Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand on life support after suffering a heart attack while jogging
Thai princess Bajrakitiyabha, 44, reportedly collapsed in Khao Yai National Park
The princess daughter of Thailand’s playboy king is on life support after suffering a heart attack while jogging with her dogs, it has been claimed.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha, 44, was reportedly running with her dogs when she collapsed in the Khao Yai National Park in the Nakhon Ratchasima province, central Thailand, last night.
The princess, who was being lined up as the successor to her father King Maha Vajiralongkorn, is said to have been flown by helicopter from the Pack Chong Nana Hospital to the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok in the early hours of this morning.
Medics are reportedly keeping her alive with a life-support machine and the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has flown back early from an overseas trip.
Thai royal expert Andrew MacGregor Marshall, an author and lecturer, said the prognosis was ‘very grim’ and that the monarchy – which punishes critics with prison – could be thrown into chaos.
MacGregor claimed the incident has ‘huge repercussions’ for the Thai monarchy as Princess Bajrakitiyabha was being lined up as the successor to controversial ‘crop top king’ Vajiralongkorn.
The king has sparked controversy after it emerged that he spent much of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany with a reputed entourage of ‘sex soldiers’ assembled as a military unit at a four-star hotel.
The 70-year-old king has seven children by three previous marriages, all of which ended in divorce. Princess Bajrakitiyabha is the only one of King Vajiralongkorn born to his first wife Princess Soamsawali.
King Vajiralongkorn has banished his first four male heirs from their homeland after he accused their mother Sujarinee Vivacharawongse of adultery in 1996.
MacGregor said: ‘Princess Bajrakitiyabha was initially taken to Pak Chong Nana Hospital where CPR was attempted for hours without success. King Vajiralongkorn rushed to the hospital in a military helicopter.
‘Royal sources say the prognosis for the princess is very grim and it’s very unlikely she will ever recover. But she could potentially be kept artificially alive via ECMO for weeks or even months while the regime figures out what to do.
‘These events have huge repercussions for the Thai monarchy because it was assumed Bajrakitiyabha would be the next monarch or would be regent for her younger half-brother Dipangkorn who has autism and will not be able to reign alone.’
Residents living in the north of Bangkok reported hearing helicopters in the early hours of the morning. They are said to have been one helicopter carrying the stricken princess flanked by two military helicopters.