Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s coronation follows two eventful years on the throne, with a budget of US$31 million
- The king has forged his own path, departing from the style favoured by his father, who ruled for 70 years.
- Vajiralongkorn intervened in the recent Thai elections and has taken control of crown property worth US$9 billion
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“The military-backed government is highly responsive to the demands of the king,” said Kevin Hewison, an emeritus professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “He’s a military man so he’s big on rules and regulations. He’s using legal mechanisms much more than his father. He seems to be legalistic in his approach to kingship.”
On the eve of the election, Vajiralongkorn released a statement that in effect asked citizens to back good people to govern the nation. Pheu Thai, a party linked to Thaksin, won the most seats but fell short of a majority. It’s vying with a pro-military party carved out of the junta, Palang Pracharath, to form a coalition government.
Thaksin or his allies won the most seats in every election since 2001, only to be unseated from government by the army or the courts, most recently in a coup in 2014. He described the March election as “rigged,” although the Election Commission has said it’s found no reasons to invalidate the poll.
“Some people may view the king’s statements as legitimising one particular group,” said Punchada Sirivunnabood, an associate professor in politics at Mahidol University near Bangkok.
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The Election Commission has until May 9 to certify the election results, and parliament will convene within 15 days to begin the process of selecting a prime minister.
Junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, the pro-military party’s candidate for prime minister, is seen as the favourite to return as leader because the 250-member Senate appointed by his regime votes for prime minister along with the 500-strong elected lower chamber.
Shortly after Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne in 2016, the military-appointed legislature approved changes to an interim national constitution following suggestions from his office. The most notable adjustment allowed the king to travel abroad without temporarily handing over power.
Vajiralongkorn also gained greater control of the Crown Property Bureau’s billions of dollars in holdings. In the past, the bureau was described as managing and preserving crown property that was neither public property nor the private property of the monarch.
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Vajiralongkorn’s stakes in Siam Commercial Bank and Siam Cement, two major listed Thai firms, are worth US$9 billion combined, according to the firms’ websites. The full value of the bureau’s real estate and other holdings is not clear.
The religious coronation ceremony at the Grand Palace will be the kingdom’s first in nearly seven decades. Vajiralongkorn will receive a purification bath on Saturday before being anointed and presented with the golden Great Crown and other regalia.
Over the following two days, the king will lead a royal procession in Bangkok’s Old Town area to greet people and speak to the nation from a balcony at the grand palace in the capital. For the king, who also spends time in Germany, it will be one of his most prolific appearances since becoming monarch.
“Compared to his father, he’s more distant from Thailand and Thai society,” said Paul Chambers of Naresuan University’s College of Asean Community Studies in northern Thailand. “He takes a more assertive approach, being more directly involved in the administration.”