Long live the King! These are billboards and signs seen everywhere in Thailand, including at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.
The Kingdom of Thailand is going through the Coronavirus crisis. With 1245 infected and 6 dead, the numbers in Thailand of COVID-19 are not comparable to Germany, where 57,695 are recorded sick and 433 died. Based on percentage and due to an excellent health care system, Germany has a low fatality quote.
One of the most charming city’s of Bavaria is Garmisch Partenkirchen, an hour drive from Munich on the way to Innsbruck, Austria. Germany has strict rules in place to combat the virus. Some of the strongest restrictions are in the German State of Bavaria. Hotels are not allowed to host travelers on holiday. Only essential business travel is allowed.
The exception is the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in Bavaria. A spokesperson for the local district council told local media the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl was an exception because “the guests are a single, homogenous group of people with no fluctuation”. One of the individuals with no fluctuation is the 67-year-old monarch, His Majesty the King of Thailand.
The Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in Garmisch-Partenkirchen is located at the foothills of the Alps. The Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl has a wide range of exquisite rooms, suites, and apartments. All rooms are furnished with great attention to detail and charm. Each room has breath-taking views of the Alps or of the beautiful vistas in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. A unique view of the Zugspitze and the alpine panorama combined with friendly Bavarian hospitality and culinary delights awaits you at the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl. The 19th-century mansion hotel has been both a Nazi military and a girls’ boarding school in the past. The Thai ruler is believed to own a house nearby, on Lake Starnberg, so it could be that he is holed up there.
The beloved King of Thailand, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, King Rama X, decided to book the entire Grand Hotel Sonnebichl. The website of the hotel states that they apologize for very limited availability, while all other hotels in Germany were ordered to close. Those still open for business travel are literarily empty.
The Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl has closed its Facebook page after being flooded with furious comments from Germans angry that the hotel has been given special permission to stay open for King Vajiralongkorn and his harem. The king’s entourage included a “harem” of 20 concubines and numerous servants. According to the paper, it was unclear if his four wives are living in the same hotel with the rest of the group.
119 members of the entourage had been reportedly sent back to Thailand on suspicions they contracted the highly contagious Coronavirus. There is growing unrest in Thailand this week as its ruler, King Rama X, continues to holiday at a Bavarian Alpine retreat as his country buckles under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic. Tens of thousands of Thai citizens broke the strict lèse-majesté laws, which ban them from criticizing the King and can result in a 15-year prison sentence, in order to call out his actions online. A Thai phrase that means, ‘Why do we need a King?’ has been shared 1.2 million times on Twitter.
