The King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, finds himself under pressure once again. However, this is not coming from protestors in his home country, who have been calling for reform of the monarchy, but rather from the German government. He spends much of his time in Germany, only returning to Thailand for short periods.
Vajiralongkorn had also lobbied for the 2017 Thai Constitution to include a clause to allow him to reign from abroad without appointing a regent.
The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, speaking in the Bundestag last week, said that Thai politics should not be done from Germany. Said Maas: ‘If there are guests in our country that conduct their state business from our soil we would always want to act to counteract that.’
In response to a question Maas also said that Germany would consider halting trade talks with Thailand if attempts to undermine democracy did not end.
Meanwhile, in Thailand, protest groups said they would continue with their demonstrations to put pressure on the Thai government to reform.