Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha has died at age 47, ending a more than three-year battle with a severe heart condition. The royal household confirmed she passed away at Chulalongkorn Hospital following progressive decline despite intensive medical care.
Getty Images Princess Bajrakitiyabha
The princess collapsed while exercising her dogs in December 2022. Doctors attributed the incident to a mycoplasma infection causing a severely irregular heartbeat. Her death marks the loss of the Thai royal family’s most visibly accomplished member and a figure widely speculated to play a pivotal role in the monarchy’s future.
Born in 1978 to King Vajiralongkorn and his first wife, Princess Soamsawali, Bajrakitiyabha was a distinguished legal professional. She earned two postgraduate degrees from Cornell University and served as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria. She later became the UNODC Ambassador for the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia, advocating heavily for penal reform and the treatment of vulnerable women in the justice system.
In 2021, her father appointed her chief of staff in his private bodyguard, granting her the rank of general. Her capabilities and her father’s apparent trust in her made her an inevitable subject of succession speculation.
King Vajiralongkorn, 73, has not named an heir. While Thai custom typically favors male heirs, a 1974 constitutional amendment allows for female succession. With four of his five sons disowned or deemed unfit, many royalists viewed Bajrakitiyabha as the most promising candidate to succeed or serve as regent.
Her passing leaves the question of succession unresolved. Strict lese majeste laws prohibit public discussion of the matter, ensuring the kingdom’s political future remains shrouded in uncertainty.
Getty Images Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha waves to the crowd as she cycles in the "Bike for Dad" event in Bangkok.