Kraisee

Kraisee ไกรสีห์
King Rama VII
Siamese Emperor King of Siam
Tenure	22 February 1930 - Present
Coronation	1 April 1930
Predecessor	Vajirunhis (Rama VI)
Born	(1902-10-11)11 October 1902 Sandringham House, Norfolk, England
Spouse	Jirattikarn Gason (m. 1929)
House	Chakri Dynasty
Father	Vajirunhis (Rama VI)
Mother	Nidnoi Pornpipatpong
Religion	Buddhism
Military service
Branch/service	Royal Thai Army
Years of service	1921-1930 (active service) 2017-Present
Unit	11th Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	Hanoi Rebellion

Kraisee (Thai: ไกรสีห์; RTGS: Kirsih; born 11 October 1902) is the current Siamese Emperor and King of Siam. As the seventh monarch of the Chakri Dynasty of Siam, he is also styled as Rama VII. The only son of King Vajirunhis, he was instantly made crown prince by his father. Following his father's death on February 22nd, 1930, Kraisee ascended both to the thrones of Siamese Emperor and King of Siam.

An Eton graduate, Kraisee has mostly pursued liberal reforms in his first year as monarch of Siam, ranging from both administrative to social aspects. In 1929, he married Princess Jirattikarn Gason, a distant cousin in the Chakri Dynasty.

Early Life

Kraisee was born on October 11th, 1902 as the eldest and only son of the then Crown Prince Vajirunhis and his wife Nidnoi Pornpipatpong, during the reign of his grandfather King Chulalongkorn. At the time of his birth, in contrast to most other Siamese princes, Kraisee was instead born on foreign soil, namely Sandringham House in Norfolk, England, which had been the temporary residence of his parents at the time by the courtesy of Queen Victoria, as to accomodate the Crown Prince's studies at the University of Oxford.

Aside from his basic education in local Siamese cultures and traditions, Kraisee was also taught in the liberal arts and the English language beginning from the age of five. Having proved to be a somewhat excellent student in the face of his tutors, he was also described as being a rather "stoic, but at times compassionate boy". Growing up, Kraisee enjoyed sports like horseback riding, swimming, and football. On numerous occasions, Kraisee would often interact with the British royal princes, particularly the future Edward VIII whom would later describe the young prince as being "rather dignified, elegant, but manly".

Crown Prince of Siam

Return to Siam

In the year 1910, Kraisee's grandfather, King Chulalongkorn passed away, and was instantly succeeded by Kraisee's father, whom became King Rama VI. This also coincided with an immediate return to Siam which meant that Kraisee was now forced to depend on local educators only though due to the open policy championed by his grandfather and great-grandfather, Kraisee's parents were able to easily afford the prince an European education. At the age of twelve, he was formally made Crown Prince of Siam by his father, King Vajirunhis.

First World War

When the First World War broke out, King Vajirunhis had instinctively declared Siam to be that of a neutral belligerent, owing to the surrounding European colonies bordering the kingdom. However, the government's neutral stance began to come under scrutiny when by 1917, the Allied belligerents were showing possible signs of defeat, prompting some of the king's royal ministers into pressuring the former to formally declare war on the Allied nations, particularly France, which Siam had conceded to a substantial amount of territory decades prior to the war.

Ultimately, after much deliberation and brief infighting between the king and his advisors, Siam formally entered the war on August that year. However, in the official issuing of the declaration of war, King Vajirunhis had made a particular change to the declaration's text, in which he listed all but one, that is the United Kingdom from its list of enemies in the war. This was done so as to portray Siam as only an enemy of France, and not the United Kingdom, whom Vajirunhis sought to maintain relations with in the aftermath of the war. Subsequently, a military campaign was mounted against the French colonial troops in Indochina which culminated in an overall success, with the last French garrison there surrendering to the victorious Siamese troops on February 1918.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Kraisee
8. (=8.) Mongkut 4. Chulalongkorn 9. Debsirindra 2. Vajirunhis 10. (=10.) Mongkut 5. Saovabha Phongsri 11. Piam Sucharitakul 1. Kraisee 12. Kittisak Pornpipatpong 6. Konthorn Pornpipatpong 13. Neung Pornpipatpong 3. Nidnoi Pornpipatpong 14. Kwanjai Pornpipatpong 7. Phatchara Pornpipatpong 15. Phayao Pornpipatpong