Narisa Chakrabongse

Chakrabongse was born in London and spent her early years in her parents' house in Tredethy, Cornwall, England and in Bangkok. She was a late child, born after her parents, Prince Chula Chakrabongse and Elisabeth Hunter had been married for 18 years.

Chakrabongse's first languages were both English and Thai. She started her first school in Wadebridge, Cornwall. Her father, Prince Chakrabongse, died from cancer when she was just 7 years old. After this she started spending two terms a year at the Cornish school and one term at Chitralada School in the grounds of Chitralada Palace. She was in the same class as King Rama IX's youngest daughter, Princess Chulabhorn. There Chakrabongse also learnt ballet and Thai traditional dance.

When she turned 12 she went to a boarding school in Surrey, England and stopped the dual schooling system as it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Chakrabongse's mother died when she was 15 years old. Chakrabongse moved to London where she lived with her aunt. When she turned 16 she was accepted to St Paul's Girls' School in London, which was considered the best school for girls in England. At this school Narisa started to learn Russian for the first time.

After graduation, following the teachers' advice got Chakrabongse into SOAS London University to study Chinese language and culture. But soon enough she realized this is not what she wanted to do and changed to the Courtauld Institute to study History of Art at the most prestigious school teaching History of Art in England. Three years later Chakrabongse got her First Class Honours degree. She later got her master's degree at SOAS at Southeast Asian studies.

Chakrabongse married Allen Levy at the age of 24. Their son Hugo Chula Alexander Levy (Chulachak Chakrabongse) was born on 6 August 1981; now he is a musician and singer. From her second marriage with Korsvasti Svasti Thomson she has a son, Dominic Puwasawat Chakrabongse (born on 22 May 1991), a prominent environmental activist. She lives in London, and Bangkok where she has made Chakrabongse family house a historical boutique hotel. It is also often used as a venue for various cultural events such as the Bangkok Edge festival.

Green World Foundation was founded in 1990 by Chakrabongse, under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, with the aim to provide an easy access of knowledge on the Thai environment through various forms of media.

In the past decade, the foundation has shifted its focus to the urban environment, with a special emphasis on reconnecting city-dwellers with nature. This entails regular outdoor activities to promote awareness of urban biodiversity and their connection to urban health and resilience. One of the goals of the foundation is to make Bangkok a livable and resilient habitat, for humans and co-existing species.