Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, the eldest daughter of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, died on Thursday at the age of 47 after being in a coma for three years following an illness. She died at a hospital in Bangkok, where she had been cared for since she fell unconscious, said a statement on Friday by the Bureau of the Royal Household. It so happened that the princess collapsed in December 2022 while exercising her dogs and then doctors attributed it to a severely irregular heartbeat caused by a mycoplasma infection in her heart.
Despite intensive treatment, she never regained consciousness
Despite undergoing intensive treatment, she never regained consciousness.”The medical team provided the closest and most intensive care possible, but her condition continued to decline progressively,” the palace said in a statement.
With the death of Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, the Thai royal family now has lost its most visibly accomplished member and someone who might have played a pivotal role in the as yet unclear succession.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati: Know about the ‘lawyer princess’
Also known as “the lawyer princess” in local media, Bajrakitiyabha held a doctoral degree in law from Cornell University and was a qualified barrister in Thailand. She has worked briefly at the Thai mission to the United Nations in New York before returning to Thailand to work in the Attorney-General’s offices. She from 2012 to 2014 served as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria, where she built a relationship with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
Later, she started speaking out on the need for penal reform, with a particular focus on vulnerable women who end up in prison. Thailand has one of the world’s highest numbers of female inmates.
The princesses also started the Kamlangjai (Inspiration) royal project to support women and children in prison and prepare for their return to society. She also led Thailand’s advocacy campaign that led the UN General Assembly to adopt the Bangkok Rules aimed at enhancing the lives of female inmates in 2010.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha was a fitness enthusiast
Apart from all this, princess Bajrakitiyabha was also a fitness enthusiast who often took part in long-distance runs. It should be noted that for the Thai royalists, Princess Bajrakitiyabha was the most promising figure to succeed her father, either as queen or as a regent to help Prince Dipangkorn. But now, her death leaves the question of the succession in Thailand unanswered, and the severity of the country’s lese majeste law rules out any public discussion of it.
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