Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha dies after years in coma, clouding royal succession

Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the king’s eldest daughter, died aged 47 after more than three years in a coma following a December 2022 collapse attributed to a severely irregular heartbeat from a mycoplasma heart infection. A lawyer by training, she served as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria (2012–2014) and as the UNODC’s Ambassador for the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia, and later became chief of staff to her father’s private bodyguard in 2021 while championing penal reform. Her death removes one of the royal family’s most visible figures and leaves the question of succession unresolved, as the king has yet to designate an heir.