Dipangkorn
| Dipangkorn ทีปังกร | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Rama XI | |||||
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| King of Thailand | |||||
| Reign | 15 February 2022 - 21 February 2022 | ||||
| Predecessor | Vajiralongkorn | ||||
| Successor | Monarchy abolished Pita Limjaroenrat (as President of Thailand) | ||||
| Born | 29 April 2005 Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand | ||||
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| House | Mahidol (Chakri dynasty) | ||||
| Father | Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) | ||||
| Mother | Srirasmi Suwadee | ||||
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism | ||||
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Dipangkorn (Thai: ทีปังกร; RTGS: Thipangkon; born 29 April 2005) was the eleventh and last King of Thailand, reigning from 15 February to 21 February 2022, a period of six days that is the shortest in Thai history.
The son of King Vajiralongkorn and Srirasmi Suwadee, his third legal wife, Dipangkorn was born as his father's fifth son as well as the seventh and youngest overall child. Despite this, following Vajiralongkorn's disowning of his second wife Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, thereby making his four sons by her effectively ineligible for the throne, Dipangkorn became the king's only recognised son although not necessarily the heir apparent.
Long rumoured to have had a developmental disorder, on 15 February 2022, following his father's abdication as a result of the 2022 Thai Revolution, Dipangkorn ascended to the throne as Rama XI, temporarily becoming the world's youngest reigning monarch and the youngest serving state leader at seventeen years old. However, on 21 February 2022, after just six days on the throne, a nationwide referendum saw Thailand officially abolish the monarchy and proclaim a republic in its place, effectively ending the country's centuries old monarchy. Beforehand, Prajadhipok, who reigned from 1925 to 1935, oversaw the country's transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy although the monarchy still retains considerable power to a certain extent.
Along with his father and his stepmothers Queen Suthida and Sineenat, Dipangkorn fled to China in the wake of the monarchy's abolition and has since resided in the country in exile after President Xi Jinping granted the family political asylum. Currently, his father remains wanted by the Thai republican government, having previously been sentenced in absentia for crimes against humanity and other offences.
Early Life
Dipangkorn was born on 29 April 2005 at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. The fifth son as well as the seventh and youngest overall child of his father, he is the only child of his mother Srirasmi Suwadee, a major general in the Royal Thai Army. As the son of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, Dipangkorn was born during the reign of his grandfather King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
On 11 December 2014, when Dipangkorn was nine years old, his mother was officially stripped of her royal titles and was granted a divorce from the then-Crown Prince. Whereas the prince himself remained at the royal palace under his father's care, his mother and maternal grandparents were otherwise arrested, the latter for lèse-majesté. Meanwhile, Srirasmi Suwadee subsequently embraced the monastic life of a maechi while subjected to house arrest which lasted until she was freed from imprisonment in the aftermath of the 2022 Thai Revolution.
Reign
On 15 February 2022, the 2022 Thai Revolution saw his unpopular father King Vajiralongkorn forced to abdicate the throne by revolutionaries. Initially, as the new government consolidated its power, Dipangkorn, being the heir presumptive, was allowed to ascend to the throne as Rama XI, effectively becoming the youngest monarch in the world and the world's youngest serving state leader at just seventeen years old. However, his reign, which was always intended to be a stop-gap measure, did not last long as just six days later, a nationwide referendum saw Thais vote to abolish the monarchy in favour of a parliamentary republic, effectively ending the country's centuries old monarchy and putting an end to Dipangkorn's six-days-long reign. During this brief period, owing to his rumoured disability and young age, Dipangkorn was placed under a regency led by Queen Suthida, his stepmother. Nonetheless, in a later interview with Chinese media outlet CGTN while in exile, Suthida herself described the period as "nothing but imprisonment", stating that armed guards loyal to the republican government heavily monitored her family for the entire six-day period for fear of any royalist counter-coup.
However, just a day before the monarchy was to be officially abolished, Dipangkorn, together with his father and two stepmothers, fled to China via a private jet stored in a military air base in Bangkok, with their escape being made possible by the sympathy of several royalist-leaning soldiers guarding the royal family. In the ensuing days, President Pita Limjaroenrat demanded that President Xi Jinping extradite Vajiralongkorn and his family, who all currently live in exile, in order to stand trial for their role in the revolution. This request was denied by the Chinese government which has refused to recognise the new republican government.
Life in Exile
Since being granted political asylum in China, Dipangkorn and his family have reportedly been living at an estate in Beijing that was said to be personally provided for by Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, despite persistent rumours of a developmental disorder, Dipangkorn is reported by Chinese media outlets to be attending the public Peking University where he is believed to be studying international relations.