Kitiyakara Voralaksana, 1st Prince of

Chanthaburi Chanthaburi ( th, จันทบุรี, ) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in the east of Thailand, on the banks of the Chanthaburi River. It is the capital of the Chanthaburi Province and the Mueang Chanthaburi District. The town covers ...

( th, กิติยากรวรลักษณ์; ; 8 June 1874 – 27 May 1931) was a Prince of Siam, a member of the Siamese Royal Family (later

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

). He originated the House of Kitiyakara (). His descendants use this royal surname. He is the paternal grandfather of

Queen Sirikit Queen Sirikit ( th, สิริกิติ์; ; ); born '' Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara ( th, สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; ; 12 August 1932) is the queen mother of Thailand. She was Queen of Thailand as the wi ...

, consort of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX of Thailand). Through Sirikit he is also the maternal great-grandfather of King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), who has been King of Thailand since 2016.

Biography

Prince Kitiyakara Voralaksana was born at

Grand Palace The Grand Palace ( th, พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. .) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Ba ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. He was the 12th child of King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...

, Rama V of Siam, and Chao Chom Manda Uam (). His maternal grandfather was a prominent

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin ( th, ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; ''exonym and also domestically''), endonym Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย), are Chinese descenda ...

businessman who initiated the creation of the

Khlong Phasi Charoen Khlong Phasi Charoen ( th, คลองภาษีเจริญ, ) is a canal west of the Chao Phraya River in the Thonburi area of the Bangkok conurbation. The canal links the Tha Chin River to Khlong Bangkok Yai. It starts at Khlong Bangkok ...

. He attended primary school at

Suankularb Wittayalai School Suankularb Wittayalai School (โรงเรียนสวนกุหลาบวิทยาลัย) (also known as Suankularb College) literally ''Rose Garden College'' is an all-boys secondary school for grades 7 through 12 in Bangkok, T ...

, Bangkok. In 1885, he went to the United Kingdom, to study Oriental Studies,

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

. He went to study abroad with three of his half-brothers: * Prince Raphi Phatthanasak, Prince of Ratchaburi * Prince Pravitra Vadhanodom, Prince of Prachinburi * Prince Chirapravati Voradej, Prince of Nakhon Chaisi After returning to Bangkok, he worked in the Office of the Royal Secretariat and Education Office (later

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

). On 26 April 1902, his father gave him the royal title as Prince of Chanthaburi, translated as ''Krom Muen Chunthaburi Naruenat'' (, the fifth level of the Krom ranks. He had used this title until his father's death. His royal title was elevated from ''Krom Muen'' into ''Krom Phra'', the second level of the ''Krom'' ranks by his half-brother, King Vajiravudh (Rama VI)

Royal duties

He had worked at the Royal Secretariat office once he had come back to Siam in 1894 before becoming the director general of Education Department,

ministry of education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

before being transferred to Comptoller General Department, minitry of finance in 1902 due to the diploma on accountant while studying in Balliol College, Oxford University. He later become an acting

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in 1907 after resignation of Phraya Suriyanuwat (Koed Bunnag) due to endless conflicts with other ministers in the cabinet and the tax collectors. He had become officially

on 1 April 1908 due to his compentency to handle the affairs in Ministry of Finance which successfully paved the way for Siamese

Baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...

to be in Gold Standard on 11 November 1908. He established the Saving Office (now Government Saving Bank) on 1 April 1913 for common people, savings and deposit to avoid any dangers; like thieves, fires, etc. He promoted saving money to all the people, and he established the Department of Commerce and statistics management service. He outlined the legal regulation of customs, and updated the ministries of revenue and taxation. Then were collected all the levy offices in the one department, in the control of this ministry. Moreover, he provided laws of alcohol and opium control into a government monopoly, thus paving the way for the future ability to enforce the government's opium ban. In 1920, he became minister of commerce, according with his excellent ability in commerce and economics. However, he had to step down from

due to the heavy workloads on both ministries, especially the financial deficits during 1920's. In the reign of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII), he became a member of the

