Death has prompted surge in coded social media comments on the subject, in a country where it is illegal to openly discuss royal succession

Air Chief Marshal Foo Foo, the pet poodle of Thailand’s crown prince, has been cremated after four days of Buddhist funeral rites, prompting a surge of coded social media comments in the troubled kingdom, where it is illegal to openly discuss the looming royal succession.

Thailand has been engulfed by chronic political turmoil since 2005, due partly to an unacknowledged conflict among the elite over who will become monarch when the ailing 87-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies.

Although Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn is the official heir, he is unpopular and has been embroiled in several scandals. Many Thais would prefer his younger sister, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, to inherit the throne, but palace law does not allow a female monarch.

Unable to openly discuss their doubts about the crown prince and anxiety over the future of the monarchy, Thais express their views about the royal family more subtly. Photographs of Foo Foo’s funeral rites were widely shared on social media as news spread that the 17-year-old poodle had died, and hundreds of Thais responded to the death by making ironic online comments and oblique hints about the succession.

A secret succession struggle that had simmered for decades exploded into the open in 2007 when opponents of the crown prince leaked a video showing the 30th birthday party of his third wife, Princess Srirasm, in 2001. The footage, which caused a sensation in Thailand, showed the princess virtually naked in the presence of several courtiers, and lying on the floor to eat cake beside Foo Foo.

A few months after the video was leaked, US ambassador Ralph “Skip” Boyce hosted a gala dinner at which the crown prince was the guest of honour. Seated beside Srirasm, Boyce began discussing the subject of royal pets, inadvertently exposing the rivalry surrounding the succession.

Air Chief Marshal Foo Foo, with Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and Royal Consort Princess Srirasmi

“I mentioned having heard Princess Sirindhorn had a large dog, and I asked Srirasm if she knew the breed. Srirasm appeared immediately to freeze up; her body language changed, and she said curtly that she knew nothing of Sirindhorn’s affairs,” Boyce wrote in a confidential cable obtained by WikiLeaks.

He added: “Her reaction was interesting, given a widespread, longstanding perception that Sirindhorn may somehow edge out the crown prince as successor to the King.”

Boyce also reported that Foo Foo had been awarded a senior rank in the Royal Thai Air Force: “Srirasm … confirmed that the crown prince’s miniature poodle, Foo Foo, currently holds the rank of Air Chief Marshal. Foo Foo was present at the event, dressed in formal evening attire complete with paw mitts, and at one point during the band’s second number, he jumped up onto the head table and began lapping from the guests’ water glasses, including my own. The Air Chief Marshal’s antics drew the full attention of the 600-plus audience members, and remains the talk of the town to this day.”

Frank discussion of the royal succession and palace scandals is illegal in Thailand, where a draconian lèse majesté law punishes any perceived criticism of the monarchy with three to 15 years in jail. The law has been increasingly harshly enforced in recent years as the succession draws closer, and scores of people have been arrested since the military seized power in a coup last May.

In the latest scandal involving the crown prince, Srirasm was stripped of her royal titles and banished from Vajiralongkorn’s palace in December, and several of her relatives were arrested and accused of racketeering and corruption. The prince is expected to marry for a fourth time, taking a former Thai Airways flight attendant as his next wife.