Inside the life of the Thai King who swapped his crown for a crop top | 60 Minutes Australia

each to their own I suppose but when you're the king of 70 million people with the wealth in excess of 70 billion dollars is it right to be seen frolicking around in a crop top rather than a crown many of the subjects of the time monarch king vajira Longhorn certainly don't like his skimpy outfits but they're more Furious about other parts of his outlandish lifestyle he's womanizing his alleged brutality and the fact he seems to prefer the crisp air of the Bavarian Alps to the humidity of Bangkok oh and there's also the small matter of Fufu the pet poodle he appointed Chief Marshal of Thailand's Air Force Germany's picturesque scalps might seem a strange place to start a story on the king of Thailand but lately these Hills have been alive with the sounds of Scandal it's hard to believe but you're looking at the richest Monarch in the world wearing a crop top and fake tattoos enjoying an ice cream at a Bavarian shopping center with one of his many lovers it's this racy lifestyle that's seen King vajira Longhorn called the demigod who's a Simi Kardashian while security guards might try to Shield him the king's signature outfit has been spotted in department stores hopping into his chauffeur-driven limousine and even when he's out cycling the Region's Rolling Hills Have you seen him around the town sometimes he goes to the tux Pizza without clothes yeah naked [Applause] but now the King has been forced to head home to Thailand in his private jet as protesters ignore the threat of arrest for speaking out against their ruler against the backdrop of alleged political interference and Reckless spending by the Monarch tens of thousands have overtaken the streets of Bangkok fed up with their out of touch and out of town King he wants the power he wants the wealth he just doesn't want to do the duties are you willing to go to jail if that's what it takes in this fight for change yeah it's worth it if if we can become democracy Thailand is world famous as an idyllic holiday destination home to some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet it's known as the land of smiles and nothing brought the proud locals more happiness than their previous King bhuma Bowl [Music] universally respected he was the world's longest reigning monarch ruling for an extraordinary 70 years [Music] his death back in 2016 sparked a year of mourning unbridled grief for a leader they adored it was replaced by his only son the less popular vajira Longhorn who now also has to be treated with god-like adoration including his wife laying at his feet but for the first time there are critics asking if this is a king worthy of their respect I wasn't able to go back to Thailand I'd be jailed if I go back to Thailand because I've broken Thai Law repeatedly by writing about the monarchy and once I got started once I already broke the law once I thought I might as well keep going journalist Andrew McGregor Marshall was forced to flee Bangkok and move to Edinburgh after becoming a vocal critic of King Vegeta Longhorn when reporting for Reuters them the first red flag for many was the way the king treated women amassing four wives and countless mistresses says all these marital scandals he's known as a womanizer he's believed to be living in in Bavaria with a huge Harem of women and many of the women in the harim have been given a special surname and a military rank so he's got his own Army regiment for his lovers exactly and according to Palace sources they've even been organized into a crazy military unit which the king calls the SAS after Britain's Special Air Service and they even have the same motto who dares wins [Music] a few years ago this salacious video leaked Alice didn't want the world to see the embarrassing footage the king is with his third wife surarasmi who's topless and in a g-string celebrating the birthday of her husband's beloved pet poodle Fufu in fact the king adored his dog so much he crowned the canine as a senior ranking official in Thailand's Air Force come on is air Chief Marshall Fufu the highest ranking dog you've ever heard of I think so and there are some really interesting details in leaked U.S embassy cables about Thailand where where Fufu was appearing at you know Royal dinners we're in uniforms he would sometimes wear a little tuxedo and Little Boots and he'd be allowed to jump up on the table and eat from all the ambassador's pleats and nobody dared to say anything uh Fufu died a few years ago and he was given a four-day State funeral the bizarre behavior was tolerated when Vegeta longcorn was crowned Prince but since his 40 million dollar coronation in 2016 the new King's quirks and extravagant spending have raised eyebrows the Royal Family's wealth is estimated at more than 70 billion dollars and the King's Stand Accused of funding his wild ways in Germany at the expense of Thai taxpayers you lavish lifestyle he spends most of his time in a luxury hotel in Bavaria where he's rented the entire hotel for himself and his Entourage he has three Boeing 737 planes so he's spending a huge amount of money and it's tight experience when you're 10 times richer than the Queen of England you're really having a laugh on you yeah absolutely he's the richest Monarch in the world so it's quite extraordinary it's possible that he enjoys the freedom when he's in Germany of just letting loose and wearing wearing whatever he chooses and tires have been quite shocked by these images because you know they do expect their Monarch to behave in a certain way and and to follow Buddhist principles and when they see him walking around malls in Germany with fake tattoos with some of his Mistresses it did cause quite significant shock in Thailand protists are growing by the week in Bangkok as locals demand reform of their once sacred monarchy the younger generation yes they are there the force behind is one of the leading voices in the mounting movement for change she's currently in court battling five charges of sedition facing a potential jail term of more than 30 years make no mistake this is a country where criticizing the monarchy is a cardinal sin if you could imagine now the same thing happened to any other country I would think about the North Korea and the way they portray the leader what are people taught to think about the king people have thought to to think that the king is perfect perfect in every way it's like a god exactly when the king said we love them all the same given this censorship and propaganda in Thailand's mainstream media Bose now become a host on a recently launched online news channel date the role that the whole country expect from the key she needs to tread very carefully but believes she's connecting with a new generation waking up to the hypocrisy of the king what do you think when you see those images of the king getting around in a crop top in Germany I think in conflict with what the public expect from from the king of Thailand I I don't