Former royal bodyguard Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi -- known by her nickname "Koi" -- was gifted the title on the king's 67th birthday on July 28, the first time in nearly a century a Thai monarch has taken a consort. Suthida - the former deputy head of the royal bodyguard - was made Queen in May, becoming King Vajiralongkorn's fourth wife. Born in the northern province of Nan on January 26, 1985, Sineenat, graduated from the Royal Thai Army Nursing College at the age of 23. Her prominence stunned the Thai public, who often glean clues of the royal family's secretive ongoings through imagery and symbolism relayed by the palace. Buttressed by the conservative arch royalist military, which has carried out a dozen coups since the 1932 establishment of a constitutional monarchy, frank discussion of palace affairs is rare among the Thai public.

Source: New Strait Times October 21, 2019 14:48 UTC