This was a plausible assumption. The prince was connected with all sorts of shady characters, earning him the contemptuous nickname “Sia-O”. On February 28, 1996, when Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto arrived at Don Muang airport for a summit meeting, his 747 was blocked for 20 minutes as it taxied towards the red carpet by three F-5 fighter jets, one of them piloted by the prince. This was Vajiralongkorn’s public revenge for the disrespect he believed he had been shown during his infamous state visit to Japan nine years previously.