BANGKOK — Thailand is in mourning following the death of Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, the eldest child of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who passed away on Thursday evening at the age of 47 after more than three years in a coma.
The Bureau of the Royal Household confirmed the death in a statement Friday morning, saying the princess died at 19:48 local time (12:48 GMT) at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, where she had been under intensive care since collapsing in December 2022.
Doctors attributed her collapse to a severely irregular heartbeat caused by a mycoplasma infection in her heart. Despite round-the-clock medical attention, her condition “continued to decline progressively,” the palace said.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha — known popularly as Bha or Patty — was widely regarded as the most accomplished and publicly visible member of the Thai royal family. Trained as a lawyer at Cornell University in the United States, she served briefly at Thailand’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York before returning home to work in the Attorney-General’s offices. From 2012 to 2014, she served as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria.
Her commitment to justice reform became her defining legacy. Appointed as a goodwill ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, she championed the rights of incarcerated women and pushed for changes to Thailand’s criminal justice system, which frequently imposes severe sentences on people convicted of minor drug offences. Her advocacy was so influential that the UN General Assembly adopted the “Bangkok Rules” on care and conditions for female prisoners in 2010 — a set of standards she helped architect.
In 2021, her father elevated her within his personal bodyguard unit, granting her the rank of general — a role that reinforced her standing as a potential successor.
“She was a pride of Thailand,” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a televised address. “Her commitment to building a society of kindness, justice and equality will forever remain as a moral legacy for the nation, a guiding light for generations of Thais.”
Her death leaves a significant void in the royal succession. King Vajiralongkorn, 73, has not publicly named an heir. While Thai custom traditionally favours male succession, a 1974 constitutional amendment allows a female to take the throne. Four of the king’s five sons were disowned in 1996 and live in the United States. His fifth son, 21-year-old Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti — born to the king’s third wife — is the presumed heir, though questions have been raised about his ability to assume the role in a country where the monarchy carries immense influence.
For many royalist analysts, Princess Bajrakitiyabha had seemed the most promising figure to either ascend as queen or serve as regent to Prince Dipangkorn. Her death closes that chapter.
Mourners gathered at the hospital throughout Thursday night and into Friday morning. Some held framed photographs of the princess spanning decades of public life. “I know she was sick, but I wished there were a miracle,” one visitor, Pattamaporn Kaewkityakorn, told the Associated Press.
The death comes as Thailand prepares for a period of official mourning. No date for royal rites has yet been announced.