The Bunnag Family: From Persian Traders to Thai Philhanthropists
Most people who know Thai history recognise the Bunnag name as one of the great aristocratic families of Thailand. Fewer realise that this very Thai clan actually began as Persian merchants in Ayutthaya more than 400 years ago. Their story is one of the most striking examples of how foreign communities could rise to the very top of Siamese society, and stay there.
Persian origins in Ayutthaya
The family traces its roots to two Shia Muslim brothers from Persia, Ahmad and Mohammed Sayyid, who arrived in Ayutthaya around 1600 during the reign of King Songtham. Ahmad, later known as Sheikh Ahmad or “Chao Phraya Bowon Ratchanayok,” entered royal service as a minister and trader, handling overseas commerce and diplomatic contacts with Persian and Indian merchants.
Over generations, their descendants adopted Thai names, converted to Theravada Buddhism, married into powerful local families, and became fully integrated into the Siamese elite. By the 19th century they were no longer thought of as “foreign” in any everyday sense, but the Persian origin was never forgotten in family histories and official records.
The “Sun and Moon” of 19th‑Century Siam
In the Rattanakosin period the Bunnags reached the height of their political influence. Two brothers dominated the court of King Rama IV (Mongkut):
– Somdet Chao Phraya Prayurawongse (Dit Bunnag), nicknamed the “Sun,” served as regent and chief minister.
– Somdet Chao Phraya Pichaiyat, his brother, was called the “Moon” and held equally high office.
Their nephew, Somdet Chao Phraya Sri Suriyawongse (Chuang Bunnag), acted as Regent of Siam during the early years of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), effectively running the kingdom while the young king completed his education and tours abroad.
The Bunnags also placed many women into the royal palace. Five sisters — Onn, Iam, Urb (Erb), Arb, and Eurn — became consorts of Rama V and were known as the “Kok‑Or” clique because all their names began with the same Thai letter. They lived in the Inner Palace in the 1880s and 1890s, and at least one, Chao Chom Erb Bunnag, became an early Thai female photographer documenting palace life.
The Bunnag Palace Ladies: Royal Consorts and Pioneering Photographers
When people imagine women in the Siamese court of King Chulalongkorn, they often think of anonymous figures hidden behind palace walls. The Bunnag sisters break that stereotype completely. They were not only royal consorts; they were also among the first Thai women to use the camera as a tool of self‑expression and documentation.
– Chao Chom Onn Bunnag – the eldest of the group, mother of two princesses who also became noted photographers.
– Chao Chom Iam Bunnag (1873–1952) – served as a royal consort from her teens and remained in the palace through the reign of Rama VI.
– Chao Chom Erb (Oep) Bunnag (1879–1944) – perhaps the most famous of the sisters, known both as a favourite consort and as a skilled photographer.
– Chao Chom Arb Bunnag and Chao Chom Eurn Bunnag – less individually documented in Western sources, but consistently listed as part of the Kok‑Or group in Thai and European accounts of the court.
All five women were granddaughters or great‑grand daughters of the great 19th‑century Bunnag ministers, linking them directly to the “Sun and Moon” generation. Their presence in the palace reinforced the family’s closeness to the throne at a time when the monarchy was modernising Siam’s administration, military, and infrastructure.
King Chulalongkorn was an enthusiastic photographer, and he encouraged the women of his court to take up the craft as well. From the late 1890s onward, royal consorts and princesses gained access to cameras and darkroom equipment, learning to develop glass plates and print photographs.
The Bunnag clique became the best‑known female photographers of the Fifth Reign. Among them, Chao Chom Erb Bunnag stands out. She took portraits of fellow consorts, princesses, and even the king himself in informal domestic settings. One of the most famous images of Rama V — showing him cooking a meal on a palace porch — was taken by Erb.
Erb’s camera gave her a kind of agency that was rare for women of her time. She decided who to photograph, how to pose them, and which moments of palace life were worth preserving. Her work provides some of the few visual records we have of the Inner Palace from a woman’s point of view, rather than through the eyes of foreign visitors or male courtiers.
Photographing Princess Dara Rasmi
One of Erb’s most intriguing series features Princess Dara Rasmi, the Lanna consort of Rama V. Dara was famous in the palace for maintaining her northern hairstyle and dress, especially her extremely long hair, which marked her as ethnically distinct from the central Thai women around her.
In photographs taken between about 1902 and 1910, Erb captured Dara in the act of undoing her hair before a mirror, sometimes with European‑style dressing tables and props arranged around her. These images are striking because they show Dara literally “performing” her ethnic identity for the camera, with Erb controlling the framing and composition.
For historians, these photos are invaluable. They show domestic routines, fashion, hairstyles, and social interactions inside the Inner Palace that would otherwise be known only from written accounts. For the Bunnag family, they are a point of pride: proof that their women were not just passive ornaments in the harem, but active creators of culture and memory.
