[actioliGalm]

Just as 'Lo-So' stands for 'Low Society' (the famous band's name!) 'Hi-So' stands for 'High-Society'.

This thread is an off-shoot of a question posed by another member on another thread.

This isn't really an easy question to answer.

'Hi-So' are seen at lots of fancy 5 star hotel banquets and parties and get their faces plastered all over the newspapers (inc. the English ones) and magazines. But just what is the definition of a Hi-So'.

I think....'Hi-So' just doesn't mean 'rich', there is more to it than that. Like a family legacy i would say, sometimes a family closely related to the royal family. Many of the 'Hi-So' i see in the Bangkok Post very often have the titles 'MR' (Mom Ratchawong) 'ML' (Mom Luang) or/and Na Ayutthaya etc.... And/or they have very well-known surnames which descend directly from monarchy.
This linage is very Thai-Thai though with just little Chinese involvement.

So, a lot of the above royal descendant 'Hi-So' are rich too.

Then there are the children/grandchildren of hugely successful Thai-Chinese merchant families, who are super rich. I think though that these kind families only make the league of 'Hi-So' if the family becomes famous too - over a longish period of time.

To become a Chinese rich 'Hi-So' you really have to get out there and be a party-pooper/socialite ie....you gotta make a name for yourself!

Is Thaksin's family 'Hi-So'? May be a very new 'Hi-So' family (Thaksin's wife likes to have her hair-do like a 'Hi-So). I think a family like this have just recently popped into the 'Hi-So' status after Thaksin's huge earnings. His son especially enjoys going to every party under the sun.

That's just my idea of what 'Hi-So' is but i am sure there is more to it than that!

What do you think?