The government is proposing to allocate a budget of over 8.4 billion baht to the Royal Offices, according to a budget document released by the Budget Bureau on 26 December 2023. 

The 8,478,383,000-baht budget is a small decrease from 2023, in which the Royal Offices were allocated a budget of 8,611,669,600 baht. No details are available in the budget document except that the budget is part of a strategic plan for enhancing the monarchy. The document also does not name the projects the budget is to be used, only that it is to be used by the Royal Offices.

The document contains 8 pages on how the budget is to be used. It states that the missions of the Royal Offices are to:

1. manage royal ceremonies, merit-making ceremonies by members of the royal family, and royal visits, and host visits by foreign heads of state;
2. accept complaints and assist citizens affected by natural disasters and other problems in their living conditions;
3. promote the royal family’s projects and preserve art and culture and “good customs and traditions of the nation;”
4.  manage royal projects, foundations, and funds founded by the royal family to “develop and improve the living conditions of the people for the better” and “create secure development for the country;”
5. provide security and peacekeeping on palace grounds and at locations of royal visits; and
6. facilitate collaboration between the monarchy and the government, parliament, government agencies, the private sector, and other local and international organizations.

The Royal Offices were brought under King Vajiralongkorn’s direct command in 2017, after the Royal Service Administration Act was enacted, transferring the Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary, the Bureau of the Royal Household, the Royal Aide-de-Camp Department, the Royal Security Command, and the Office of the Royal Court Police into royal agencies and putting them “at the royal pleasure.”

The Royal Offices were restructured by a Royal Decree issued in January 2022, and several agencies were transferred in while others were removed.

Parliamentary debate on the 2024 Budget Bill is now ongoing and is scheduled to last until Friday (5 January). The opposition has been given 20 hours of debate time.

At the end of the debate, a select committee will be formed to work on the bill before it is returned to parliament for a second and third reading before it is signed into law. A time limit has also been set for the bill to be passed within 105 days.