El Reino de Rattanakosin ( tailandés : อาณาจักรรัตนโกสินทร์ , RTGS : Anachak Rattanakosin , pronunciado [ʔāːnāːt͡ɕàk ráttāná(ʔ)kōːsǐn] , abreviado comoรัตนโกสินทร์,pronunciación tailandesa:[ráttāná(ʔ)kōːsǐn]), elReino de Siam(en tailandés:ราชอาณาจักรสยาม), o elImperioRattanakosin,[8][9]fueron nombres utilizados para hacer referencia al cuarto y actualreinotailandéshistoria deTailandia(entonces conocido como Siam). Fue fundado en 1782 con elestablecimiento de Rattanakosin(Bangkok), que reemplazó a la ciudad deThonburicomo capital de Siam. Este artículo cubre el período hasta larevolución siamesa de 1932.
La zona de máxima influencia de Rattanakosin incluía los estados vasallos de Camboya , Laos , los estados Shan y los estados malayos del norte . El reino fue fundado por Rama I de la dinastía Chakri . La primera mitad de este período se caracterizó por la consolidación del poder siamés en el centro del sudeste asiático continental y estuvo marcada por disputas y guerras por la supremacía regional con potencias rivales como Birmania y Vietnam . [10] El segundo período fue uno de enfrentamientos con las potencias coloniales de Gran Bretaña y Francia en el que Siam siguió siendo el único estado del sudeste asiático que mantuvo su independencia. [11] [ se necesita una mejor fuente ]
En el plano interno, el reino se convirtió en un Estado nacional absolutista y centralizado , con fronteras definidas por las interacciones con las potencias occidentales. El período estuvo marcado por la creciente centralización de los poderes del monarca, la abolición del control laboral, la transición a una economía agraria, la expansión del control sobre estados tributarios distantes, la creación de una identidad nacional monolítica y el surgimiento de una clase media urbana. Sin embargo, el fracaso en la implementación de reformas democráticas culminó en la revolución siamesa de 1932 y el establecimiento de una monarquía constitucional. [3]
Chakri gobernó bajo el nombre de Ramathibodi, pero generalmente era conocido como el rey Rama I , trasladó la sede real de Thonburi en la orilla oeste del río Chao Phraya a la orilla este, al pueblo de Bang Makok , que significa "lugar de ciruelas olivas ". Esto se hizo debido a su mejor posición estratégica en las defensas contra las invasiones birmanas desde el oeste, el área estaba protegida de los ataques por el río al oeste y por una serie de canales al norte, este y sur. La orilla este estaba rodeada de marismas bajas habitadas por los chinos, a quienes el rey Rama I ordenó trasladarse a Sampheng . La fecha oficial de fundación de Bangkok es el 21 de abril de 1782, cuando se consagró el pilar de la ciudad en una ceremonia. El rey Rama I se sometió a una forma abreviada de coronación en 1782. [12] Fundó la dinastía Chakri e hizo a su hermano menor Chao Phraya Surasi el Wangna o Príncipe Sura Singhanat del Palacio Frontal . En 1783, las murallas de la ciudad de Bangkok se construyeron con parte de los ladrillos extraídos de las ruinas de Ayutthaya. [12] [13] Se asignaron trabajadores laosianos y camboyanos [13] para cavar el foso de la ciudad. El Gran Palacio y el Wat Phra Kaew se completaron en 1784 y el Buda de Esmeralda fue trasladado desde Wat Arun para colocarse en Wat Phra Kaew. En 1785, el rey Rama I realizó una ceremonia de coronación completa y nombró a la nueva ciudad "Rattanakosin", que significaba la "Joya de Indra" [14] en referencia al Buda de Esmeralda.
