Varananda Dhavaj

{{Short description|Thai prince (1922–1990)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{no footnotes|date=October 2012}}

{{Infobox royalty

| image = สิบตรีพระองค์เจ้าวรานนท์ธวัช.jpg

| caption = Prince Varananda Dhavaj in 1943

| name = {{ubl|Varananda Dhavaj|{{langn|th|วรานนท์ธวัช}}}}

| birth_name = Varananda Dhavaj Chudadhuj

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1922|8|19}}

| birth_place = Bangkok, Siam

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1990|9|15|1922|8|19}}

| death_place = Bangkok, Thailand

| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Pamela Smee|10 June 1950}}|{{marriage|Galyani Vadhana|24 September 1969}}|Kokeaw Prakaykavil na Chiengmai|Srisalai Suchatwut}}

| issue = {{ubl|Dilok Nicholas Chudadhuj|Dara Jane Chudadhuj}}

| house = {{c|Chudadhut family|Chudadhut}} (Chakri dynasty)

| father = Chudadhuj Dharadilok

| mother = Ravi Kayananda

| religion = Theravada Buddhism

|}}

Varananda Dhavaj ({{langx|th|พระวรวงศ์เธอ พระองค์เจ้าวรานนท์ธวัช}}; {{RTGS|Waranonthawat}}), born Varananda Dhavaj Chudadhuj ({{langx|th|วรานนท์ธวัช จุฑาธุช}}; {{RTGS|Waranonthawat Chuthathut}}; 19 August 1922 – 15 September 1990), was the son of Prince Chudadhuj Dharadilok and Mom Ravi Kayananda and grandson of King Chulalongkorn of Thailand. Although he was the only son of a senior Thai prince, he was disqualified from succession to the throne because his mother was not Prince Chudadhut's formal wife.

Following the death of his father, the prince was raised by his uncle King Prajadhipok. He joined the monarch in virtual exile in England. He enlisted in the RAF on February 24, 1942 under the name Nicky Varanand, was commissioned in 1943, and served as pilot in the Normandy campaign during World War II. He remained in the RAF, finally retiring as a flight lieutenant in 1960 to fly commercial aircraft for Thai Airways International. He later created his own airline, Air Siam, which went bankrupt in 1977. In 1973, he also became an adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture.