Written by Siddhartha Pradhan, a grade 9 student.

King MahaVajiralongkorn, the King of Thailand, officially succeeded his father to the throne in October of 2016, and was coronated in May of 2019. He hasn’t had the same approach to leading Thailand as his father. His father was a strict leader who was respected by the citizens., but King MahaVajiralongkorn is not that respected because of his apparent incompetence  and clear lack of leadership.

The Thai King is not in Thailand during this lockdown. Surprising, isn’t it?

 He is in a luxury hotel, in Germany, with an entourage of over 100 people and 20 mistresses, while the people in his country suffer from this virus without a leader. People in Thailand aren’t happy about him leaving the country at a time when they need a leader to look up to. The citizens took to twitter to express their dissent..Anything said against the royal family is forbidden in Thailand but that didn’t stop the citizens form creating a Thai hashtag which translates to “Who needs a king”.

Even the German citizens aren’t happy that KingMahaVajiralongkorn is staying in Germany. The king has violated many health laws since he has been in Germany, and the citizens aren’t too happy about it. There have been numerous protests in Germany because of the King’s disinterest in the wellbeing of the people of his country.What started as criticism against the king for his actions during COVID-19, has now evolved into criticism of the royal family at large.

Why is there so much criticism against Thailand’s monarchs?

It seems like the King was never interested in leading Thailand. He  was only interested in living the life of a king without any of the work and responsibility. Some observers say that Thailand’s king is not widely respected in his country because of the way he behaves. Because of that people think that it doesn’t benefit to have a monarch.

In conclusion, I don’t think the King, in such a respected position should be away from his country living in luxury while his citizens suffer. He should be there making sure people are well and safe.

Written by Siddhartha Pradhan

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