Jakarta –
Not a few think that the richest king in the world is the King of Arabia or the Sultan of Brunei. The fact is not. Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn is the richest king in the world.
Launching the Los Angeles Times, Thursday (15/10), he is noted to have access to one of the greatest royal wealth in the world, namely a secret holding company. The company is loaded with stakes in Thai blue-chip companies and a major estate in the heart of Bangkok. His total wealth reaches US $ 30 billion or equivalent to Rp.439 trillion. Some sources even say that his wealth reaches US $ 43 billion.
Vajiralongkorn, who ascended to the throne after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadec in 2016, transferred all ownership in a large company known as the Crown Property Bureau (CPB) worth US $ 70 billion, equivalent to Rp. 1,024.7 trillion (exchange rate Rp. 14,639 / US $) to his private ownership.
The transfer of ownership is now the focus of the pro-democracy movement, which demands transparency of monarchical finances and very broad limits of power.
In August, students at Thammasat University demanded that the King return the assets to the control of the Crown Property Bureau. The students asked the King to place the assets under government supervision. Some protesters have also called for a boycott of Siam Commercial Bank, in which the King holds nearly 24% of the bank.
“When the protesters talk about the monarchy as an institution, the CPB is the point,” said a lecturer at Thammasat and doctoral candidate in international relations at USC, Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi.
“One of the main things people think about is how the monarchy can amass enormous wealth and we don’t really know anything about it,” he continued.
The King is known for his luxurious lifestyle. During the Corona pandemic raging in the Land of the White Elephant, the King was more often in Germany than taking care of his people.
As with other countries in the world, the Corona pandemic has also undermined the country’s finances. However, this king is reportedly still living with the luxury he currently has.
Hence, tens of thousands of demonstrators have been staging protests since the start of the summer, a tremendous political revival in a country that abolished absolute monarchy in favor of a parliamentary system in 1932.
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[Gambas:Video 20detik]
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