The German government has said that it has no evidence that King Vajiralongkorn has done anything that violates German law, international law, or internationally guaranteed human rights during his time in Germany.
Protesters during the 26 October protest put up a vinyl banner saying "monarchy reform."
The German news agency DPA reported on Wednesday (11 November) that Germany’s Foreign Ministry said in a written answer to a parliamentary question submitted by a Green party MP that it expected King Vajiralongkorn not to make decisions that “contravene the German legal system, international law or internationally guaranteed human rights" during his stay in Germany, and that the German government “has no reliable evidence” that he has taken such decisions.
The written answer, DPA reported, also said that the King’s stay in Germany is “of a private nature.”
DPA also reported that the King owns a villa in the Bavarian Alps, and that he stayed in a luxury hotel in the ski resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen “despite a ban on overnight accommodation.”
Green Party MP Margarete Bause, who submitted the parliamentary question, told DPA that it was implausible that the King has not issued orders that affect the situation in Thailand while in Germany, where he often stays for months at a time.
Bause also said that “the question of what the German government is doing to counteract such illegal behaviour remains unanswered,” and that, due to the harsh actions taken against the opposition, she demands clarification on what government orders the King has given on German soil.
On 26 October, thousands of protesters marched to the German Embassy in Bangkok to submit a petition calling for the German authorities to investigate and disclose the King’s entry and departure records to determine whether the King has exercised his power on German soil, a clarification on whether he will be required to pay inheritance tax as stipulated by German law and if so, how much will he have to pay, and whether the German government will investigate allegations against the King about human rights violations.
German foreign minister Heiko Maas has also said in a press conference on 26 October that they are following the situation in Thailand very closely. Maas said that German authorities are looking into what the King has been doing in Germany, and that if there is anything that they feel has broken the law, there will be immediate consequences.
