Thailand’s King Visited His Country Only Briefly, Returning To Quarantine With His Harem in Germany

The king of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, is self-quarantining in Germany with a harem of 20 women and servants.

His country has had a ban on international flights in place, and Thai Airways has suspended passenger operations. Nonetheless the national carrier operated Bangkok – Munich service, including a tag flight between Switzerland and Germany.. so that the king could attend a dinner party, and then once again flee the country with a stop to see his wife before returning to the German Alps.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn made the nearly 9,000-mile trip to Bangkok last Monday with a pit stop in Switzerland along the way to pick up one of his four wives, who had been holed up there during the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Metro newspaper.

“This pandemic is not the fault of anybody,” he was quoted as saying during a lavish banquet in celebration of Chakri Memorial Day, which marks the beginning of the current Thai royal dynasty in 1782.

The return flight from Bangkok to Munich stopped in Switzerland, where the king’s Queen Consort and fourth wife Suthida stays. She was a flight attendant for eight years, before leaving Thai Airways, joining the military, and being assigned to guard the king.

The King, who is qualified as a Boeing 737 pilot, has rented out the entire Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in Germany. Most hotels in the country are closed. This property neslted in the Alps received a special permit to house the Thai king.

While the King spent much time in Germany prior to this crisis, Germany has over 130,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Thailand has reported just over 2600 confirmed cases. That makes the decision to quarantine outside his country all the more curious.

Chile criticizing the Thai king violates the country’s lese majeste laws (punishable by up to 15 years `of prison), but #WhyDoWeNeedAKing has trended in social media. Threats from the nation’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society promising to enforce these laws has tamped down its use from inside the country somewhat.

As I (and Mel Brooks) say, it’s good to be the king.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. You show a photo of a Thai 747 400. I know gas prices are way down, but they didn’t really use a 747 to ferry one man, did they?

  2. I think Chile will think twice about criticizing if it means 15 years in prison. That would be a large prison.

  3. He’s not elected, so he will do whatever he wants. Four wives should be enough to keep him entertained until he has to return to his normal workload.

  4. Juan-
    His “normal workload” is nothing more than cutting ribbons at mall openings and the like. Thais are beginning to make their voices heard about their dissatisfaction with the current X monarchy.

  5. The only time he’s ever had anything like wide public approval was when he flew to the south after the tsunami to retrieve/repatriate the body of his nephew ( the King’s grandson). It’s been downhill ever since.

  6. The photo on the lake is not the Hotel Sonnenbichl.. it’s a photo of the restaurant on the Riessersee lake that sits above Garmisch and is part of the Riessersee Hotel

  7. gleff,

    What’s the statute of limitations, if any, in Thailand to prosecute derogatory references to the Thai king? Does the statute of limitations continue to toll for online posts that aren’t removed?

    Something to consider before your next visit to Thailand.

  8. I’m a thai citizen by birth… born and breed in Bangkok. I am shameful to have this PERSON as a king. I stop using long live the king. You can not criticise the monarchy. But this is unbearable. How the poor country had the richest king (king Rama 9 ) in the world ? While the people are struggling to live… well Brainwashed… monarchy are also just human .

  9. Mj Khraap,

    This thong! Like you I am a Thai citizen and choose to live outside Thailand, as these useless swine profit off the back of poor Thais for centuries. This gangster sia oh is the worst ever

  10. I am Thai. If this news was true (since there is no eveidence whatsoever, and seriously I have seen this exact story on many website like someone has deliberately given the content for everyone to write, or one just copied another), I still do not care. He lives his life and we live ours. His life style does not affect us whatsoever, so I do not see the point of being angry at him. Or let’s get angry at every single ill-behaved children of the riches too then? He was born rich and choose to live like a playboy, so what? Jealous? He spend his money, live his life, end of story. Move on and get a life.

  11. Looks like all those rich liberals decamping in their big Napa, Wyoming, Montana, etc, pied-a-terre, removing themselves from us “the basket of deplorables”

  12. Thanks for this post, Gary. He’s disgusting and a disgrace to the royal family and its lineage

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