How Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati shaped women's rights

Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, the eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, died on Thursday evening after multiple health problems and nearly four years in a coma, the royal palace said.

She was 47.The princess was hospitalised in December 2022 after a sudden loss of consciousness caused by a heart condition while visiting the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. The royal was flown to the capital, Bangkok, for treatment.In a statement, the palace said that her condition worsened due to an intra-abdominal infection, colitis, low blood pressure, arrhythmias and blood-clotting disorders.While the world is still discussing the health concerns she faced over the years, few have paused to look back at the far more significant legacy she built in the decades before her collapse. Rather than obsessing over headline-grabbing activism, she quietly reshaped women's rights through her practical humanitarian work.

A life of quiet service

Known by her nickname Princess Bha, she studied law at Cornell University, obtaining a Master’s degree and a doctorate.

As a law student, she visited the Central Women's Correctional Institution and realised that prisons were not built for gender-specific requirements. She observed inadequate hygiene conditions, along with a lack of proper support for pregnancy and childcare. She was deeply moved, which inspired her to launch the Kamalangjai (Inspire) Project, aiming to provide support and assistance to pregnant women and young children living with imprisoned mothers.“Women in prison are a vulnerable group in society that often receives inadequate care from the authorities. The quality of justice has nothing to do with imprisoning, but has everything to do with making offenders better and more responsible people,” HRH said.After law school, she worked as an attorney in the Thai Office of the Attorney-General between 2006 and 2011. The royal’s advocacy for incarcerated women culminated in 2010 with the UN’s adoption of the Bangkok Rules—the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders.

This monumental achievement in criminal justice reform, however, did not carry her name. It was called the ‘Bangkok Rules’ and is the world’s first set of rules for women prisoners. Princess Bha chose to operate in the unglamorous corridors of international diplomacy, where impact matters more than attribution. With this, the American-educated princess changed how women inmates are treated in prison. Princess Bha was a staunch advocate of the rule of law. This is particularly striking, given that she comes from a country where the lèse-majesté law protects the Thai monarchy from defamation.

It is one of the strictest laws in the world, with violators facing prison sentences of three to 15 years. “Society cannot grow if there is instability and injustice. 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,” Princess Bajrakitiyabha told the AP in 2013.

After working briefly at the Thai Mission to the UN in New York City, she returned home and worked as a public prosecutor.

From 2012 to 2014, she served as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria. Later, she returned to her homeland to concentrate on criminal justice issues.In 2017, the royal was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the rule of law in Southeast Asia by the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.The princess always fought for equal justice. She said that if she could write a rule-of-law goal for the next UN goals from 2016 to 2030, “I would say equal justice—effective, efficient, and transparent justice systems for all.”In an age of performative activism, Princess Bajrakitiyabha believed in the quiet work that delivered real impact. She devoted her life to relentless service in pursuit of causes greater than her own. As we mourn the death of a princess, let us also pause to honour the architect of one of the 21st century’s most important human rights frameworks.