Rest in peace Her Majesty Queen Sirikit (12 August, 1932 - 24 October, 2025), the Queen Mother of Thailand. She was the Queen of Thailand from 28 April, 1950 to 13 October, 2016 as the wife of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and the mother of the current King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X).
She was famous for being glamorous during her lifetime, especially in the 1960s where she, together with her husband, travelled to many countries, charming many leaders and the public for her elegance. She had been the number one choice on the International Best-Dressed List in 1960, 1961, 1964, and 1965.
For 66 years, she was the longest-serving queen consort in the world while married to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The King himself, for 70 years of reigning (9 June, 1946 - 13 October, 2016), was the longest-reigning of any Thai monarch, the longest on record of any Asian monarch, and the third-longest on record of any sovereign state.
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, The Queen Mother of Thailand, Passes Away at the Age of 93. A Royal Biography of Her Life and Legacy
Photo courtesy of the Bureau of the Royal Household
In Bangkok, the Bureau of the Royal Household announced that Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, The Queen Mother of Thailand, passed away peacefully at 9:21 p.m. on October 24, 2025, at Chulalongkorn Hospital. She was 93 years old.
Per a press release from the Bureau of the Royal Household:
“According to the medical team providing treatment to Her…
A photograph of Queen Sri Savarindira. She was a half-sister and queen of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). She outlived all of her children, but would live to see two of her grandsons (Rama VIII and Rama IX) become Kings of Thailand. This led to her being known as The Queen Grandmother of Thailand
We went on holiday to Thailand two days after the king died (non-refundable tickets). And I lived there for 7yrs so I knew how much the Thais loved their king…hells, I loved their king. And yes, they had a period of mourning…and yes it messed up our holiday a bit.
But boy howdy, hearing about what’s been banned/cancelled in a country that’s supposedly more “civilised” and whose monarchy doesn’t have as much support, compared to what we saw in Thailand?
The unified force of thousands of passionate young people filling the streets of Thailand is quite a sight to see. Recent protests in Thailand continue and grow, fighting to limit the power of the monarchy.
Thailand has many laws in place that make protests such as these illegal and dangerous- two of the major leaders of the movement, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, also known as Rung, and Parit Chiwarak (Penguin), have both gotten in trouble for their activism. Rung has been threatened and stalked by plainsclothes police, and Penguin was arrested on August 14th. In 2015, early into the current regime, one man was threatened with 15 years in prison simply for sharing mocking images of the king’s dog.
The militant monarchy, known as the junta, is distant and controlling, with their king spending most of his time in Europe. They have torn down
And yet this has not deterred the many protestors that flock to the streets, singing the national anthem while holding up the three fingered salute from the “Hunger Games” movies, and installing a plaque on the palace that read, “This country belongs to the people and is not the property of the monarchy.” They are passionate, and they are everywhere.
And yet the protestors do not want a total overthrowal of the Thai Monarchy. What they want is a removal of the junta (essentially a military government), a revoking of the lese majeste law that bans speaking against the junta and the monarchy, and a peaceful re-write of the constitution.
They have gotten very far, and succeeded in so many things, that they will eventually get what they want. Hopefully, it will last.
SOURCES
Our Notes | ASEAN Today | NY Times | CNN | ABC News | The Diplomat | SCMP
As Thailand’s youth-led pro-democracy protesters are battered by rounds of legal charges, a teenager faces up to 15 years in jail under the country’s hardline royal defamation law.
As Thailand’s youth-led pro-democracy protesters are battered by rounds of legal charges, a teenager faces up to 15 years in jail under the country’s hardline…
Since July 2020, people have taken to the streets in protest in Thailand in numbers unprecedented for over a decade and with expansive demands unseen for close to half a century. At a minimum, they are calling for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to dissolve parliament and resign, new free and fair elections to be held, a new constitution to be drafted, an end to state persecution of dissidents, and reform of the institution of the monarchy. Marked by the juxtaposition of playful symbols (including singing hamsters and plastic rubber ducks) with stinging critique of the collusion between the monarchy and the military, the protests aim to make the 88-year-old promise of the end of the absolute monarchy real while creating a new society informed by radical equality and recognition of difference.
