Taw Phaya Gyi was born on 6 May 1922 in
Rangoon,
British Burma to Ko Ko Naing, a former monk and Princess
Myat Phaya Galay, who was the fourth daughter of King Thibaw and Chief Queen
Supayalat. He studied at St Patrick’s High School Moulmein,
St Paul’s School in
Rangoon and graduated with a
baccalaureate from
Rangoon University in 1945. Both the British and Japanese considered Taw Phaya Gyi as crown prince. His mother Myat Phaya Galay had been handed over the defunct throne of Burma with a contract while her mother
Supayalat was still alive, meaning her eldest son was considered heir to the throne.
Puppet king and post-war During the
Japanese occupation, the Japanese government retained Burma within its empire but hoped to make Taw Phaya Gyi the country's puppet ruler, putting him under military guard and plotting to assassinate Burma's prime minister
Ba Maw. Taken to
Bangkok as the war worsened for the Japanese, he was summoned back at the war's end by the Thai government and Britain. Before leaving Bangkok, Taw Phaya Gyi signed a decree as the 12th King of Konbaung to release Burmese prisoners held in Moulmein by the Japanese. ==Family==