ภาพจาก
Andrew MacGregor Marshall
Andrew MacGregor Marshall
3h ·
EXCLUSIVE—Vajiralongkorn is coming back to Thailand. He is flying from Munich to Zurich aboard one of his personal 737s, wing number HS-HMK (which stands for His Majesty the King) and meanwhile the flagship aircraft in the Thai Airways fleet, an empty Boeing 777 with wing number HS-TKY flew from Suvarnabhumi to Zurich today.
In Zurich, Vajiralongkorn will meet Suthida, who lives separately from him in Switzerland, and they will depart on HS-TKY on December 27 to fly to Thailand. The flight number is TG971 and scheduled departure from Zurich is 1315. But this is not a regular flight — it’s solely reserved for the royal entourage — and it will probably depart late, because Vajiralongkorn is almost always late for everything.
Vajiralongkorn prefers to use Don Mueang rather than Suvarnabhumi these days, because the Royal Thai Air Force built him a mini-palace at the airport (and even a cycling track) so the flight will land at Don Mueang, scheduled arrival 0610 on December 28.
At 0810 the plane is due to depart Don Mueang for an absurd short flight back to Suvarnabhumi so that HS-TKY can return to use in regular Thai Airways flights. One reason the airline is bankrupt is the need to accommodate the bizarre whims of the king.
Vajiralongkorn is returning for the Taksin Day ceremony on December 28. He hates spending time in Thailand and would usually fly back to Germany right afterwards, but Suthida needs some medical treatment and the king is worried about the new German foreign minister — Annalena Baerbock of the Green Party — taking a tougher line to prevent him making decisions from German soil. So no return flight has yet been arranged.
I will keep you updated.
