Thai royalty, the King of Thailand. He is the only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit.
He graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra, Australia. An officer in the Thai military, he trained with the Australian, British and United States armed services. He is a qualified military pilot and helicopter pilot. He took an active part in military operations against the Communist Party of Thailand during the 1970s.
Vajiralongkorn holds the ranks of General in the Royal Thai Army, Admiral in the Royal Thai Navy and Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Thai Air Force. He officially opened the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. The event coincided with the 80th birthday of his father Bhumibol.
On 3 January 1977 Vajiralongkorn married Princess Soamsawali Kitiyakara (born 1957), a first cousin on his mother’s side. They had one daughter, Princess Bajrakitiyabha (born 1978). Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn started living with actress Yuvadhida Polpraserth in the late 1970s and had five children with her. Although Princess Soamsawali had refused divorce for many years, Vajiralongkorn was finally able to sue for divorce in the Family Court in January 1993. The divorce was finalized in July 1993.
Yuvadhida Polpraserth gave birth to Vajiralongkorn’s first son, Prince Juthavachara Mahidol, on 29 August 1979. He later had three more sons and a daughter by her. They were married at a palace ceremony in February 1994. After the marriage, she was allowed to change her name to Mom Sujarinee Mahidol na Ayudhaya, signifying she was a commoner married to a royal. When she fled to Britain in 1996 with their children, Vajiralongkorn had posters placed around his palace accusing her of committing adultery. The prince abducted their daughter and brought her back to Thailand to live with him. She was later elevated to the rank of princess, whilst Sujarinee and her sons were stripped of their diplomatic passports and titles. She and her sons later moved to the United States. As of 2007, Sujarinee was known as Sujarinee Vivacharawongse.
Vajiralongkorn married again, on 10 February 2001, to Srirasmi Suwadee, a commoner from an otherwise modest background who had been in his service since 1992. The marriage was not disclosed to the public until early 2005. She gave birth to a son, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, on 29 April 2005 and was elevated to become Princess. The son was immediately elevated to the rank of Prince. In December 2014, Srirasmi relinquished all her royal titles and the royal name, to which she received 200 million baht and was officially divorced from Vajiralongkorn, and was exiled to return to an undisclosed residence.
After his father’s death on 13 October 2016, he was expected to succeed to the throne, with his proclamation as the new King to take place on 1 December 2016. The government retroactively declared his reign to have begun on 13 October 2016, upon his father’s death.
Link to Wikipedia biography