''Mom Luang'' Dej Snidvongs (; 18 February 1898 – 8 September 1975) was a Thai honorary academic. He was the President of the Privy Council of Thailand to King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 192713 October 2016), titled Rama IX, was King of Thailand from 1946 until Death and funeral of Bhumibol Adulyadej, his death in 2016. His reign of 70 years and 126 days is the longest of any List of Thai mo ...

and Governor of the

Bank of Thailand The Bank of Thailand (BOT; Abbreviation, abbr. ธปท.; , ) is the central bank of Thailand. History The Bank of Thailand (BOT) was first set up as the Thai National Banking Bureau. The Bank of Thailand Act was promulgated on 28 April 1942 ...

in 1949 to 1952. He was given the title of Luang Dejsahakorn.

Family and education

Dej was the third son of Mom Rajawongse Sathand Snidvongs and Thanphuying Tat Singhaseni. He was born in the palace of Prince Sai Snidvongs, Pom Prap Sattru Phai District, Phra Nakhon Province on 18 February 1898. He has 14 half-brothers and sisters, one of whom was Bua Snidvongs, mother of Queen Sirikit, therefore being the Queen's uncle. Dej began to study at his aunt Khunying Hong's house. Later in 1906, he attended the Debsirin School. Later, he moved to King's College under the Ministry of Justice at Bang Khwang Sub-district, Nonthaburi Province. In 1914 he received government scholarships to study in Germany. Subsequently,

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

occurred on 4 August 1914 when the Thai government declared war on Germany on 22 July 1917 he was arrested by German government with 4 Thai students, namely Tua Lapanukrom, Term Bunnag, Prachuap Bunnag and Mom Luang Udom Snidvongs. Later in 1918 has a revolution in Germany Thai captive students were released. Therefore, joined the

Siamese Expeditionary Forces The Siamese Expeditionary Forces () (also known as Siamese Volunteer Corps) consisted of the Royal Siamese Army sent to Europe under the command of Major General Phraya Thephatsadin in 1917 to help the Allies of World War I, Triple Entente fight i ...

together with the Allies invading Germany. After the end of the war, he moved to study in Bern, Switzerland in 1919 and was able to take the entrance examination at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

in the year 1920 and graduated with a Doktorrerum Politicarum (Cum Laude) degree in 1925. After that, he traveled to study and research the history of economics and trade between Thailand and the United Kingdom 6 months before returning to Thailand in 1926. Dej married Prayong Snidvongs na Ayudhya in 1928. There are 4 children, Warunyapha Snidvongs na Ayudhya, Phisit Snidvongs na Ayudhya, Manu-seri Snidvongs na Ayudhya and Kasem Snidvongs na Ayudhya. He died of lung cancer at Chulalongkorn Hospital on 8 September 1975 at 22.33 hrs at the age of 77 years old.

Careers

Dej started the first government service in 1926 as the commissioner of the Department of Commerce's, Minister of Economic Affairs. In 1935 he was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and then in 1942 as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and acting in the position of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce in the same year. In 1949 he was the Governor of the

. Dej was part of the first constitutional Cabinet of Siam under

Phraya Manopakorn Nititada Phraya Manopakorn Nitithada (, ; 15 July 1884 – 1 October 1948), born Kon Hutasingha (or Hutasingh, , ) and simply known as Phraya Mano, was a Siamese nobleman who served as the first Prime Minister of Thailand, prime minister of Siam after ...

in 1932. Later, in the period of Field Marshal

Plaek Phibunsongkhram Plaek Phibunsongkhram; 14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964) was a Thai military officer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and again from 1948 to 1957. He rose to power as a leading member of the Kh ...

as Prime Minister in 1938, he held the position of Deputy Minister of Agriculture. Later in 1974 as Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs in

Khuang Aphaiwong Khuang Aphaiwong (also spelled Kuang, Abhaiwong and Abhaiwongse; , ; 17 May 1902 – 15 March 1968), also known by his noble title Luang Kowit-aphaiwong (, ), was the founder of the Democrat Party and three times the prime minister of Thaila ...

government. In 1944, he also joined the cabinet by being the Minister of Economic Affairs and joined the government of

. In 1947, he served as Minister of Economic Affairs for a period and in 1948 he was appointed as Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister. Dej was appointed to the

Privy Council of Thailand The Privy Council of Thailand () is a body of appointed advisors to the Monarchy of Thailand. The council, as the Constitution of Thailand stipulates, must be composed of no more than eighteen members. The council is led by the President of the ...

on 24 April 1947 and was its president from 18 February 1975 until his death.

Royal decorations

Sanya received the following royal 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 sash ...

of Thailand: * Knight Grand Cross of The Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao * Knight Grand Cordon of the Most Exalted

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (; ) is an order (decoration), order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Mongkut, Rama IV of the Thailand, Kingdom of Siam. Along with the Order of the Crown of Thailand, it is r ...

* Knight Grand Cordon of The Most Noble

Order of the Crown of Thailand The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (; ) is a Thai order, established in 1869 by King Rama V of The Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) for Thais, the royal family, governmental employees, and foreign dignitaries for their outstanding serv ...

* War Medal of B.E. 2461 * Medal for Service Rendered in the Interior (Indochina) * King Rama IX Royal Cypher Medal, 1st Class * World War I Victory Medal ribbon

Chai Medal * First Class of Red Cross Medal of Appreciation (gold medal)

Foreign honours

* Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

(

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) - 1958 * GER Bundesverdienstkreuz 6 GrVK Stern Band

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) - 1962 * AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 2nd Class BAR

Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria (

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) - 1964

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snidvongs, Dej 1898 births Dej Snidvongs Dej Snidvongs 1975 deaths Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Dej Snidvongs Dej Snidvongs