Siribha Chudabhorn

Biography

For Wat Thara Thip Chai Pradit in Chiang Mai she painted a mural on a subject from the Mahajanaka Jataka, the tale of a previous life of the Buddha, and made a Buddha image named Siribha Niramit. The image stands in the temple’s main hall.

Siribha Chudabhorn first came to this temple as a student: the deteriorated walls and murals stayed with her, and later she helped with the restoration.

She was born on 8 October 1982 in Bangkok, into the Thai royal family. Her mother, Princess Chulabhorn Walailak, is the youngest daughter of King Rama IX; her father, Virayudh Tishyasarin, served as an officer in the Royal Thai Air Force. She has a younger sister, Aditayadorn Kitikhun. Under Thai law the descendants of a marriage to a commoner cannot inherit the throne, but her parents’ marriage was recognised as dynastic under a special law issued by the king.

Her school years were spent in two countries. Until the fourth grade she attended Chitralada School in Bangkok, then in the United States she studied at Holton-Arms School (in Maryland), Herbert Hoover Middle School and Walter Johnson High School. Back in Thailand, she returned to Chitralada and finished school there in 2000.

Next came Silpakorn University, the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts. She took her bachelor’s degree with second-class honours, in printmaking, and later became a master of Thai art. She continues to help the university after her studies, supporting the work of the faculty and projects to preserve Thai art and culture.

Other work of hers is also tied to the restoration of murals. The Fine Arts Department worked with her on projects to copy and conserve mural paintings. In 2016 she visited Wat Pa Daet in Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province, inspected the condition of the murals and supported the restoration work. For Wat Nong Nam Khun in Rayong Province she worked on the painting of the walls of the main hall: for several days she gathered information and consulted the monks and local residents. After looking at the painting, her aunt, Princess Somsawali, said that the work was very good. The princess’s foundation directs funds to the restoration of temples in Chiang Mai and to the Wiang Tha Kan museum in the same province. At an exhibition called “My Friends” she once gave her own paintings for a charity sale to help stray dogs.

In 2019 King Maha Vajiralongkorn raised her title and then awarded her the Order of Chula Chom Klao, First Class, and the King Rama X Royal Cypher Medal, First Class. Earlier she had received the Order of the White Elephant and the Order of the Crown of Thailand.

Her name is borne by a volunteer aviation centre, which works in conservation and in rescuing people affected by disasters, and by a foundation. She is president of this centre, honorary vice-chair of the Foundation for Conservation and Development of Thai Aircraft and honorary president of the Royal Aeronautic Sports Association of Thailand. Under the Siribha Joint Rescue House project she helped people affected by droughts and floods. On 5 October 2024 in Chiang Mai, where flooding was under way, she handed out rice, water and food in the Khlong Mae Kha community and took stranded local residents and foreign tourists to safe places and to the airport.

The princess’s foundation opened an account to raise funds for the army and for people affected by the clashes on the border with Cambodia. In 2025 she took part in the project “Protect Our Nation”, devoted to the memory of Thai soldiers killed in conflicts with Cambodia.