Fufu (dog)

"Air Chief Marshal" Fufu (or Foo Foo Thai: ฟูฟู; RTGS: Fufu; 1997–2015) was the pet poodle of Maha Vajiralongkorn, who was at that time the Crown Prince of Thailand. The dog was a favorite of the prince, and often accompanied him on royal engagements. According to the prince, his second daughter Sirivannavari Nariratana bought the dog when it was aged about one month from Chatuchak market in Bangkok, along with some rabbits, hamsters and other dogs. He was "quite cute, but seemed very weak", and due to his daughter's young age the dog was kept in a pet shelter by palace staff.[2] Fufu was occasionally put through his paces in public, as happened during the Thailand Grand Pet Show in Nakhon Pathom in December 2006 when the dog was said to have "exuded charm and executed clever stunts".[3]

Fufu came to wider public attention in 2009, when he appeared in a leaked video showing the Crown Prince's third wife, Princess Srirasmi, feeding a birthday cake to the dog while only wearing a G-string.[4] The video, which was thought to have been leaked by opponents of the Crown Prince, caused a sensation in Thailand and exposed a hidden struggle for the right to succeed the ailing Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej.[5]

A few months later, US Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce attended a gala dinner in honor of the Crown Prince at which the dog appeared "dressed in formal evening attire complete with paw mitts".[5] Boyce further reported that Fufu had been "promoted" to the rank of air chief marshal in the Royal Thai Air Force.[5] According to the ambassador's cable to Washington, subsequently released by WikiLeaks, "at one point during the band's second number, he jumped up onto the head table and began lapping from the guests' water glasses, including my own. The air chief marshal's antics drew the full attention of the 600-plus audience members, and remains the talk of the town to this day."[5]

The death of Fufu in early 2015 was followed by four days of Buddhist funeral rites and the dog's cremation, images from which were widely shared on social media in Thailand. The funeral attracted commentary from Thais as an oblique and ironic reflection of worries over the king's succession, which cannot be aired openly in Thailand due to a lèse-majesté law that attracts severe penalties.[5]