Maha Vajiralongkorn

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn (born July 28, 1952, is the only son of Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX of Thailand, and Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara, and is the heir to the Thai throne.

Vajiralongkorn was born in the Royal Palace in Bangkok. He was educated at a primary school in Bangkok, and then at private secondary colleges in the United Kingdom (Millfield School, Somerset) and Australia (King's School, Sydney). In 1972 the King gave him the title "Somdech Phra Boroma Orasadhiraj Chao Fah Maha Vajiralongkorn Sayam Makutrajakuman," making him the Crown Prince and heir to the throne.

The Prince undertook military training at the Royal Military College at Duntroon in Canberra, Australia, and also completed an arts degree at Sukhothai Thammatirat University in Bangkok. From 1975 he has served as a career officer in the Royal Thai Army. He served as a staff officer in the Directorate of Army Intelligence, and in 1978 he became head of the King's Own Bodyguard Battalion. In that year, however, he interrupted his military career to be ordained for a term as a Buddhist monk, as is mandatory for all Thai Buddhist males.

Vajiralongkorn trained for periods with the United States, British and Australian armies, studying special forces demolition, unconventional warfare tactics and advance navigation training. He is a qualified military pilot and helicopter pilot. Although a military career is conventional for royal princes, Vajiralongkorn is unique in having taken part in military actions inside his own country. During the 1970s he led counter-insurgency campaigns against the forces of the Communist Party of Thailand in the North and Northeast of Thailand, and also took part in operations along the border with Cambodia during the years of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Vajiralongkorn now holds the ranks of General in the Royal Thai Army, Admiral in the Royal Thai Navy and Air Chief Marshall in the Royal Thai Air Force. His military role in recent years has become increasingly ceremonial. As his father has grown older, turning 75 in 2002, Vajiralongkorn has taken a more prominent part in royal ceremonial and public appearances.

On January 3, 1977 Vajiralongkorn married Princess Soamsavali Kitiyakara (born 1957), a cousin on his mother's side. The couple have a daughter, Bajrakitiyabha, born 1978. The marriage has since broken down, and Vajiralongkorn now has a common law wife, Yuvadhida Polpraserth, with whom he has had four sons and a daughter. The lack of a legitimate male heir was the main reason why Thailand has legislated to allow women to inherit the throne.

Although the subject is never publicly discussed in Thailand, most observers believe that Vajiralongkorn shares none of the enormous popularity of his parents among the Thai public. This is partly because of his career as a military officer at a time when the public have turned against Thailand's long history of military rule, partly because of his irregular private life, and partly because he is seen as a cold and remote personality.

The Economist wrote in 2002: "Vajiralongkorn is held in much less esteem [than the king]. Bangkok gossips like to swap tales of his lurid personal life. One of his sisters, another possible heir to the throne, is more popular, but Thailand has never been ruled by a woman. Besides, no successor, however worthy, can hope to equal the stature King Bhumibol has attained after 55 years on the throne."