has a future.
The family needs options, although none of them is a perfect choice. Vacharaesorn has been in the tabloids for his US family and business dealings, but has deflected questions.
“I have made a life for myself in my 27 years in the United States,” he told the Bangkok Post. “Although my private life is still subject to scrutiny and speculation, it is a private matter with no relevance to any of my activities in Thailand.
“As a private citizen, I am entitled to a modicum of peace and privacy in my personal life.”
That will change should he take up a more public role.
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