Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn prefers to stay in Bavaria - and apparently also rules from there.
That is actually forbidden.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas' tone is sharper.
Thailand's king, Maha Vajiralongkorn, has preferred to live in Bavaria for years.
Documents now prove: He also rules from there - which should actually be forbidden.
The Foreign Office finds clear words - but evades the really important questions.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- There has been a
political
state of emergency
in
Thailand
for
months
.
Again and again,
demonstrators take
to the streets
in the capital
Bangkok
, demanding a new constitution and
government
reforms
.
The role of the
monarchy
- and the ruling
king Maha Vajiralongkorn
-
has always been particularly sharply criticized
.
Unlike his popular father, his reputation is divided in Thailand.
Not least because of his extravagant, lavish lifestyle and his tough hand in dealing with critics.
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn: does he rule the country from Bavaria?
A particularly big
point of criticism
, which is brought forward again and again: The
"Thai-Kini",
as it is sometimes called in this country, has been mainly in
Bavaria
for years
- and that even though he was crowned King of Thailand in 2016.
Vajiralongkorn
owns a magnificent
villa in Tutzing
on
Lake Starnberg.
At the beginning of the
corona pandemic
, he finally withdrew with a staff of servants to a
luxury hotel
in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
.
Allegedly because he loves the mountains so much - but possibly also because there were tax problems with the villa.
Allegedly, Vajiralongkorn
still
owes the
Free State
around three billion euros.
The Federal Foreign Office reacts in October: “Thai-Kini” cannot rule from Bavaria
The question remains: does the king rule
his politically troubled country
from German
territory
?
And if so - is that even allowed?
This question also worries the demonstrators, some of whom have already had to flee into exile.
On October 7, 2020 - Thailand's king is officially in Garmisch-Partenkirchen -
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD)
finally feels compelled to respond.
"We have made it clear that politics that affect the country Thailand
do not have to be carried out from German soil
," Maas said in a public statement.
“Guests” should “not conduct their state affairs from here”.
Should they do this anyway, they will
"clearly counteract".
Research by SZ and WDR shows: Thailand's king rules from the Free State - the Foreign Office is rowing back
New research by
WDR
and
Süddeutscher Zeitung
now shows
that
Thai-Kini
also does
official business
from
Germany.
It was compared on which days the king performed official acts - while he was demonstrably staying in Bavaria.
The result is impressive.
In the first ten months of 2020 alone, Vajiralongkorn sent
around
100 letters
to other heads of state, abandoned around
40 royal ordinances
- and stayed
officially in Thailand
for only
nine days,
according to
research by Thais in exile in Germany that were critical of the government, which was checked
by
SZ
and
WDR
.
The fact that a large part of his
political activities has
to be carried out from Bavaria cannot be denied.
That was probably also
noticed
in the
Foreign Office
.
Only about three weeks after Maas' public statement, politics is backtracking.
State affairs in other countries from German soil are “not a general problem,” says a representative of the Foreign Office.
In plain language: You condemn the king's actions as wrong, but you don't want to take action against it.
The king is
"as a private person"
in Bavaria and is treated as such.
Background: The
diplomatic
and
economic
relationship with
Thailand
is good, annually around 900,000
German tourists come
to Thailand, it is considered a
paradise for retirees.
Who wants to start trouble with the already sensitive king, in whose country
criticism of the monarch is
punished
with up to
15 years in prison
?
"No reliable evidence": The King of Thailand rules from Bavaria - despite the precarious situation in his home country
A request from SZ and WDR to the Foreign Office as to whether the
rule of the Thai king on German soil was
now forbidden went unanswered.
"The king must not break German law or violate
human rights,
" it now says.
The
goings-on of the king
will be checked, said Maas officially.
The
sharpness of his words
gives the demonstrators hope - but hardly anything has happened so far, because there is no
reliable evidence
that the king on German soil could have commissioned activities that violate human rights, such as the removal of critics.
Maha Vajiralongkorn
has been in Thailand for a few weeks
due to the increasingly
violent protests
.
According to
SZ
research, he could
return to Bavaria
before the end of the year
.
There is no statement on whether and how the Federal Foreign Office will react.
Whether you really
want to alienate
probably the
richest monarch in the world
, who not only
helps
the districts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Starnberg but also somehow all of Bavaria to a peculiarly
extravagant shine
- hoping for that should not be particularly promising.
List of rubric lists: © Yuttachai Kongprasert