Supreme Council of State of Siam The Supreme Council of State of Siam ( th, อภิรัฐมนตรีสภา) was an advisory and legislative council established by King Prajadhipok of Siam (Rama VII) that existed from 1925 to 1932. The Eton- and Sandhurst-educated m ...

on 27 November 1925, with his uncles, and his half-brother, including * Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse, the Prince Bhanubandhu Vongsevoradej * Prince Chitcharoen, the Prince Narisara Nuvadtivongs * Prince Disuankumarn, the Prince Damrong Rajanubhab * Prince Paribatra Sukhumbandhu, the Prince of Nakhon Sawan Moreover, he also worked as the committee of Siamese Royal Institute. He translated the novel ''Chandrakumarn Chadok'' from

into a Thai version. He created the Pali-Thai-Sanskrit-English Glossary, by using references from the Pali dictionary of R.C. Childers. Later the Pali Pakorn Association published this as the primary edition of dictionary, as the original had not been clearly done. Later, in the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) gave the responsibility of restoring the original edition to Mom Luang Chirayu Navawongs, member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

, joining with the Maha Mongkut Royal College Foundation. This new edition was established, published and now has become widely well-known.

Later life

In his later life, he went to Paris, France, to have his illnesses (

Laryngeal cancer Laryngeal cancers are mostly squamous-cell carcinomas, reflecting their origin from the epithelium of the larynx. Cancer can develop in any part of the larynx. The prognosis is affected by the location of the tumour. For the purposes of staging ...

) treated. But he died there peacefully on 27 May 1931. Later, the Minister of Commerce built his statue and erected it to stand in front of the Commerce Ministry building. And the statue can be seen there, still standing today. This is in remembrance of the fact that he was the first Minister of Commerce of Siam, and all he did to protect the savings of common people in Thailand. The official residence of the House of Kitiyakara is Dheves Palace,

. His descendants continue to live in this palace today.

Marriage and issue

Prince Kitiyakara Voralaksana, the Prince of Chunthaburi had 5 consorts, with 24 children; 14 sons and 10 daughters. * Mom Chao Absornsamarn Dhevakul, daughter of Prince Devan Udayavonsge, the Prince Dhevavongse Varoprakarn; had 6 sons and 6 daughters * Jon Vijayabhai (later Mom Jon Kitiyakara na Ayudhya); had 2 sons and 2 daughters * La-ong Vijarnbutra (later Mom La-ong Kitiyakara na Ayudhya); had 2 sons * Jun Intaketu (later Mom Jun Kitiyakara na Ayudhya); had 2 sons and a daughter * Lamiet Plianprayul (later Mom Lamiet Kitiyakara na Ayudhya); had a son and 2 daughters

Royal Decorations

Prince Kitiyakara Voralaksana received the following decorations in the

Honours System An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state, monarch, dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit, that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars, medals, badges, and sashe ...

of Thailand (then Siam): * Knight of The Ancient and Auspicious Order of the Nine Gems * Knight of The Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri * Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of The Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao * Knight Grand Commander (Senangapati) of the Honourable of the Order of Rama (1st class) * Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant * Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand * The Ratana Varabhorn order of Merit * King Rama V Royal Cypher Medal, Second Class * King Rama VI Royal Cypher Medal, First Class * King Rama VII Royal Cypher Medal, First Class * Dushdi Mala

Ancestry

References

Kitiyakara house

* ttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~royalty/thailand/i44.html http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~royalty/thailand/i44.html
Death of HRH Prince Kitiyakara Voralaksana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitiyakara Voralaksana 1874 births 1931 deaths 19th-century Thai people 19th-century Chakri dynasty 20th-century Chakri dynasty Thai male Phra Ong Chao Kitiyakara family Knights Grand Cordon of the Order of Chula Chom Klao Knights Grand Commander (Senangapati) of the Order of Rama Knights of the Ratana Varabhorn Order of Merit Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Children of Chulalongkorn Ministers of Commerce of Thailand Ministers of Finance of Thailand Members of the Privy Council of Thailand