Does Thailand have a Persian Aristocracy?

[Fabricus]

Does Thailand have a Persian Aristocracy?

HiSo

If you want to wind people up, tell them you've got a Chinese-Thai girlfriend and ask if she's HiSo. All the suckers will fall for it. Within minutes Forum Experts will be along to give their considered advice. A typical Forum Expert will look only at the girl's ethnicity and tell you she's probably HiSo. Discerning Forum Experts will ask if she went to Chulalongkhorn University; astute Forum Experts will ask what type of car the girl's father drives.

But this is silly. The term HiSo is useful, but far from academic. I suppose its English language equivalents might be "celebrities" or "the rich and famous". Only a fool takes these terms seriously.

FARANG: The Persian connection

The origins of the word FARANG are often discussed on this and other forums, but to the best of my knowledge no satisfactory explanation has ever been given. Let's rectify this.

Chulalongkhorn University's Language Institute (CULI) publishes a peer reviewed academic journal called PASA. You need to be a member to access the journal, but membership is free. Back in 1986 an article entitled The Persian Connection: Four Loanwords in Siamese discussed the word FARANG and its Persian origin.

http://www.culi.chula.ac.th/publicationsonline/files/article/YQ5l8rZJeQThu44425.pdf

Encyclopedia Iranica has also published an article discussing the word's Persian origins:

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/thailand-iran-relations

If you're not familiar with Encyclopedia Iranica, think of it as an invitation-only platform structured along the lines of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

The Coup That Ousted Thakisn

I wanted to learn more about the coup that ousted Thaksin. I remembered that the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army at the time was Sonthi Boonyaratglin. I did a search for him, but I did not simply search for his name. I searched for:

Sonthi Boonyaratglin Persian

Why do you think I appended the word Persian?

Sonthi Boonyaratglin

Googling the above search term brings up a Cambridge University Press publication, A History of Thailand, authored by Chris Baker and his wife Pasuk Phongpaichit. Ms Pasuk Phongpaichit has a PhD from Cambridge and is/was a Professor of Economics at Chulalongkhorn University. The entry for Sonthi Boonyaratglin reads:

Long-settled aristocratic Muslim family of Persian heritage

Dr Tej Bunnag

Dr Tej Bunnag has a Masters Degree from Cambridge University and a PhD from Oxford. He was formerly Thailand's ambassador to China, Korea, France and the USA. He is Thailand's permanent representative to UNESCO and was once advisor to the King of Thailand.

http://aprcasia.com/council-member/his-excellency-dr-tej-bunnag

Dr Tej Bunnag is related to Sonthi Boonyaratglin. They are both aristocrats of Persian descent.

But how? Who was their ancestor? And to what extent did Persians dominate the Royal Court of Ayuthaya back in the early 1600s?

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I'll finish this thread over the next couple of days or so.