Thailand – Order of the Crown 5th Class Medal

[John F.]

I picked this up last weekend at the Houston Gun Show (July 26-27). It is a Thailand – Order of the Crown 5th Class. A colorful and pretty little piece for only $25.00 USD. I haven’t been able to find too much about it except that it comes in 5 classes and was instituted on December 29, 1869 by King Mongkut Rama IV. If anyone has any additional information pertaining to this medal, such as “what it was awarded for” would be very welcomed.

John

[JBFloyd]

John,

The Order of the Crown is awarded for outstanding services to the Thai state. This is very broadly interpreted.

For example, it is virtually automatically awarded to junior officers in the Thai armed forces. Promotion to major brings the commander's class, for example.

In the civil world, it is usually liberally awarded in recognition of a wide variety of meritorious actions and service in public life.

[John F.]

Jeff:

No wonder I got it so cheap... everyone in the Thai Armed Forces has one! Nonetheless, thanks for the answer! It is always nice to know the reason behind the awarding of a medal.

John

[RPN]

Hi John ...
a very attractive medal and you can't argue with the price! There were cased examples of this award (including a breast star) in a local shop recently (Adelaide, South Aust) and some at our annual military fair ... and I have also seen the range on French Ebay a month or so ago. I wonder why they're coming onto the market? - I can't recall seeing them in this quantity (relatively speaking) before.

Regards
Paul

BTW: the examples here were quite a bit more expensive than US25.00!!

[Rick Research]

Presumably price would depend on how old the pieces are-- if anyone can read the cyphers of all those Kings for the last 130 years!

[Dave Danner]

There once was a dealer/collector in Maryland who had a source in Thailand and had everything. He died sometime around 1990 or so; I don't know what happened to his collection.

Thai decorations, especially higher orders, like Finnish ones, tend to be profusely hallmarked. I don't know where to find a reference though. A coin or paper money collector's guide would probably be the best bet.

The Ministry of Finance website has a page in English and Thai identifying Thailands orders and decorations: http://www.mof.go.th/mofhistory/sort.htm

Most of the orders, but none of the medals, link to a page illustrating them, with the freakiest looking mannequins.

[McCulloh]

I have a restraunter friend who was awarded one for donations to the Royal Thai Aids foundation ($250) and another for her years in the Peace Corps there.
An old Professor of mine has a wife who was travel agent. She was awarded one in 1999 for booking her 10,000th tourist to Bankok.