The journey of Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, 42, comes at a difficult time for the Thai royal family, with the monarch’s eldest daughter having been in a coma since December.
Vacharaesorn, who works at a law firm in New York, visited the Foundation for Slum Child Care, which is supported by the royal family, and greeted supporters.
Dressed in jeans and a casual black shirt, he posed for photos in front of portraits of his father and grandfather, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016 after a 70-year reign.
“I’m delighted to be back…I’ve been away for a long time, 27 years,” Vacharaesorn told reporters at the Bangkok foundation.
“It’s like a dream come true to be back,” he said.
The Royal Palace did not comment on the visit. The Palace Household Bureau did not respond to requests for comment.
Many Thais were surprised by the return of Vacharaesorn. A photo of him in a “tuk-tuk” auto-rickshaw in Bangkok, which he posted Monday on his Facebook page, which has more than 80,000 followers, received tens of thousands of likes.
On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the hashtag #SonOfTenReturnToThailand has been mentioned nearly 390,000 times. His father’s official title is King Rama X.
Those who have seen Vacharaesorn have been impressed.
“I am very moved, he is long gone. For me, he is still part of the royal family,” said Angsana Seeprasit, 66.
Vacharaesorn is the second of four sons of King Vajiralongkorn’s second wife, Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, a former actress who was divorced by the then crown prince in 1996.
He has no official royal title although he technically retains a status granted when he was a child as the grandson of a monarch.
He, his mother, three brothers and one sister separated after the 1996 divorce, in which his mother was publicly accused of adultery, and they moved abroad.
Vacharaesorn’s younger sister was later re-embraced by the royal family and given the royal title of Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana. She is a fashion designer and horse rider who competed in the 2014 Asian Games for Thailand.
The thrice-divorced King Vajiralongkorn has seven children. He is married to Queen Suthida, his former chief bodyguard, whom he married days before his coronation in 2019.
The 71-year-old monarch has not named an official heir.
At the end of December, the king’s eldest child, Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, 44, collapsed due to a serious heart condition. She remains in a coma.
