Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha has died at the age of 47.
The Thai Royal Palace said she died peacefully at Chulalongkorn Hospital at 19:48.
She died after years in a coma on life support, and a recent “severe” and “uncontrolled” infection that spread through her body only worsened her condition.
The Princess suffered a heart attack on 14 December 2022 while running with her dogs in Khao Yai National Park, northeast of Bangkok. She was said to be training her dogs for the Thailand Working Dog Championship 2022, which was being organised by the Royal Thai Army.
Despite attempts at CPR for over an hour, the royal was unable to regain consciousness, according to reporter Andrew MacGregor Marshall. An official statement from the Royal Household Bureau later confirmed that she had not regained consciousness.
It was said that her father, King Vajiralongkorn, rushed to be by her side by helicopter. She was first taken to Pak Chong Nana Hospital and later transferred to Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok.
Reports later said she had been declared brain dead on 14 December 2022 and was being kept alive on life support.
EXCLUSIVE UPDATE — Several royal sources say Princess Bajrakitiyabha suffered a heart attack today while running with her dogs in Khao Yai national park.
Her father King Vajiralongkorn rushed there in a helicopter. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/nwAoL2t9bC
— Andrew MacGregor Marshall (@zenjournalist) December 14, 2022
This is the second death in the Thai Royal Family in seven months. Queen Sirkit, the Queen Mother, died in October 2025 at the age of 93.
The Princess’s death leads to questions in Thailand, as she was seen by many as the unnamed heir to the Thai throne. The King has yet to announce his successor, but rumours have persisted for years since his accession that he would name his eldest daughter as the heir.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha was the eldest child of King Rama X by his first wife, Princess Soamsawali. She was born on 7 December 1978 in Bangkok’s Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall in Dusit Palace.
The Princess was highly educated and held a law degree. She worked for a time at the Thai Permanent Mission at the United Nations in New York, and worked as an attorney in the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok and later in Udon Thani Province. Her Royal Highness also served as the Thai Ambassador to Austria from 2012 to 2014. By 2021, Princess Bajrakitiyabha was made Chief of Staff in the Royal Security Command and held the rank of general.
Her Royal Highness was unmarried and did not have any children.
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