Niramon Ounprom (Thai: นิรมล อุ่นพรม, RTGS: Niramon Unphrom; nicknamedKoi; Thai: ก้อย,[4] born 26 January 1985[1][2]) is an army officer, member of the Thai royal court, and a former Thai nurse.[5] She was named concubine and a long-time mistress of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn of Thailand, who granted her several military ranks and positions, including the noble name of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi (Thai: สินีนาฏ วงศ์วชิราภักดิ์; RTGS: Sininat Wongwachiraphak). After Prince Vajiralongkorn ascended the throne as King Rama X, he appointed her as his Royal Noble Consort, giving her the noble title of Chao Khun Phra (เจ้าคุณพระ, "royal noble consort") Sineenat Bilaskalayani (Thai: สินีนาฏ พิลาสกัลยาณี; RTGS: Sininat Philatkanlayani) in July 2019.[6] She is the first woman to hold the title of a royal concubine of the King of Thailand in almost a century as the previous monarch was monogamous.[7]
Sineenat was born on 26 January 1985,[1][2] to the Ounprom family, Wirat (father) and Pranee (mother).[2] Her place of birth is described as being in the Tha Wang Pha DistrictofNan Province, Thailand.[2][1] Her primary and secondary schools were also in the same district, at Rajapiyorasa Yupparachanusorn School, and at Tha Wang Pha Pittayakhom (Witthayakhom) School.[1][2] She went on to earn a bachelor's degree in nursing at the Royal Thai Army Nursing College in Bangkok in 2008 as a member of Class 41;[1][2] Ounprom presented a published conference paper on smoking cessation efforts among enlisted soldiers while affiliated with her college.[8][9]
According to Sineenat's official court biography and other sources, from 2008 to 2012, Sineenat—then known by her earlier name, Niramon Ounprom—worked as a nurse at Phramongkutklao Hospital, and at an army hospital, the Ananda Mahidol Hospital.[1][3]
Ounprom is described in her official biography as having risen to the rank of colonel by 2015, and as having "enrolled in the Ratchawallop Police Retainers, the Royal King’s Guards 904".[1] Before this, Ounprom completed military training in parachuting, royal bodyguarding, and the Thai army's "Combat Qualifying Course in Jungle Warfare".[1] She holds a private pilot's license following training in Germany and flight school in 2018 with the Thai Air Force.[1] As of May 2019, she held the rank of major general.[1]
After Prince Vajiralongkorn ascended the throne as King Rama X, he appointed her as his Royal Noble Consort, giving her the noble title of Chao Khun Phra (เจ้าคุณพระ, "royal noble consort") Sineenat Bilaskalayani (Thai: สินีนาฏ พิลาสกัลยาณี; RTGS: Sininat Philatkanlayani) in July 2019.[6] In August 2019, a biography with 60 photos of Chao Khun Phra Sineenat,[10][11] posted on the website of the Bureau of the Royal Household, was so frequently accessed that it caused the website to crash.[7][12][13][14][15]
On 30 August 2019, as Sineenat (Sininat or Sinina), she was appointed deputy adviser of a prison reform initiative, "Sharing Happiness And Doing Good With Heart With the Department of Corrections".[16]
On 21 October 2019, King Rama X issued a royal edict stripping her of all her government, military, and noble ranks, positions, and titles, as well as royal decorations, citing her conflict with and disrespectful conduct towards his wife, Queen Suthida.[17][18] Until October 2021, her whereabouts were unknown, rumored to either be in prison or dead.[4]
On 27 August 2020, the Lat Yao Central Women's Correctional Prison was reportedly closed to visitors for two days,[19] and a Boeing 737 plane from King Rama X's private fleet was dispatched to Bangkok.[20] According to journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall, the prison is where she had been held and the events were part of a plan to transport her in secret to Munich where she would join his retinue in quarantine,[21][22] in preparation for a possible future royal pardon and restoration of her titles.
On 29 August 2020, the restoration was made official with a royal edict stating that she had "never been a tarnished person" and proclaiming that all her titles, decorations and military ranks were fully restored as if they had never been revoked.[23][24]
^ abLoos, Tamara (Spring 2020). "The Personal is Political: Placing Thailand's Revival of Polygyny in Context". Southeast Asia Program Bulletin. Cornell University: 22–23. hdl:1813/69953.
^For sources on her training and career, including positions at court, see sections following. The title subject is listed under this Anglicised Thai name in the English language portion of the program of conference proceedings, in 2007. See Ounprom, Niramon (5 December 2007), op. cit.
^Ounprom, Niramon (5 December 2007). Factors Influencing the Successfulness of Smoking Cessation Behaviors Among Infantry Privates in Bangkok(PDF). The 35th Annual Scientific Meeting of Phramongkutklao Hospital and Phramongkutklao College of Medicine, Held in Conjunction with the University of Nevada School of Medicine, USA: Medical Progress for Healthy Long Life (in English and Thai). Bangkok. p. 27. Retrieved 21 October 2019. The Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty The King's 80th Birthday Anniversary
^"Conference program"(PDF). Royal Thai Army Medical Journal. 60 (Supplement, 1): 27. November 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
1 October 2008 – 31 October 2010: Second Lieutenant[17][34]
