Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, the mistress of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, is in the news again as part of an alleged scandal in which her 1,000+ sexually explicit, mostly nude photos were anonymously shared with anti-monarchy activists outside the country.
Although it has now created a wave, the leak occurred in August, as claimed by British journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall, who received the photos. Apart from him, the photos were sent to Japan-based academic Pavin Chachavalpongpun, who is being prosecuted in Thailand for criticizing the monarchy.
Marshall took to Facebook in November, saying, “Thailand’s royal family is facing another embarrassing scandal after hundreds of intimate photos of King Vajiralongkorn’s official consort, Sineenat ‘Koi’ Wongvajirapakdi, were leaked amid fierce fighting between rival palace factions. Three months ago, in August, a letter was sent to an address where I used to live and forwarded to me. Inside was an SD card with 1,443 photos that appeared to have been extracted from three iPhones Koi previously owned. “
In the post, he added that the photos were sent to him shortly before Koi was released from Lat Yao Women’s Prison in Bangkok, and that she was returning to Munich on August 29 to be with Vajiralongkorn with all her royal titles and privileges.
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Her return has been refused by supporters of Queen Suthida and Princess Bajrakitiyabha, he said, speculating that it is very likely that the leak is an act of revenge to sabotage her return to the king as her consort.
Such leaks have occurred several times in the past, according to the journalist, who gave examples of similar incidents in his post. “A video was released in 2007 showing Vajiralongkorn’s third wife Srirasmi half-naked at her 2001 birthday party, and many nude photos of Srirasmi have been leaked over the years,” he wrote.
“They show that there is an ugly power struggle at the palace due to Vajiralongkorn’s chronically complicated sex life, and the royal civil war is likely to worsen as Suthida and Koi compete for status and attention,” he said.
Suthida is the Queen Consort of Thailand as the fourth wife of King Vajiralongkorn.