Los birmanos siguieron representando una gran amenaza para el estado de existencia de Siam. En 1785, el rey Bodawpaya de la dinastía birmana Konbaung envió ejércitos masivos para invadir Siam en cinco direcciones durante la Guerra de los Nueve Ejércitos . Décadas de guerra continua habían dejado a Siam despoblado y la corte siamesa logró reunir solo un total de 70.000 hombres [13] contra los 144.000 hombres de los invasores birmanos. Los birmanos, sin embargo, estaban sobrecargados y no podían converger. El príncipe Sura Singhanat dirigió a su ejército para derrotar al ejército principal del rey Bodawpaya en la batalla de Latya en Kanchanaburi en 1786. En el norte, los birmanos sitiaron Lanna Lampang . Kawila , el gobernante de Lampang, logró mantener el asedio durante cuatro meses hasta que las fuerzas de socorro de Bangkok llegaron para rescatar a Lampang. En el sur, Lady Chan y Lady Mook lograron defenderse de los ataques birmanos en Thalang ( Phuket ) en 1786. Después de la campaña infructuosa, el rey Bodawpaya envió a su hijo Uparaja Thado Minsaw a invadir Kanchanaburi concentrándose en una sola dirección. El rey Rama I y su hermano, el príncipe Sura Singhanat, derrotaron a los birmanos en la campaña de Tha Dindaeng en 1786-1787.
Después de estas victorias sobre los invasores birmanos, Siam organizó ofensivas en la costa de Tenasserim , [13] [15] [16] que era el antiguo territorio de Ayutthaya. El rey Rama I marchó con ejércitos siameses para sitiar Tavoy en 1788 [13] pero no tuvo éxito. En 1792, los gobernadores birmanos de Tavoy y Mergui desertaron a Siam. [13] [16] Siam llegó a ocupar temporalmente la costa de Tenasserim. Sin embargo, mientras la corte se preparaba para las invasiones de la Baja Birmania, [13] el rey Bodawpaya envió a su hijo Thado Minsaw para reclamar Tenasserim. [15] Los siameses fueron derrotados rotundamente por los birmanos en la batalla de Tavoy en 1793 y cedieron la costa de Tenasserim a Birmania [16] a perpetuidad, convirtiéndose en la moderna División Tanintharyi .
El señor Kawila finalmente pudo restablecer Chiang Mai como el centro de Lanna en 1797. El rey Bodawpaya estaba ansioso por recuperar el control birmano sobre Lanna. [15] Los birmanos invadieron Chiang Mai en 1797 y 1802, [12] en ambas ocasiones Kawila defendió la ciudad y el príncipe Sura Singhanat marchó hacia el norte para aliviar Chiang Mai. [13] Las fuerzas siamesas y lanna procedieron entonces a capturar Chiang Saen , el bastión de la autoridad birmana en Lanna, en 1804, [13] eliminando la influencia birmana en esa región. [17] Las victorias siamesas sobre los birmanos en Lanna permitieron a Siam expandir su dominación hacia el norte, hacia los principados tai más septentrionales: Keng Tung y Chianghung . Kawila de Chiang Mai envió fuerzas para atacar Keng Tung en 1802 y subyugó a Mong Yawng , Mueang Luang Phukha y Chiang Hung en 1805. [12] En 1805, el Príncipe de Nan invadió la confederación Tai Lue de Sipsongpanna y Chiang Hung se rindió. [18] [ aclaración necesaria ]
El príncipe Sura Singhanat murió en 1803. El rey Rama I nombró a su propio hijo, el príncipe Itsarasunthon [12], como el sucesor del príncipe del Palacio Frontal en 1806. El rey Rama I murió en 1809 y el príncipe Itsarasunthon ascendió al trono para convertirse en el rey Rama II . [12] El rey Bodawpaya aprovechó entonces la oportunidad para iniciar la invasión birmana de Thalang en la costa de Andamán. Mientras tanto, la corte de Bangkok envió ejércitos para aliviar Thalang, pero enfrentó dificultades logísticas y Thalang cayó ante los birmanos en 1810. [13] [19] Sin embargo, los siameses todavía pudieron repeler a los birmanos de Thalang. La invasión birmana de Phuket en 1809-1810 fue la última incursión birmana en territorios siameses en la historia de Tailandia. Siam se mantuvo vigilante ante posibles invasiones birmanas durante la década de 1810. Las amenazas birmanas sólo terminaron efectivamente cuando Birmania cedió Tenasserim a los británicos en el Tratado de Yandabo en 1826, tras la Primera Guerra Anglo-Birmana . [12]
