Those who saw Vacharaesorn were impressed.
“I am very moved, he has been away for a long time. To me he is still a member of the royal family,” said Angsana Seeprasit, 66.
Vacharaesorn is the second of four sons of King Vajiralongkorn’s second wife, Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, a former actress whom the then-crown prince divorced in 1996.
He has no formal royal title though he technically retains a status bestowed when he was a child as a grandson of a monarch.
He, his mother, three brothers and one sister were estranged after the 1996 divorce, in which his mother was publicly accused of adultery, and they moved abroad.
Vacharaesorn’s younger sister was later re-embraced by the royal family and given the royal title Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana. She is a fashion designer and equestrian who competed in the 2014 Asian Games for Thailand.