The KingThe QueenChaokhun Phra Sineenatha Bilasakalyani The Queen Mother Vajiralongkorn[c] (born 28 July 1952) is King of Thailand since 2016.

The only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Queen Sirikit, he was made crown prince by his father in 1972, at the age of 20.

When the crown prince was one year old, Somdet Phra Sangkharat Chao Kromma Luang Vajirananavongse, the 13th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand of the Rattanakosin Era, gave the child his first name at birth, Vajiralongkorn Boromchakrayadisorn Santatiwong Thewetthamrongsuboribal Abhikkunupakornmahitaladulyadej Bhumibolnaretwarangkun Kittisirisombunsawangwat Boromkhattiyarajakumarn.

His education at Duntroon was divided into two parts, military training by the Australian Army and a bachelor's degree course under the auspices of the University of New South Wales.

[22] Vajiralongkorn established "Crown Prince Hospitals" through funds donated by the public to serve as medical and health care centers for people living in remote areas.

[23] In the later years of his father, Bhumibol Adulyadej's reign, Vajiralongkorn represented the King in presiding over the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony, which is meaningful to Thai farmers as an early practice of phytopathology in the country.

[30] Vajiralongkorn also competed in sailing with King Bhumibol and sister Princess Ubolratana when they stayed at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin.

In comparison, his father often made state visits early during his reign, but he left the country only once after the 1960s—an overnight stay in neighboring Laos.

[31] According to the German foreign ministry, the Thai ambassador has been told multiple times that Germany opposes "having guests in our country who run their state affairs from here."

[4] On the night of 1 December 2016, the fiftieth day after the death of Bhumibol, Regent Prem Tinsulanonda led the heads of the country's three branches of government to an audience with Vajiralongkorn to invite him to ascend to the throne as the tenth king of the Chakri dynasty.

[38] The 2017 Constitution of Thailand was approved in a referendum in 2016, and was endorsed by Vajiralongkorn on 6 April 2017, Chakri day, in a ceremony at the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall.

[49][38] Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that the office of King Vajiralongkorn had asked for several changes to clauses related to royal power in the draft constitution, a rare intervention by a reigning Thai monarch.

[51][52] Later that same day, Vajiralongkorn issued a strongly worded statement, stating that her candidacy for prime minister is "inappropriate ... and unconstitutional".

[57] In 2020, Thailand experienced widespread and unprecedented protests opposing his rule, which garnered significant attention both domestically and internationally.

In the 10 January 2002 edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), an article appeared suggesting that Vajiralongkorn had business ties with then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

An immediate ban was placed on distribution of the magazine, and the Thai government, citing a threat to national security, suspended the visas of FEER's two Thailand correspondents, Shawn Crispin and Rodney Tasker.

[70] In a leaked diplomatic cable, senior Singaporean foreign ministry official Bilahari Kausikan said that Vajiralongkorn had a gambling habit partly funded by exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

[74] On 19 January 2009, Harry Nicolaides, an Australian national, was sentenced to three years in prison for self-publishing a fictional book deemed to have violated lèse majesté.

[78] In August 2011, the German judicial authorities in Munich impounded a Boeing 737 aircraft, one of two belonging to Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn.

[79] Administrators seized the aircraft because of a 20-year-old Thai government debt owed to a now-defunct German construction corporation for the Don Mueang Tollway, that had risen to some €30 million.

[83] In November 2016, Manager Magazin published a report stating that the new king could be issued with an inheritance tax bill in excess of €3.5 billion.

[84] On 16 May 2017, Thai officials warned Facebook after an online video was posted of the king wearing a crop top and with full view of his half sleeve tattoo.

After the marriage, she was allowed to change her name to Mom Sujarinee Mahidol na Ayudhaya, signifying she was a commoner married to royalty.

In 1996, two years after the wedding, Mom Sujarinee (as she was now known) decamped to Britain with all her children, while Vajiralongkorn caused posters to be placed all around his palace accusing her of committing adultery with Anand Rotsamkhan, a 60-year-old air marshal.

Vajiralongkorn married for a third time on 10 February 2001, to Srirasmi Suwadee (royal name: Akharaphongpreecha), a commoner of modest background who had been in his service since 1992.

[89] In November 2014, however, Vajiralongkorn sent a letter to the interior ministry asking for Srirasmi's family to be stripped of the royal name Akharaphongpreecha awarded to her, following allegations of corruption against seven of her relatives.

On 1 May 2019, three days before his coronation, Vajiralongkorn married Suthida Tidjai, former acting commander of Royal Thai Aide-de-Camp Department.

[93] The marriage registration took place at the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall in Bangkok, with his sister Princess Sirindhorn and President of Privy Council Prem Tinsulanonda as witnesses.

[95] Three months later, on 21 October 2019, a palace order stripped Sineenat of her title and ranks, stating that she had been disrespectful to Queen Suthida and disloyal to the king.

[96] On 2 September 2020, Sineenat's titles were restored with a declaration that she "is not tarnished" and "Henceforth, it will be as if she had never been stripped of her military ranks or royal decorations.