The Royal Household has declared that Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha, who had remained in a coma for over three years, has passed away.
In December 2022, she fainted while walking her dogs. Doctors identified the cause as an extremely abnormal heart rhythm resulting from a mycoplasma infection in her heart.
Following her passing, the Thai royal family has lost its most prominent figure, and an individual who could have had a significant influence in an uncertain line of succession.
She was the oldest daughter among King Vajiralongkorn's seven offspring, coming into the world on December 7, 1978, as the child of his first wife and cousin, Princess Soamsawali.
She studied law, earning two advanced degrees from Cornell University in the United States. She had a short stint at the Thai delegation to the United Nations in New York, then went back to Thailand to serve in the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok and other parts of the nation.
Between 2012 and 2014, she served as Thailand's envoy to Austria, during which time she established connections with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
She began advocating for changes in the criminal justice system, emphasizing the plight of disadvantaged women who find themselves incarcerated; Thailand maintains one of the largest populations of female prisoners globally.
After returning to Thailand, she served as the UNODC's Representative for the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia, and kept pushing for changes within Thailand's judicial framework, where harsh penalties are frequently imposed on individuals found guilty of small-scale drug-related offenses.
In 2021, her father appointed her as chief of staff in his personal security team, granting her the title of general.
The princess, Bajrakitiyabha, was also passionate about physical exercise and frequently participated in marathon events.
Her skills, along with the confidence her father seemed to place in her, made her an unavoidable subject of discussion regarding the line of succession.
King Vajiralongkorn, aged 73, has not yet designated an successor. According to traditional Thai practices, the heir must be male; however, a constitutional change in 1974 permits a woman to ascend the throne.
The king has five sons, yet four from his second marriage were excluded in 1996 and have resided with their mother in the United States ever since. His fifth son, Dipangkorn, born from his third wife, is considered the likely successor; however, doubts remain regarding his capacity to fulfill the duties of a ruler in a nation where the monarchy holds significant power.
Many supporters of the Thai monarchy viewed Princess Bajrakitiyabha as the most likely candidate to take over from her father, whether as a queen or as a regent who would assist Prince Dipangkorn.
The passing of her has left the issue of succession in Thailand unresolved, with the strictness of the nation's lèse-majesté laws preventing open conversation about it.