The Devahastin or Thephasadin family (, ) is a Thai family of royal descent, tracing its origins back to Prince Thepharirak, a nephew of

King Rama I Phutthayotfa Chulalok (born Thongduang; 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), also known by his regnal name Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (now Thailand) and the first King of Siam from the reigning Chakri dynasty. He asce ...

. Its best-known member was Sanan Devahastin na Ayudhya, better known by his noble title

Chaophraya Thammasakmontri Sanan Devahastin na Ayudhya (also spelled Thephasadin among other variants; , , ; 1 January 1877 – 1 February 1943), better known by his noble title Chaophraya Thammasakmontri (, ), was an educator, writer and senior government officer of Siam/ ...

, who served as a senior government official of the 1920s–1930s.

History

The family traces its descent from Phraya Ratchaphakdi (Mom Rajawongse Chang), described in various sources as either a grandson or a son of Prince Thepharirak, a nephew of King

Rama I Phutthayotfa Chulalok (born Thongduang; 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), also known by his regnal name Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (now Thailand) and the first King of Siam from the reigning Chakri dynasty. He asc ...

. The family name was granted by King

Vajiravudh Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and pro ...

(Rama VI) to Phraya Phaisansinlapasat ( Sanan Devahastin na Ayudhya, later to become Chaophraya Thammasakmontri) in 1913 when he decreed the use of surnames. The romanized spelling Devahastin, which does not reflect the exact Thai pronunciation, is derived from the Sanskrit root words ''deva'' and '' hastin'', which roughly mean 'god' and 'elephant' (a reference to the name ''Chang'', which also means 'elephant'). The name is suffixed with ''na Ayudhya'', indicating royal descent.

People

Notable members of the family include: *

(Sanan Devahastin na Ayudhya, 1877–1943), senior government official, grandson of Chang * Phraya Thephatsadin (Phat Devahastin na Ayudhya, 1878–1951), military general, nephew of Sanan * (Santhat Devahastin na Ayudhya, 1880/1881–1948), first Commissioner of

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

, brother of Sanan * Naga Devahastin na Ayudhya (1901–1969), Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, nephew of Sanan * (1904–1985), government minister * (1905–1976), government minister * Devahastin na Ayudhya (1915–2007), architect and city planner, daughter of Sanan * (1917–1997), military general and government minister * (born 1950), military general, political strategist for

Palang Pracharath Party Palang Pracharath Party (, , ; ) is a Thai right-wing conservative civil-military political party with ties to the National Council for Peace and Order, the military junta that ruled the country after the 2014 coup. It was established in 2018 by ...

, Secretary-General of the

National Olympic Committee of Thailand The National Olympic Committee of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King () is the national Olympic committee in Thailand for the Olympic Games movement, based in Ampawan House, Bangkok, Thailand. It is a nonprofit organisat ...

; son of Yos * (born 1984), actor, grandson of Yos and nephew of Wit In 2010, a member of the family, identified by the nickname Praewa, was involved in a on the Don Mueang Tollway, which resulted in the deaths of nine van passengers. She was driving underage without a licence, and the case sparked a huge amount of online public outrage. The case resurfaced in 2019, when it was revealed that the victims' families had not yet received their court-ordered financial compensation, prompting the Devahastin family to hold a press conference where, among other things, it pointed out that the clan comprised over 200 individual families and should not be blamed for the actions of one individual.

Notes

References

{{reflist Families descended from the Chakri dynasty