Cuando las fuerzas siamesas tomaron Vientiane en 1779 durante el período Thonburi, los tres reinos laosianos de Luang Phrabang , Vientiane y Champasak quedaron bajo el dominio siamés. Los príncipes laosianos Nanthasen , Inthavong y Anouvong fueron llevados como rehenes a Bangkok. [20] En 1782, el rey Rama I instaló a Nanthasen como rey de Vientiane. Sin embargo, Nanthasen fue destronado en 1795 [21] debido a sus supuestas propuestas diplomáticas con la dinastía Tây Sơn a favor de Inthavong. Cuando el rey Inthavong murió en 1804, Anouvong sucedió como rey de Vientiane. [22]
Yumreach Baen, un noble camboyano pro-siamés, dio un golpe de estado en Camboya para derrocar y matar al primer ministro camboyano pro-vietnamita Tolaha Mu en 1783. El caos y los trastornos que siguieron hicieron que Yumreach Baen llevara al joven rey Ang Eng a Bangkok. El rey Rama I nombró a Yumreach Baen como Chaophraya Aphaiphubet . También en 1783, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh llegó a Bangkok para refugiarse de los rebeldes de Tây Sơn. En 1784, las fuerzas siamesas invadieron Saigón para reinstaurar a Nguyễn Phúc Ánh, pero fueron derrotadas en la batalla de Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút por los Tây Sơn. En 1789, Aphaiphubet tomó el control de Camboya y se convirtió en regente. Más tarde, ese mismo año, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh tomó Saigón y se estableció en el sur de Vietnam. En 1794, el rey Rama I permitió que Ang Eng regresara a Camboya para gobernar como rey [12] y dividió la parte noroeste de Camboya, incluidas Battambang y Siemreap, para que Aphaiphubet gobernara como gobernador bajo el gobierno siamés directo.
El rey Ang Eng de Camboya murió en 1796 y fue sucedido por su hijo Ang Chan II , quien se volvió pro-vietnamita. [12] Mientras que el príncipe pro-siamés Ang Sngoun, hermano menor de Ang Chan II, decidió rebelarse contra su hermano en 1811. Las fuerzas siamesas marcharon desde Battambang a Oudong . El rey Ang Chan II, presa del pánico, huyó para refugiarse en Saigón [23] bajo la protección de Vietnam. Las fuerzas siamesas saquearon Oudong y regresaron. [12] Lê Văn Duyệt trajo a Ang Chan II de regreso a Phnom Penh para gobernar bajo la influencia vietnamita. [24]
El rey Anouvong de Vientiane se rebeló contra Siam en 1827. Lideró a los ejércitos laosianos para capturar Nakhon Ratchasima y Saraburi , [12] mientras que su hijo, el rey Raxabut Nyô de Champasak, invadió el sur de Isan . Phraya Palat y su esposa Lady Mo [25] lideraron a los cautivos siameses para levantarse contra sus supervisores laosianos en la Batalla de los Campos de Samrit . El rey Rama III envió al príncipe Sakdipolsep del Palacio del Frente para derrotar a Anouvong en Nong Bua Lamphu y Phraya Ratchasuphawadi [12] (más tarde Chaophraya Bodindecha ) para capturar a Raxabut Nyô. Anouvong y su familia huyeron a la provincia de Nghệ An de Vietnam bajo la protección del emperador Ming Mạng . [26] Ming Mạng envió a Anouvong de regreso a Vientiane para negociar con Siam. Sin embargo, Anouvong recuperó el control de Vientiane, pero Phraya Ratchasuphawadi lo rechazó en 1828. Anouvong finalmente fue capturado y enviado a Bangkok, donde fue encarcelado y murió en 1829. [12]
