In what appeared to be a royal quarantine, King of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn self-isolated himself in Germany with a seraglio.
Thai king is said to have booked the entire Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen after taking a “special permission” from the local district council. The four-star hotel now has been turned into a “royal quarantine” temporarily.
According to a report published by a German tabloid Bild, the 67-year-old has quarantined himself with a retinue, including a harem containing 20 women.
However, it is not clear if his four wives are part of his temporary residence.
All the guest houses and hotels had been closed due to the crisis emanating from the coronavirus, except for Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl. However, the local district council’s spokesperson said that the exemption was extended as the guests did not show any signs of the infection.
Rage Among the Public
This royal callousness has spread a wave of anger among the Thai people, whose online criticism on social media since made it a talk of the town. Their criticism even led to breaking the laws that bar royal criticism that amounts to high treason.
Under the royal laws, criticizing the king could lead you 15 years of jail.
However, a Thai tag “Why do we need a King?” went shared over 1.2 million times during the last 24 hours.
This online movement went viral following a social worker’s claim, who said, “In the time where the pandemic is increasing in Thailand, its King is enjoying a leisure life.”
Thai Health Ministry had announced on Saturday 109 new cases in the country, after which the number of infected people in the country increased to 1651. As many as ten people have died so far in Thailand from the coronavirus.
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A Thai social work, who is in exile in France, claimed on his Facebook post that the Thai King “has been traveling between Switzerland and Germany since the beginning of March.”
Somsak Jeamteerasakul, who is a critic of Thai kingship and its laws, said on his post:
“The king will let people worry about the virus, although Germany is also suffering from this virus.”
The Times claimed in its report that the Thai King had not been publicly seen in his native country since February.
His reign followed the death of his father, Bhumibol, in 2016. Although there is no systematic way to gauge the king’s popularity due to strict laws, it is widely believed that unlike his father, he is not much loved by his people.
With over 70 years of rule, his father had been enlisted in the Guinness Book of the world record for holding the longest-reigning king.
