# How did King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-king-ananda-mahidol-of-thailand-die/99743 "2002-03-23T20:29:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robert\_S\_Sewell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Robert\_S\_Sewell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert_S_Sewell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-king-ananda-mahidol-of-thailand-die/99743/1 "2002-03-23T20:29:56Z")
Could someone please explain to me the death of King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand? He was the elder brother of current King Bhumibol and he died at the age of 20 from what I have read… However, nothing I have read explains how… Articles just mention hints that it was an “unfortunate demise” and such… ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-king-ananda-mahidol-of-thailand-die/99743/2 "2002-03-23T21:01:23Z")
According to Brittanica, he was found dead in bed on the morning of June 9, 1946 with a gunshot wound. The case was never fully explained. ---
**Author:** ![jazzmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jazzmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jazzmine)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-king-ananda-mahidol-of-thailand-die/99743/3 "2002-03-23T21:36:21Z")
[This](http://www.chem.tue.nl/stc2003/history.html) gives a little more information, but not much. In part, it says: > [@](#): > > Ananda Mahidol came back to Thailand in 1945 but was shot dead in his bedroom under mysterious circumstances in 1946. Although there was apparently no physical evidence to suggest assassination, three of Ananda’s attendants were arrested two years after his death and executed in 1954. No public charges were ever filed, and the consensus among historians today is that the attendants were ‘sacrificed’ to settle a karmic debt for allowing the king to die during their watch. > [@](#): > > Nowadays no one ever speaks or writes publicly about Ananda’s death - whether it was simple gun accident or a regicidal plot remains unclear. Even as recently as 1993 a chapter chronicling the known circumstances surrounding the event in David Wyatt’s A Short History of Thailand had to be excised before the Thai publisher would print and distribute the title in Thailand. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-king-ananda-mahidol-of-thailand-die/99743/4 "2002-03-23T22:09:39Z")
How he died is documented. Who killed him is one of those things that will likely forever remain a mystery. Thais are said to believe that there is some sort of force (God, or something like that) that makes sure that the right person is always on the Thai throne. That’s probably why a lot of them don’t seem concerned about the current order of succession. Many want the elder Princess to become Queen once her father dies. But the succession will go to the Prince who is not seen by all as being regal material. There has been talk for some time of amending the Thai constitution to allow a female to take the throne. [King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama X)](http://www.bangkokpost.com/king2000/) has been on the throne for over 50 years now but his mother lived a very long time so it may be a while before we find out.