La rebelión de Anouvong empeoró las relaciones siameses-vietnamitas. Lê Văn Duyệt murió en 1832 y sus castigos póstumos por parte de Ming Mạng estimularon la rebelión de Lê Văn Khôi en Saigón en 1833. El rey Rama III aprovechó la oportunidad para eliminar la influencia vietnamita en la región. Asignó a Chaophraya Bodindecha para liderar ejércitos en la invasión de Camboya y Saigón, [27] mientras que Chaophraya Phrakhlang lideró la flota. Sin embargo, las fuerzas siamesas fueron derrotadas en la batalla naval de Vàm Nao y se retiraron. La derrota siamesa confirmó la dominación vietnamita sobre Camboya. Ming Mạng anexó Camboya a la provincia de Trấn Tây con Trương Minh Giảng como gobernador. Después de la muerte de Ang Chan II, Minh Mạng también instaló a Ang Mey como reina títere gobernante de Camboya. [28] En 1840, los camboyanos se rebelaron contra la dominación vietnamita. Bodindecha envió ejércitos siameses a atacar Pursat y Kampong Svay en 1841. El nuevo emperador vietnamita Thiệu Trị ordenó a los vietnamitas que se retiraran y los siameses tomaron el control de Camboya. La guerra se reanudó en 1845 cuando el emperador Thiệu Trị envió a Nguyễn Tri Phương para tomar con éxito Phnom Penh y sitiar Oudong, en manos de los siameses. Después de meses de asedio, Siam y Vietnam negociaron la paz con el príncipe Ang Duong , quien reconocería la soberanía siamesa y vietnamita, instalado como el nuevo rey de Camboya en 1848. [12]
Después de la caída de Ayutthaya en 1767, los estados malayos del norte que solían pagar tributos bunga mas a Siam fueron liberados temporalmente de la dominación siamesa. [29] En 1786, después de expulsar a los invasores birmanos del sur de Siam , el príncipe Sura Singhanat declaró que los sultanatos malayos del norte debían reanudar las obligaciones tributarias como lo habían hecho durante el período de Ayutthaya. [29] Kedah y Terengganu resolvieron enviar tributos, pero Pattani se negó. El príncipe siamés luego envió ejércitos para saquear Pattani en 1786, llevando a Pattani al gobierno siamés. [30] Los estados malayos de Pattani, Kedah y Terengganu (incluido Kelantan , que entonces era parte de Terengganu) quedaron bajo la soberanía siamesa como estados tributarios . Pattani se rebeló en 1789-1791 y 1808. [31] Siam terminó dividiendo Pattani en siete municipios distintos para gobernar. [32] Kelantan se separó de Terengganu en 1814. En 1821, el sultán Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II (conocido en fuentes tailandesas como Tuanku Pangeran) de Kedah fue encontrado forjando una alianza con Birmania - el rival de Siam desde hace mucho tiempo. Las fuerzas siamesas bajo Phraya Nakhon Noi el "Raja de Ligor" invadieron y capturaron Kedah . El sultán Ahmad Tajuddin se refugió en Penang en poder de los británicos . Un hijo de Nakhon Noi fue instalado como gobernador de Kedah. El sultanato de Kedah dejó de existir por un tiempo.
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Desde el siglo XV, la corte real siamesa había conservado un monopolio sobre el comercio exterior a través del Phra Khlang Sinkha [33] ( พระคลังสินค้า ) o Almacén Real. [33] [34] Los comerciantes extranjeros tenían que presentar sus barcos y mercancías en el Phra Khlang Sinkha para que se aplicaran los aranceles y las mercancías fueran compradas por el Almacén Real. Los extranjeros no podían comerciar directa y privadamente con los siameses nativos bienes importantes y rentables restringidos por el gobierno. En 1821, el Gobernador General de la India Británica , en la misión de establecer contactos comerciales con Siam, envió a John Crawfurd a Bangkok. [34] Crawfurd llegó a Bangkok en 1822, entregando tanto la preocupación británica del sultán Ahmad Tajuddin como también para las demandas de concesiones comerciales; sin embargo, las negociaciones fracasaron. Siam envió tropas para ayudar a los británicos en Tenasserim en la Primera Guerra Anglo-Birmana . Sin embargo, una disputa impulsó al rey Rama III a retirar los ejércitos siameses de Birmania. En 1825, los británicos enviaron otra misión dirigida por Henry Burney a Bangkok. [34] El Tratado Anglo-Siamés -Burney se firmó en 1826, [35] en el que terminó el monopolio real siamés de siglos de antigüedad sobre los comercios occidentales, [35] esto permitió a los británicos comerciar libremente en Siam. El tratado también reconoció las reclamaciones siameses sobre Kedah. [36] Sin embargo, algunas restricciones comerciales, incluyendo el Phasi Pak Ruea ( ภาษีปากเรือ ) o los derechos de medición todavía estaban intactos. [37] Siam también concluyó el " Tratado Roberts " similar con los Estados Unidos en 1833. [38] [39]
