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Registration:
South African
Bureau of Heraldry on 8
February 2002.
Certificates nos.
3299 (arms), 3300
(badge), 3301 (standard)
dated 29 November 2002.
Further Private
Registration: Collegium
Heraldicum Russiae,
registered 19 February
2003 (arms). American
College of Heraldry,
registered 22 March
2003, no. 2315 (arms,
badge and standard).
Heraldische Gemeinschaft
Westfalen, registered 10
December 2004, no.
DEV0204 (arms,
supporters and
compartment). United
States Heraldic
Registry, registered 14
January 2006, no.
20060114G (arms).
Further Certification:
Don Alfonso de
Ceballos-Escalera y
Gila, Marqués de la
Floresta, Crónista de
Armas de Castilla y
León, certified 13 May
2005 (arms, supporters,
compartment, two badges
and standard).
The
Armiger has two other
entries in the
register:
Spain: The International Register
of Arms, 11th August
2016. Registration
Number No.0394
(Vol.3).
England:
The
International Register
of Arms, 28th December
2017. Registration
Number No.0442
(Vol.3).
The
armiger works primarily
as a corporate and
commercial attorney in
Thailand having
co-founded the
Ployprathip
International Law Office
(PILO) in 2007.
He was born in 1970 in
Cincinnati, Ohio (USA)
to a professional family
of predominantly
Sino-Siamese origins. He
graduated from the
University of
Wisconsin-Madison
(Bachelor of Science),
Cornell University
(Master of Regional
Planning), Washington
University in St. Louis
(Juris Doctor), and the
Sasin Graduate Institute
of Business
Administration of
Chulalongkorn University
(Executive Master of
Business
Administration). He is a
Fellow of the Royal
Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland
(UK), and a Member of
the Chartered Institute
of Arbitrators (UK).
The armiger holds
licenses to practice law
in New York and before
the US Court of
International Trade, US
Court of Federal Claims,
US Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit, US
Tax Court, US Court of
Appeals for the Armed
Forces, US Court of
Appeals for Veteran
Affairs, and the US
Supreme Court. He is a
Knight Commander of the
Order of the Eagle of
Georgia and the Seamless
Tunic of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, and a Serving
Member of the Most
Venerable Order of the
Hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem.
The armiger is married
with children, including
a heraldic heir, and is
a member of the RBSC
Polo Club in Thailand.
He has long enjoyed
Western-style heraldry.
Sadly, there is no
heraldic tradition in
China save for export
porcelain and only a
short-lived one in
Thailand. In 2001, he
decided to obtain an
authentic coat of arms.
The design is both
canting and allusive.
The lion refers to the
armiger on three levels.
First, in Thailand, the
lion is called “singh”.
So it represents both a
pun on his surname and
an allusion to his Thai
identity. Second, the
lion as the king of
beasts refers to his
undergraduate studies in
zoology and his interest
in the natural world.
Lastly, the lion alludes
to his profession as a
lawyer since lions are
seen in many Asian
cultures as enforcers of
the law.
The red embattled wall
refers to the armiger’s
paternal clan, “Zhu”,
which means “bright
red”, and his graduate
studies in city and
regional planning at
Cornell University, red
being one of the
school’s colours. The
gold embattled chief
refers to his clan’s
alleged ancestor, the
legendary Yellow Emperor
of China. The three
drops of water and crest
together allude to the
ancestral designation of
a more recent ancestor.
The armiger’s motto
alludes to his Thai
surname, which means
“radiant jewel”.
Since obtaining his
heraldic devices, the
armiger has been able to
trace an uninterrupted,
male-line of descent
from the Neo-Confucian
philosopher Zhu Xi (b.
1130 – d. 1200 AD).
Unfortunately, his ideas
were attacked during his
lifetime and he died out
of favour with the
imperial court. Around
1208, Song Emperor
Ningzong rehabilitated
Zhu Xi and gave him the
posthumous, scholarly
honorific “Wen Gong”
meaning “Venerable
Gentleman of Culture”.
Around 1228, Song
Emperor Lizong
rehabilitated his school
of thought and honored
him with the posthumous
noble title, Duke of
Hui. In 1241, a memorial
tablet to Zhu Xi was
placed in the Temple of
Confucius, elevating him
to Confucian sainthood.
His philosophy would
become state hegemony in
China until the end of
the imperial period
around 1912, as well as
in Korea, Japan and
Vietnam. Even today, his
philosophy still plays
an important role in
these countries.
America’s Life magazine
once listed him as
number 45 of the top 100
most influential people
of the second
millennium.
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