The last days of Rama IX
Five years ago I was the first journalist in the world to report that King Bhumibol Adulyadej had died. Here's the uncensored story of the end of his seven-decade reign.
Last Wednesday was the fifth anniversary of the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, at the age of 88, after a reign of more than seven decades. King Vajiralongkorn presided over a ceremony to honour his father, alongside his wife Queen Suthida and his main mistress Sineenat “Koi” Wongvajirabhakdi.
Prime minister Prayut Chan-ocha and his wife Naraporn held a separate ceremony ostentatiously drenched in yellow, the colour that represents Bhumibol and Vajiralongkorn who were both born on a Monday.
At Siriraj Hospital, where the king died, more than 100 people (also dressed in yellow) gathered to pay tribute to the former monarch.
There were few mass events around the kingdom, because of the continued danger of spreading the coronavirus, so overall it was a surprisingly muted occasion.
This edition of Secret Siam is a full uncensored account of the end of the reign of Rama IX. I play a small role in the tale, because I was the first journalist in the world to report his death.
Here is the story of the final years and last days of King Bhumibol.
The last days of Rama IX
When the killings began, it was clear that the seven-decade reign of Bhumibol Adulyadej was effectively over.
In 2015, three members of Vajiralongkorn’s inner circle were murdered, as the notoriously unstable crown prince purged former allies he no longer trusted ahead of becoming king.
Major General Pisitsak Saneewong na Ayutthaya, who had been one of Vajiralongkorn’s closest aides and bodyguards for years and had even dated his daughter Princess Bajrakitiyabha for a while, died sometime in October 2015. His death was never officially reported, but his family was told he had committed suicide. A statement in the Royal Gazette in November 2015 fired him from the army and stripped him of all his royal decorations for alleged “gravely evil behaviour” without even acknowledging he had already been dead for weeks.
On October 16, 2015, the same day that Pisitsak was retroactively dismissed from the military, three more former allies of Vajiralongkorn — fortune teller Suriyan Sucharitpolwong aka Mor Yong, his aide Jirawong Watthanathewasilp, and police major Prakrom Warunprapa — were seized by soldiers from the 11th Infantry Regiment. They were transferred to police custody on October 21. Before long two of them were dead.
Prakrom died on October 23, allegedly hanging himself in his cell, according to justice minister Paiboon Koomchaya. Mor Yong died on the night of November 7, with the regime claiming he suffered “respiratory and blood circulation failures due to bloodstream infection”.
Several other senior military and police officers, including major general Kachachat “Joe” Boondee, 11th Infantry Regiment commander colonel Suchart ‘Toe” Prommai, and two Crime Suppression Division officers, colonel Pairoj Rojanakhajorn and lieutenant colonel Thammawat Hiranyalekha, fled the country in fear of their lives. Suchart and Kachachat escaped to Myanmar and later resurfaced in New Zealand.
All of those purged were accused of abusing their proximity to Vajiralongkorn to embezzle funds intended for the “Bike for Dad” mass cycling event and the vast Rajabhakti Park in Prachuap Khiri Khan with huge statues honouring the royals. But it was routine for members of the king’s inner circle to enrich themselves, and it remains unknown what provoked his murderous rage in 2015.
This image shows Kachachat, Prakrom, Mor Yong and Pisitsak, during the time when they were close to Vajiralongkorn. Only Kachachat is still alive.
The brazenness of the killings was clear evidence that Bhumibol had become so ill that all his power was already gone.