Tunku Kudin, sobrino del antiguo sultán de Kedah, recuperó Kedah por la fuerza en 1831 [40] y se levantó contra Siam. Pattani, Kelantan y Terengganu se unieron al bando de Kedahan contra Siam. El rey Rama III envió fuerzas bajo el mando de Nakhon Noi y una flota naval bajo el mando de Chaophraya Phrakhlang para sofocar la insurgencia malaya. El rajá de Ligor recuperó Kedah en 1832. En 1838, Tunku Muhammad Sa'ad, otro sobrino del sultán de Kedah, en concierto con Wan Muhammad Ali [41] (llamado Wan Mali en fuentes tailandesas), un aventurero del mar de Andamán , volvió a recuperar Alor Setar de los siameses. Las fuerzas de Kedahan invadieron el sur de Siam, atacando Trang , Pattani y Songkhla . El rey Rama III envió una flota, liderada por Phraya Siphiphat (hermano menor de Phrakhlang), para sofocar la rebelión. Las fuerzas siamesas recuperaron Alor Setar en 1839. Chaophraya Nakhon Noi, el rajá de Ligor, murió en 1838, dejando los asuntos malayos a Phraya Siphiphat. Este último dividió entonces Kedah en cuatro estados: Setul , Kubang Pasu , Perlis y Kedah propiamente dicha. El ex sultán de Kedah se reconcilió con los siameses y finalmente fue restaurado como sultán de Kedah en 1842. El viaje de Phraya Siphiphat al sur en 1839 coincidió con la Guerra Civil de Kelantan. El sultán Muhammad II de Kelantan tuvo conflictos con su contendiente rival Tuan Besar [42] y solicitó ayuda militar a Phraya Siphiphat. Sin embargo, Siphiphat se postuló como negociador y forzó un acuerdo de paz entre las facciones beligerantes de Kelanta. [42] Tuan Besar se rebeló nuevamente en 1840. Siam decidió trasladar a Tuan Besar a otro lugar para aplacar los conflictos. Finalmente, Tuan Besar fue nombrado gobernante de Pattani en 1842, [30] convirtiéndose en el sultán Phaya Long Muhammad de Pattani. Sus descendientes continuarían gobernando Pattani hasta 1902. [30]
Después de la Primera Guerra del Opio , el Imperio Británico emergió como la potencia marítima más poderosa de la región y estaba ansioso por acuerdos comerciales más favorables. En la década de 1840, Siam había vuelto a imponer aranceles comerciales a través del sistema de recaudación de impuestos chino. [43] Tanto los británicos como los estadounidenses enviaron a sus delegados ( Brooke y Balestier ) a Bangkok en 1850 para proponer enmiendas al tratado, pero fueron fuertemente rechazados. [43] Solo con el Tratado Bowring de 1855 se lograron estos objetivos, liberalizando la economía siamesa [44] y marcando el comienzo de un nuevo período de la historia tailandesa. Se dice que el rey Rama III dijo en su lecho de muerte en 1851: " ... no habrá más guerras con Vietnam y Birmania. Las tendremos solo con Occidente". [12] El rey Mongkut , que había sido monje budista durante 27 años, [12] ascendió al trono en 1851 con el apoyo de la familia Bunnag . [34] El rey Mongkut nombró a su hermano menor Pinklao virrey o segundo rey [12] del Palacio Frontal. Mongkut también otorgó el rango excepcionalmente alto de Somdet Chaophraya [34] a los hermanos Bunnag: Chaophraya Phrakhlang (Dit Bunnag) y Phraya Siphiphat (That Bunnag), [34] quienes se convirtieron en Somdet Chaophraya Prayurawong y Somdet Chaophraya Phichaiyat, respectivamente, consolidando los roles y poderes de la familia Bunnag en los asuntos exteriores siameses durante mediados del siglo XIX. Chuang Bunnag, hijo de Prayurawong, se convirtió en Chaophraya Si Suriyawong .
