Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Dead at 47 After 3-Year Coma

Jun 12, 2026 - 19:03

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Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Dead at 47 After 3-Year Coma

Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand died June 11 at the age of 47 over three years after falling into a coma due to a heart condition, the Bureau of the Royal Household announced June 12.

By Gibson Johns Jun 12, 2026 1:51 PM

| Updated 2 hours ago

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The people of Thailand are in mourning.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of died at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok on June 11, after more than three years in a coma, the Bureau of the Royal Household announced. She was 47.

"Her Royal Highness had stayed in the hospital for medical treatment since 15 December 2022, after losing consciousness because of a heart condition," the bureau said in the June 12 statement. "In April 2026, doctors detected an infection in the abdomen caused by inflammation of the large intestine. This made Her Royal Highness’s condition unstable, with low blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, and abnormalities in blood clotting."

The statement continued, "Although the medical team provided treatment for Her Royal Highness to the best of its ability, Her Royal Highness’s condition deteriorated."

The bureau ended by sharing some of the royal family's plans to honor Bajrakitiyabha, the eldest daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and ex-wife Princess Soamsawali, after her passing.

"His Majesty the King has graciously issued a Royal Command directing the Bureau of the Royal Household to arrange the royal funeral rites," the statement explained, "with the highest honors accorded to the Princess in accordance with royal tradition. The royal remains will lie in state at Biman Rataya Pavilion within the Grand Palace."

Bajrakitiyabha was originally hospitalized after becoming unconscious while training dogs for an army exhibition, per NBC News.

Vachira Vachira/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Prime minister of Thailand Anutin Charnvirakul called the late princess "the pride of Thailand" after her death.

"This loss is not merely bad news announced to the people, but an immeasurable grief in the hearts of the entire nation," he said in a statement, per The Associated Press, and added that "her commitment to building a society of kindness, justice, and equality, will forever remain as a moral legacy for the nation, a guiding light for generations of Thais."

Bajrakitiyabha—who studied law at Thammasat University in Bangkok before getting her master's in law from Cornell University in New York—was passionate about criminal justice reform and was a major advocate for female convicts through her Kamlangjai project that helped to rehabilitate incarcerated women before being released from prison in Thailand.

"Society cannot grow if there is instability and injustice,” she said in a 2013 interview with The Associated Press. “Without the rule of law, without a good justice system, it’s always chaos. I think the rule of law is a very important pillar to development, to economic growth, and of course to human rights."

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