Vajiralongkorn’s presence in Munich today is much more explosive. In 2011, the German court impounded a Boeing 737 aircraft at Munich Airport, which belonged to the Crown Prince, as compensation for a long overdue debt of 30 million Euros the Thai government owed a now-defunct German construction company for the Don Muang Tollway. The Thai government subsequently agreed to pay a deposit of 20 million Euros to bail out the aircraft.
Meanwhile, Vajiralongkorn took steps to prevent his Mercedes-Benz SLK being confiscated after the aircraft was seized, hiding it in a private carpark inside the Munich Kempinski, where it was protected by a dozen bodyguards.