Does any body know who the great, great, great king of Thailand is?

Question

It's the year 2008, and I am Thailand. My Grandma had just recently told me that my great, great, great grandpa was the King of Thailand, which I thought was pretty cool, now.. i'm just trying to do some research on him and thought by starting here would be a good idea!! thaaanks a lot.

Answer 1

Interesting! Ask your granny which king in particular. I would expect King Rama IV or V.

Until the present king (who has only one wife) it was customary for Thai kings to have many wives. King Rama V had 77 wives. One might wonder where he found the strength to rule the country, after a hard night's work...

In the old days the proverb went as follows: "When you throw a stone in a random direction in Bangkok, it is most likely you will hit a prince, a monk or a dog."

In other words: Thailand, Siam in those days, had a lot of princes.

Unlike the west, nobility gets less every generation. In the west, the son of a duke becomes a duke, and so do his direct descendants ad infenitum. Not so in Thailand. The son of a king is a prince. The son of a prince becomes the grandson of the king (one step lower). His son becomes the great-grandson of the king (again a step lower). and so on. After 5 generations one is a commoner.

Several ex-royal or princely families keep the tradition alive with 'na' in their family name.  'Na' can be roughly translated as 'von' in German or 'van' in Dutch. Somchai Na Chiang Mai is a commoner, but descending from the royal Chiang Mai family. There are many more. And if you'd be interested in obtaining such a name: The Patpong family got it already. ;-) You might try for Na Jomtien.

The king can elevate somebody with a royal title. I am not familiar with the male titles he can award, but for women one might become a Khunying or a Thanpuying. The latter being the higher honour. You can roughly translate that as 'dame' and 'lady'.

Answer 2

(Rama V)King Chulalongkorn had at least 77 children, of which 33 were sons, with the 4 queens and his royal common wives.

Could be a good start.....but your kidding right?

Answer 3

likely the 4th or 5th king in the Chakri Dynasty.  Both had numerous concubines, and both were prolific reproducers.  

The current king has a net worth over 35 billion USD,  and is by far the wealthiest Royal in the world.  ( think one of the middle eastern oil moguls is second).

Kings 4 & 5, were wealthy, but not anywhere close to what the current king is worth.  

Finally, just because your daddy, grand daddy or great grand daddy was a king it does not mean you are Royalty.  To be considered royalty in Thailand, both of your parents must be recognised as royalty.  The vast majority of Rama 4 & 5's kids were not in this category.

Answer 4

if ur great great great great grandpa was really the king of thailand im sure you would not be online searching for answers. I'm pretty sure u would be sitting in the thai royal palace sipping on a cup of thai ice tea. so yeah srry to burst ur bubbles :)...but best of wishes on your journey to find your answer. Dont take my opinion to heart, it's jsut what i think.

Answer 5

King Mongkut (Rama IV)!!!

Answer 6

First how can any one help you if you don't give a name.  Ask Grandma for his name, then google it.  

Answer 7

rama 4 had a lot of kids...and that would add up to as many 'greats' as you list about right.  

Answer 8

If you inherit the Thai family name and you decent from the King of this dynasty, your last name will be added with Na Ayutthya. Then you can follow from your last name. There's usually a family tree of the old family name somewhere in the national library.

josflach...: You're mostly correct, but I'd like to add one thing. The title Khun Ying or Thanpuying is given mostly for reasons of services to the country: they usually come along with the medals or royal decorations, which also have their different ranks (with two families of the decoration which are the white elephant and the crown).

Royal titles added in front of the name are borne with a person and cannot be given. Son of the King is a prince (or Chaow Fah), then the first generation down is Pra Ong Chao, then Mom Chao, Mom Rachawong, and Mom Luang. The decendants from Mom Laung earns Na Ayuthaya at the end of the last name, but from Mom Rachawong downward is considered already a common man. One might address Mom Rachawong as Khun Chai, and for female Khun Ying (if she is married if not she is only Khun). Khun is a confusing title in Thai because now almost everyone calls someone else as Khun adding a note of respect, but in fact only those descendant female who hasn't got married earn this title.

The ranks are given usually are associated with job given to them and they are in a separate structure from the Royal family title. The highest of which was Chao Praya (I think but not sure whether it is only Praya or not but they are not given anymore) and usually a Royal gift is given differently from the royal decoration. The last one to receive it probably was a golden cane given to Thanom Kitikajohn, but all the gifts and decorations must be returned upon someone who given death.

King Rama IV and V married to many persons because of politics. King Rama IV was actually to be named King Rama III but his brother who controlled the arm forces got to be named the King, and Rama IV had to seek exile becoming a monk most of his early life. Until his brother death that he was then named the King and he sought to marry as many daughters of the army chiefs as possible to gain their royalties. It was the delicate balance of power both within the Kingdom and internationally that both King Rama IV and V walking on tight rope policies to maintain the independence of Siam.

King Rama VI wasn’t aimed at first to be trained as a King, as there was a crowned prince (I think Chao Fah Maha Wachironnahit was but he died because of sickness). King Rama VI was educated in Oxford and was aimed at being the Thai foreign minister then.

During King Rama V the Prince who was given a task to run the ministry will be name Krom Praya, meaning that the prince is running Krom (literal meaning department); for example, Krom Praya Devawong waroprakarn, the father of Thai diplomacy who was the foreign minister for 48 years and was a brother to King Rama V, obvioiusly also a Prince. A common man who run a department would only named Praya.

Answer 9

king rama 5.

Answer 10

I would agree with Dan Rama V is the most revered King of Thailand September 20, 1853 – October 23, 1910

It could not have been Rama VI as he only had one daughter who lives at Sukhumvit Soi 38 and anyone after would be too well known.

A great great great grand father would be 5 generations (you being the sixth) or about 100-150 years so the time frame would be right.  And having 77 children Rama V seems likely

Good Luck in your search.

Answer 11

Well you know how thailand works. Many kings have Load of children. Some moved away hide from enemy maybe married with normal person ( mea noi ) or could be a concubine you know...Mea lek then maybe had war and then your great great great great grandma took your great great great grandma and ran away then your grandma get married then your mom then you.

Like khun bob said....you need a name .. or at least know which king we have 9 kings RAMA.

And like james B said IF you are royal...you will be informed already.

Im sure your great great great great grandpa (the king You mentioned) had a child with normal person.