think any Thai would be very pleased to to see that even the ultra Wireless themselves they would prefer not to see it I notice you're being very careful with the way you answer these questions is that because you know there could be ramifications if you are too critical of the king certainly and because I'm very closely monitored by the security agency in Thailand so it is the the full censorship is still there in the in the mass media I think it is the major issue at the moment or we cannot talk about it freely coming up and us we were young men training to go to war how Australia influenced the young Royal not many people really know the real Maduro Longhorn and the top secret government cables the king's cruelty is is one of the most worrying things exposing the king's torment this dictatorship with a Smiles that's next on 60 Minutes foreign 's controversial reign in Thailand it was just another Cadet cutting his teeth that done Troon Military College in Canberra not many people really know the real vajira Longhorn uh it really I probably in his life the only people that got to intimately know him would have been that people at duntru and it were close to him over that four years Gary Stone was assigned to be the then Crown Prince of Thailand's Mentor when he arrived in Australia in 1972. this is a photo of the two of them from the time the pair becoming firm friends over the next four years he's the king now but when he came out here as a young man what was he like he did everything we expected of him and and we were young men training to go to war I mean at the time like is this the fascinating thing reflecting back all these years at the time it it was just known so normal there was no there was no big deal about it you know but you're a loncorn we call him vaji he was one of our section part of our platoon and uh and yeah there was no special treatment for him I suppose it is rather wonderful really but there were challenges we can reveal secret Australian government cables from the time which show vajira Longhorn struggled when he first came to our Shores he is obviously unsure of himself needs others to lean on and is seeking security noted as senior military official Laden a cable from our ambassador said he believed the Crown Prince found his future responsibilities as king traumatic bewildering and overwhelming must be a lot of pressure on a young man like that coming out here to to learn the the Rough and Tumble of life knowing that one day he's going to be the ruler of a country I often thought about that and I even talked to him about it at times I don't think he he uh I don't think he fully sort of comprehended that what what might be ahead of him various sort of criticisms have been made from every royal family member all around all around the world and uh I don't know that many people really know the uh the vajira longhorn that we got to know it at duntrun personally he's he's a quiet reserved and quite polite and respectful person and yeah and I think that that's that's the sort of the character we experience there and uh and I'm sure that's what um you know that that's the way he's lived most of his life on the expense of the taxpayers money the protests against the king of Thailand have now spread to Australia at a rally in Sydney I met Thai expat Paul who saddened by what's become of the monarchy in his homeland terrible bro so all this sort of thing added up so and I've been following good news on the internet and when this thing came up online so I thought I I should do something about it you seem pretty emotional about it it's obviously something pretty close to your heart behind the Thai Smile that is what it is don't you think it's the land of smile but behind a smile it's dictatorship with a smile with swap uh look the protest is here hold photos of activists who've gone missing they're known as the disappeared since 2016 they've been disappearing in mysterious circumstances and at least two of them have have washed up dead on the Mekong River with their legs broken disemboweled their stomachs stuffed with concrete Andrew McGregor Marshall is an exiled investigative journalist who's been documenting these disturbing developments in Thailand the king's cruelty is is one of the most worrying things about him we've seen that in his treatment of his former wives and of his current mistress who was thrown in jail for 10 months just just last year only got out recently with no real legal process the King's vindictiveness and abusive power it sounds almost like a a crazed Monarch out of Game of Thrones or something at times absolutely and this is the problem with monarchy right because you could never be sure whether the hereditary air is is going to be a good King one of the few things that people used to gossip quite openly about the monarchy during the reign of the previous King people loved King pumipon but they were really afraid of what would happen when Virginia Longhorn took the throne his behavior is almost pathological he is almost like an elderly King Joffrey he seems to go out of his way to be cruel he seems to go out of his way to Proclaim that he is the absolute power in Thailand and that's what has ties so worried and that's why so many people are taken to the streets to try to oppose him more of these protests are planned for the coming week fed up with the king's alleged political interference and expensive lifestyle activists like Beau mahatana are demanding reform Thailand's famous deference to the King has now been replaced by defiance it is truly driven by young people they're not willing to compromise with any of their demand unlike the the adult who led the previous protest at one point they'll be willing to to compromise and talk and negotiate with the young people it's different right you think about teenagers they they have that kind of characters why do you think young people are so passionate about this issue I think if you drill everything down to one word it's about Injustice and by Nature every human being cares about Injustice the younger you are the more passionate you feel about it they feel Injustice and they want to get rid of it hello I'm Liam Bartlett thanks for watching so keep up with the latest from 60 Minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the nine Now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 Minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 2,798,227

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Tom Steinfort, thailand, king of thailand, thai royal family, scandalous royal family, thai king, king maha, kardashian king of thailand, thai king crop top, fufu, royal dog, poodle, bavaria, living in germany, King Vajiralongkorn, real life royals, protests, democracy protests thailand, yellow shirts, red shirts, thailand protests, bangkok protests, reform monarchy, fufu air marshall, foo foo, crop top photos, andrew macgregor marshall

Id: HfF3CGVwrs4

Length: 16min 20sec (980 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 08 2020