The Thai royal family has assembled a fleet of 38 airline-sized jets and helicopters, a leading opposition figure has revealed after leading an unprecedented probe into spending by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, his family and its employees.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit made the revelation as Thailand battles a deep recession sparked by Covid-19, and days before a rally organized by student protesters who are breaking longstanding taboos by questioning royal spending.
“People get mad about it, especially when you look at macroeconomics,” Thanathorn told the Financial Times.
“Thailand’s GDP growth is expected to be negative 8% at best this year, so we need all the resources we have for the recovery.”
Mr Thanathorn was the head of Future Forward, a youth-backed opposition party that became the third largest in parliament after last year’s elections.
But in February he was ordered to disband after shaking the royalist establishment.
Party MPs have banded together as Move Forward and began to publicly probe royal spending at a parliamentary budget committee meeting last month.
‘it is taxpayers’ cash, so it needs to be transparent. these things are not transparent’
According to an inventory of royal planes presented to the party by the office of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and seen by the FT, the fleet includes four Boeing and three Airbus commercial planes, three Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100s, four Northrop F5-E light fighter jets and 21 helicopters, three of which are expected to enter service next month.
Fleet maintenance, fuel, ground support and other costs total nearly 2 billion Bt ($ 64 million) for the coming fiscal year, according to the document.
Thailand’s palace returned a request for comment to the Foreign Ministry, which did not respond.
The King, who lives in Germany but returned to Bangkok for brief holiday visits this year, is a qualified pilot.
Since the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2016, the King has taken command of two military units and control of billions of dollars in company shares and other royal property once held by the Crown Property Bureau, confirming his status as one of the richest monarchs in the world.
King Vajiralongkorn also consolidated his Privy Council, the Royal Household Office and the Royal Security Office into a single Royal Office, which, according to official figures, has a budget of nearly Bt 9 billion for the coming year – a figure that has increased by more than 100%. since 2018.
Move Forward requested details of the spending from the government’s budget office, but Mr Thanathorn said he had not responded.
“It’s taxpayers’ money, so it has to be transparent,” he said. “These things are not transparent.”
Thai media reported Mr Thanathorn’s question on royal spending – including on planes – to parliament, but mostly avoided going into details.
Thailand’s punitive lese majesty and other laws protect the monarchy from perceived insults.
The Thai youth protest movement calls for the dissolution of parliament, an end to the harassment of political dissidents and the drafting of a new constitution. The current constitution gives the military and royalist establishment an advantage in elections.
A faction of students is also at risk of prosecution by making unprecedented demands for reforms of the monarchy, including reduced spending for the palace and a separation of Crown assets from the King’s personal assets.
Thai authorities have charged more than a dozen leaders of the protest with sedition and other crimes.
The students are planning a mass rally at Thammasat University in Bangkok on Saturday. Mr Thanathorn said the protest will focus on royal spending. “They will talk about the royal budget on September 19, I’m very sure,” he said. – FR24.Com
