The battle is not being fought for small change. Forbes magazine has estimated that King Bhumibol oversees assets worth more than £18.2bn. Whoever succeeds him will control a huge network of patronage and influence.
While the tug-of-war over the succession is of crucial significance, the topic is almost never discussed in public. Thailand's tough censorship laws that prohibit criticism of the monarchy and carry a penalty of up to 15 years, are often used to silence critics.
As a result, discussion of the royal succession issue is confined largely to private conversations or anonymous comments made online. As such, those who study Thailand’s monarchy are required to watch for small but significant signals, in much the way that students of the Kremlin once studied the relative position of leaders on official photographs.