The king of Thailand has allegedly been self-isolating in a luxury hotel in Bavaria, Germany with a sizable entourage - which includes a harem of 20 "concubines", The Independent reports.
Despite social distancing and lockdown measures in the country meaning the hotel, like other hotels, should have closed down - King Maha Vajiralongkorn was reportedly given "special permission" to book out the hotel because “the guests are a single, homogenous group of people with no fluctuation”.
It is unknown how long the monarch, also known as Rama X, will be staying at the four-star Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl - located in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
It is also unknown whether the 67-year-old monarch's four wives are staying at the hotel with the rest of his entourage.
It is believed, however, that 119 members of the entourage, which includes a number of servants, have been sent back to Thailand over fears they have caught the deadly virus.
When news emerged of the king's lavish self-isolation, tens of thousands of people in the southeast Asian country reportedly risked going against Thailand's lèse-majesté laws by expressing disapproval of him online.
According to the archaic laws, anyone who criticizes the monarchy could face up to 15 years in prison.
Despite this, the hashtag “Why do we need a king?”, written in Thai, appeared 1.2 million times on Twitter within 24 hours. This was sparked by an activist's claims that Vijaralongkorn would be going on vacation in Germany while Thailand battles with the spread of COVID-19.
Over in the US, people are being warned that the country could see over 100,000 deaths as a result of coronavirus:Per The Independent, Somsak Jeamteerasakul, an activist who lives in exile in France, made a series of claims on Facebook that the king was traveling from Switzerland to various locations in Germany from early March out of “boredom”.
He apparently wrote: “[Vajiralongkorn will] let the Thai people worry about the virus. Even Germany is worried about the virus [but] it’s none of his business.”
It is believed that Vajiralongkorn has not made a public appearance in Thailand since February.
He began ruling the country back in 2016 following the death of his father, Bhumibol, who ruled for over 70 years. Vajiralongkorn is thought to be less popular than his father.
Per the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, there are currently 1,771 cases of coronavirus in Thailand and 12 deaths.
