Vasilijs Mihailovs was born in Riga, Latvia on May 15, 1978 and he passed away on August 11, 2015 during an medical operation in Latvia.

He first came to Thailand on a UNESCO Scholarship to study at Kasetsart University. Then he went back to his home country and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Lativia with a Masters in Philippine Asian Studies in 2005. He returned to Thailand and taught at Silapakorn University from 2003 to 2011. Then he was employed at Bangkok International Associates from 2011 to 2015.

Vasilijs was a specialist in Thai, Maldives, Dutch colonial and related coinage, and a Life Member of the Numismatic Association of Thailand.

The owner of Bangkok International Associates is Ronachai Krisadaolarn and he is an advanced collector in Thai and neighboring country's numismatics. Ronachai and Vasilijs teamed up and wrote Siamese Coins from Funan to the Fifth Reign. It took many, many years of work to produce it. It won the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) Book of the Year and Vasilijs and Ronachai were awarded their gold medals on January 19, 2014. Their book is now the standard in the field of Thai coinage.

Vasilijs will be greatly missed by numismatists in Southeast Asia and worldwide.

Vasilijs (left) and Ronachai (right) are displaying their I.A.P.N. Book Prize Medals