A Persian‑Thai Culinary Legacy
The Bunnag kitchen was famous for elaborate dishes that blended Thai techniques with Persian, Indian, and Western influences. Family recipes included rich curries, spiced meats, and delicate desserts that reflected their cosmopolitan ancestry and access to imported ingredients.
That culinary heritage has been revived in modern Bangkok through Baan Suriyasai, the 100‑year‑old Bunnag family home on Surawong Road, now operating as a high‑end Thai restaurant (see photo at top). The house itself is part of the story; a wooden teak residence built in the reign of Rama V, once home to senior Bunnag officials, and now a living showcase of “aristocratic Thai” cuisine with clear roots in the family’s Persian‑influenced past.
The Bunnags Today: Media, Architecture, Business
The family never faded into quiet retirement. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the Bunnags moved into politics, the military, business, and the creative industries.
Media: Nation Group
One of the most visible modern Bunnags is Shine Bunnag, CEO and co-Vice Chairman of Nation Group (Thailand) Public Company Limited. Nation Group is a major Thai media conglomerate, publishing “The Nation”, running television and online news platforms, and producing entertainment content.
Shine, who took over as CEO in 2020, has pushed a “One Nation” strategy to integrate the group’s eight media outlets and expand into film and entertainment. He personally owns nearly 25% of the company, underlining how closely the family is tied to one of Thailand’s most influential news organisations.
Through The Nation Foundation, the group funds community projects, including school support, sports equipment, scholarships, flood relief, and tree‑planting activities in rural areas such as Koh Libong in Trang province. Shine and his family regularly take part in these events, presenting them as part of the company’s social responsibility work.
Architecture and Design
Duangrit Bunnag is one of Thailand’s best‑known contemporary architects. His firm, Duangrit Bunnag Architect Limited (DBALP), has designed resorts, condominiums, shopping spaces, and cultural venues across the country.
Some of his notable projects include:
– The Naka Hotel in Phuket, with dramatic cliff‑side glass rooms.
– EmQuartier and Siam Discovery renovations in Bangkok.
– TCDC Chiang Mai and various luxury resorts in Krabi, Koh Samui, and Koh Phi Phi.
His work blends modern aesthetics with sensitivity to local context, continuing the family tradition of combining outside influences with Thai settings, a very Bunnag pattern, from Persian traders to global architects.
Other Fields
Members of the family have also served in parliament and senior state roles. Marut Bunnag, for example, was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1992 to 1995, While Tej Bunnag had a distinguished career in the Foreign Service, and is active in the Thai Red Cross. Others work in law, finance, and private business, often keeping a low public profile while remaining active in family and foundation activities.
Charity and Community Support
The Bunnags maintain several formal structures for philanthropy and heritage work.Family and Memorial Foundations
The Bunnag Lineage Club (ชมรมสายสกุลบุนนาค) coordinates family events, genealogical research, and memorial ceremonies for ancestors. The club’s website lists associated foundations, including:
– The “Three Somdet Chao Phraya” Foundation (มูลนิธิสามสมเด็จเจ้าพระยา), supporting educational and cultural projects linked to the great Bunnag ministers.
– The “Chao Phraya Bowon Ratchanayok (Sheikh Ahmad) Foundation” (มูลนิธิเจ้าพระยาบวรราชนายก), focused on preserving the memory and legacy of the Persian founder.
These foundations help fund scholarships, temple repairs, and public history activities connected to the family’s sites in Thon Buri and central Bangkok.
Hospital and Medical Donations
Individual family members also make direct donations to public causes. In 2019, Dr. Sakant Bunnag and his family donated 500,000 baht to the Rajavithi Hospital Foundation to help finance a new medical building. The donation was formally recorded by the hospital’s foundation and highlights how senior Bunnags still engage with national health institutions.
Community Development via Nation Foundation
Through The Nation Foundation, Shine Bunnag and his colleagues support grassroots projects such as:
– Providing sports equipment and bicycles to rural schools.
– Awarding scholarships for uniforms and educational materials.
– Organising environmental activities like tree planting with local communities.
These initiatives are presented as part of a broader effort to improve quality of life in underserved areas, especially in the south and along the coast.
Why The Persian Connection Still Matters
On the surface, the Bunnags today look like a quintessentially Thai elite family: Buddhist, Thai citizens for many generations, deeply embedded in national institutions. Yet their origin story, Persian merchants becoming regents, ministers, royal consorts, media moguls, and star architects, offers a different lens on Thai history.
It shows how Siam absorbed foreign communities not just as traders or labourers, but as core members of the ruling class. It also explains why “Persian influence” can still be tasted in certain royal and aristocratic dishes, seen in old family homes like Baan Suriyasai, and read in the career paths of modern Bunnags who move easily between Thai and global worlds.