On June 24, 1932, a civilian-military coalition called the People’s Party fomented a transformation in Thailand from absolute to constitutional monarchy that aimed to bring the king under the law. Since then, the rulers and the ruled have been engaged in a struggle over who should hold power and who should be able to participate in politics. Twelve ‘successful’ (meaning that power was seized) military coups, at least seven attempted coups, and 20 constitutions are evidence of this struggle. Further, while the then-reigning king, Rama 7, abdicated in 1935 and the monarchy initially faded from public life, the royalist desire by some members of the polity for an absolutist regime did not. With extensive U.S. anti-communist counterinsurgency aid beginning in the 1950s, a monarchy-military alliance formed that ensured that more often than not, the rulers came out on top of the ruled in the ongoing struggle that defines the Thai polity. Dissidents have borne the cost for daring to challenge unjust power through censorship, imprisonment, extrajudicial killing, disappearance, and massacres.
The kings who have reigned during this period—Rama 9, who became king in 1946 following the unexpected death of his older brother and ruled until his own death in October 2016, and Rama 10, his son and the current king—and the institution of the monarchy, which controls significant financial, property and bureaucratic holdings, are unavoidably central figures in both the polity and the conflicts within it. They are neither under the law nor above politics. Article 112 of the Criminal Code, which defines the crime of lèse majesté and stipulates the harsh punishment of three-to-fifteen years imprisonment for each count, means that asking sharp questions about the monarchy also means risking one’s liberty.
What is unfolding on the streets of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and many other provincial cities in Thailand since late 2020 is the making real of democracy that dissidents have been dreaming up and working towards since 1932. In doing so, activists are encountering the same risks and dangers, including those of the cold metal bars of prison, the possibility of exile, and the threat of being killed by a regime that does not comprehend the irrefutable dignity of their lives. What follows below is a series of readings and virtual exhibitions to frame the present-day struggle and its significance. The sources are divided into five categories, each named by an action: recording repression, engaging in dissent, creating archives against domination, tracing the unspeakable, and imagining the future. Teaching, and learning, struggle is an active, ongoing process. This is a syllabus for a class in dreaming democracy intended to be attuned to the streets of protest rather than the university classroom.
The King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, known for his furious rages, allegedly broke his sister's ankles after she was knocked to the flo
Disclaimer: I’m not a monarchist of any shape or form and I’m indifferent to the fates of the monarchies to be honest (but I’m always respectful). I only know very little about the Asian monarchies (my main interest is in historical and at times modern European monarchies). I’m just an American who is interested in different cultures and is respectful about it (unlike some people on this site and on other social media platforms). This following commentary is subjective and of my opinion.
While I know the overall debate of the Thai monarchy is very complicated and complex, it’s articles like the one on top that that makes the reader say “Ah, now I know why the a lot of the Thai population (especially the younger ones) are protesting against the Thai monarchy.
I have read and heard several allegations that the current King is not the most pleasant to be around at best and acts like a spoiled child even though he’s nearly 70 at worst. Somehow, I believed these allegations because just look at him. He (allegedly) seems to be mentally off and possibly has a personality disorder of some sort. I’m not a licensed mental health professional nor a psychologist , I’m just going by what I’m sensing intuitively. That and he’s not a good leader of any means.
Seriously, screw him for inflicting such horrific bodily harm to his own sister (if it’s actually true since it’s alleged) only because she questioned his plan. Something tells me this is allegedly not the first time he put his hands on a woman (female relative, wife, girlfriend or even a stranger) if he didn’t get his way or the woman did something he didn’t like. What a spoiled brat in a grown adult body!
I really really despise grown ass men who are over 18 and especially over 30 who act like tots (no offense to the little cute toddlers because every toddler has their moments of course) by throwing a temper tantrum and god forbid doing actual harm on someone because they didn’t get their way and/or a woman says something more intelligent than him. I have seen way too many examples of this in real life which is why I’m happy to be single (until someone who I can trust and deals with his emotions the right way).
