As the youngest child and youngest son of the King of Thailand, Prince Dipangkorn was born on 29 April 2005 to then-Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and his then-wife, Princess Srirasmi.
He has several older half-siblings from his father’s other marriages; however, only his older sisters are recognised by the King: Princess Bajrakitiyabha (b. 1978) and Princess Sirivannavari (b. 1987).
His four older brothers from his father’s second marriage to Sujarinee Vivacharawongse were disowned and lost their titles upon the couple’s divorce. They live in the United States; however, the King brought his daughter, Sirivannavari, from that marriage back to Thailand.
Prince Dipangkorn was first educated in Bangkok’s Dusit Palace at the Chitralada School; he has since been enrolled at the German Bavarian International School in Bavaria, as his father spends most of the time in Germany instead of Thailand.
Not much else is known about the royal; he does undertake some volunteer work while in Thailand and was present at his father’s coronation in 2019. There have long been rumours about his intellectual abilities, but nothing has ever been stated from the Thai Royal Palace.
His parents divorced, and his mother lost her royal titles in 2014. Her family has since been arrested under Thailand’s strict lèse-majesté laws.
Dipangkorn’s father became the King of Thailand (King Rama X) upon the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October 2016. Upon Rama X’s coronation, the King gave his son the additional title of Somdet Phrachao Lukya Thoe Chaofa Dipangkorn Rasmijoti.
While he is assumed to be the future monarch, he does not yet hold the title of Crown Prince of Thailand. Thailand does allow women in the line of succession and allows women to take the throne if there is no appointed successor. Princess Bajrakitiyabha has been rumoured to be the next monarch, and the Royal Palace has primed her for that role with her education, military positions and functions within the government. However, with her now hospitalised due to a heart condition, she has been in a Bangkok hospital unconscious since December 2022, leaving her future uncertain.
Thailand’s Public Relations Department has shared a short YouTube documentary on the Prince to celebrate his 18th birthday that shows him at his father’s coronation and undertaking royal duties.
The Thai Royal Family celebrated the Prince by placing congratulations on their website and a link to where people can wish him well on his birthday. The same link is available on the Thai Public Relations Department’s website, alongside a link to send get well wishes to his elder sister, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, who has been hospitalised since last winter.
