Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the eldest child of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and once widely seen as a potential heir to the throne, has died at the age of 47 after spending nearly four years in a coma, the Royal Palace announced on Thursday.
The Thai Royal Household said the princess, affectionately known to many Thais as “Princess Bha,” died peacefully at Chulalongkorn Hospital at 19:48 local time on Thursday 11 June, according to The Royal News Organisation. The palace said her death came after years on life support, with a recent “severe” and “uncontrolled” infection spreading through her body and worsening her condition. In its statement, the palace said: “The medical team provided the closest and most intensive care possible, but her condition continued to decline progressively.”
Princess Bajrakitiyabha collapsed on 14 December 2022 while exercising her dogs at Khao Yai National Park, northeast of Bangkok, where she had been training for the Thailand Working Dog Championship organised by the Royal Thai Army. Doctors attributed her collapse to a severe heart arrhythmia caused by a mycoplasma infection. King Vajiralongkorn reportedly travelled to the scene by helicopter after she fell ill. Despite CPR efforts lasting over an hour, she never regained consciousness. The palace issued periodic updates over the following years, including in August and September 2025, when it confirmed she was being treated for a severe bloodstream infection affecting her blood pressure, kidneys and lungs.
Born on 7 December 1978 at Bangkok’s Dusit Palace, Princess Bajrakitiyabha was the eldest of King Vajiralongkorn’s seven children and his only child from his first marriage, to Princess Soamsawali. She was educated at Rajini School and Chitralada School in Thailand and at Heathfield School in England, before earning a Bachelor of Laws from Thammasat University in 2000 and a further Bachelor of Laws from Cornell University in the United States in 2002.
She went on to build a substantial career in law, diplomacy and the military. She worked as an attorney in Thailand’s Office of the Attorney-General from 2006, including a posting in Udon Thani province, and served as Thailand’s Ambassador to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia between 2012 and 2014. She was appointed a UN Women National Ambassador to Thailand in 2008 and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia in 2017, reflecting her long-standing advocacy for the rights of female prisoners, particularly those who were pregnant while incarcerated. In 2021 she transferred to the Royal Thai Army, holding the rank of general and serving as Chief of Staff of the King’s Close Bodyguard Command within the Royal Security Command.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha was one of three of the King’s children formally eligible to ascend the throne under Thailand’s constitution and palace succession law, and had long been the subject of speculation that she might eventually be named her father’s heir — a question the King has never publicly addressed. Her death, as CNN reported, leaves the Thai monarchy without its most visibly accomplished member at a moment when the question of succession remains unresolved. It is the second death within the Thai royal family in seven months, following the death of Queen Mother Sirikit in October 2025 at the age of 93.
The palace is expected to hold royal funeral rites, and the Thai government is anticipated to declare a period of national mourning. Strict lese-majeste laws in Thailand limit public commentary on the royal family, with violations carrying prison sentences of up to 15 years per charge.
