Who is she?
Princess Bajrakitiyabha is the oldest daughter of Thailand’s Crown Prince and heir-apparent, Prince Vajiralongkorn. She is the only child of the Crown Prince and Princess Soamsavali. She is also the first grandchild of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit. Princess Bajrakitiyabha received a doctoral degree from Cornell Law School and has since worked in a number of government positions, including at Thailand’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and, most recently, as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria.
The Princess, referred to as Her Royal Highness, is a strong advocate for women’s rights and has worked to improve the conditions of women and their infant children in Thailand’s prison system through a number of projects that she also founded. In 2008, she was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations and lent her support specifically to raising the profile of UN Women (UNIFEM) in Thailand.
Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha speaking at an IAEA event in Vienna during last week as ambassador to Austria in September 2014. Source: IAEA Imagebank’s flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.
Why is she in the news?
On October 1, Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-Ocha appointed director-general of ASEAN affairs Attayut Srisamut as Thailand’s new ambassador to Austria and Princess Bajrakitiyabha returned to Bangkok to assume a position at the Office of the Attorney General.
What can we expect from her?
Princess Bajrakitiyabha will most likely use her new position to focus on promoting the rule of law under Thailand’s new government and continue her work to improve the lives of disadvantaged women in Thailand. Though the princess has sought to play a low key role, she may be in the news as Thais focus on the future of the royal family.
