Ronachai Krisadaolarn (Ronald Jay Cristal) was born in Brooklyn in 1942. After receiving his LLB and JD cum laudae degrees from Albany Law School, he arrived in Thailand in 1969 as an American Air Force Judge Advocate and later pursued a legal career specializing in business law, becoming a Thai citizen in 1998. One of the leading coin experts in Thailand, he co-edited and personally presented to His Majesty the King the English-language edition set of Coins of the Rattanakosin Era AD 1782-1982 and Medals of the Rattanakosin Era AD 1782-1982 which were published by the Royal Thai Treasury Department to commemorate the bicentennial of Bangkok. He was also an editorial consultant to the Centenary of Thai Banknotes 1902-2002 published by the Bank of Thailand.
A part of his numismatic collection was exhibited along with the Royal Thai Mint’s collection on the opening of the Royal Thai Mint, Rangsit, Pathum Thani province, in 2003 and some of his coins were donated to the Royal Thai Mint Rangsit Museum at its opening. His coins were also exhibited at the Royal Thai Treasury Department’s exhibition at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in 2009 in commemoration of Their Majesties’ 60th wedding anniversary and the 60th anniversary of His Majesty’s coronation and at the same centre in 2012 in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Royal Thai Treasury Department. On two occasions he lectured about Thai coins at the National Museum in Bangkok and on one occasion at the Siam Society. He and his co-author of Siamese Coins - From Funan to the Fifth Reign were awarded First Prize Medal and Diploma for the best numismatic publication in 2012 by the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) and The Professional Numismatic Guild, Inc. award for the same publication. Ronachai is a life member of the Numismatic Association of Thailand.

Book by Ronachai Krisadaolarn