Ructions in Thai royal family point to unstable succession

Thailand's Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, right, has erased third wife Princess Srirasm from the family portrait. Photo / AP

Princess Srirasm Suwadi of Thailand has lost her royal title after a series of moves that have left the country's citizens wondering what is happening in their revered royal household.

Her family members have been stripped of their positions as army chiefs and advisers, and she has been erased from the family photograph broadcast nightly on the news.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87, has been ill for years and didn't appear on his birthday last week. The heir to the throne, 62-year-old Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has a reputation as an unpredictable libertine with a lavish lifestyle.

Joshua Kurlantzick of US think-tank the Council on Foreign Relations has documented a list of misdemeanours by the king-in-waiting, which suggests the shift will not be seamless.

"The crown prince allegedly used his planes to block the plane of a visiting Japanese prime minister on the Bangkok tarmac, threw a lavish birthday party for his dog where his wife appeared topless in a leaked video, and stormed home early from Japan after he felt subjected to a series of minor protocol slights," he wrote.

The "demotion" of Princess Srirasm, his lady in waiting who became his third wife, will add to this reputation. A palace statement said Princess Srirasm, 43, had relinquished her royal status, a move that signals the end of their 13-year marriage.

The crown prince distanced himself from his wife last month, ordering her family to stop using the name Akrapongpreecha, a privilege akin to knighthoods given on marriage.

At least three relatives with that name were arrested in a corruption scandal. Many of the 20-plus detained were charged with defaming the monarchy, police saying they made "false claims" about their relationship to a royal to justify crimes from running illegal casinos to kidnapping.

Princess Srirasm's demotion raises the question of what will come next. The couple have a 9-year-old son, Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, who remains next in line to the throne. The crown prince also has four sons and a daughter by his second wife, whom he disowned in 1997. The children were reportedly banished from Thailand and now live in the US.

Suggestions are he has another son, to a mistress, who could become his fourth wife and the next queen.

Details are scarce. Anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent" can be jailed for up to 15 years. Hundreds of people are in prison for insulting the royal family, and newspapers mostly report the diktats issued in the royal gazette.

But there are hopes the elites will manoeuvre the king's daughter, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, into power and bypass the crown prince.