El rey Mongkut y Chaophraya Si Suriyawong se dieron cuenta de que, debido a la situación geopolítica, Siam no podía hacer frente a las demandas británicas de concesiones. Sir John Bowring, el gobernador de Hong Kong , que era el representante del gobierno británico en Londres (en lugar de la Compañía de las Indias Orientales), [12] llegó a Bangkok en 1855. [45] El Tratado Bowring se firmó en abril de 1855, [45] [37] en el que los aranceles se redujeron y estandarizaron al tres por ciento [12] y se abolió el Phasi Pak Ruea (derechos de medición). [44] El tratado concedió extraterritorialidad a los británicos en Siam, [37] que estarían sujetos a una autoridad consular británica y la ley británica en lugar de la inquisición siamesa tradicional, ya que los occidentales buscaban desvincularse de los métodos siameses de tortura judicial de Nakhonban . El tratado también estipuló el establecimiento de un consulado británico en Bangkok. El Tratado Bowring fue seguido por " tratados desiguales " similares con otras naciones occidentales, incluidos los Estados Unidos ( Townsend Harris , mayo de 1856), [46] Francia ( Charles de Montigny , agosto de 1856), Dinamarca (1858), [47] Portugal (1858), los Países Bajos (1860) y Prusia ( Eulenberg , 1861), [48] todos los cuales el príncipe Wongsathirat Sanit , medio hermano menor de Mongkut y Chaophraya Si Suriyawong (llamado " Kalahom " en fuentes occidentales) fueron los principales negociadores. El rey Mongkut también declaró la libertad de religión a sus súbditos en 1858. [49]
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El Tratado Bowring tuvo un gran impacto socioeconómico en Siam, la economía siamesa se neoliberalizó; comenzó a transformarse de una economía de autosubsistencia a una economía orientada a la exportación [50] y se incorporó a la economía mundial. [34] La liberación de la exportación de arroz, que anteriormente había estado restringida, llevó a un rápido crecimiento de las plantaciones y la producción de arroz [51] en Siam central a medida que el arroz se convirtió en el principal producto de exportación de Siam. [50] La mayor escala de producción llevó a demandas de mano de obra en la industria que hicieron que el sistema tradicional de corvée fuera menos útil y, por lo tanto, se necesitaban cambios sociales. El Tratado Bowring de 1855 marca el comienzo del Siam "moderno" en la mayoría de las historias. [50] Sin embargo, estas concesiones comerciales tuvieron un efecto drástico en los ingresos del gobierno, que se sacrificaron en nombre de la seguridad nacional [12] y la liberalización del comercio. El gobierno dependió del corrupto e ineficaz sistema de recaudación de impuestos chino para generar y recaudar numerosos nuevos impuestos que compensarían la pérdida de ingresos. El desorden del sistema tributario siamés conduciría a reformas fiscales en 1873.
Siam logró equilibrarse entre los gobiernos europeos y sus propias administraciones coloniales. [12] El rey Mongkut envió misiones siamesas a Londres en 1857 y a París en 1861. Estas misiones fueron las primeras misiones siamesas a Europa después de la última en 1688 durante el período de Ayutthaya. La familia Bunnag dominó los asuntos exteriores del reino. Francia adquirió Cochinchina en 1862. Se demostró que los franceses eran un nuevo vecino hostil. El rey Ang Duong de Camboya murió en 1860, seguido de una guerra civil entre sus hijos Norodom y Si Votha [52] que llevó a Norodom a buscar ayuda francesa. El almirante francés Pierre-Paul de La Grandière hizo que Norodom firmara un tratado que colocaba a Camboya bajo protección francesa en 1863 [52] sin el reconocimiento de Siam y los franceses coronaron a Norodom como Rey de Camboya en 1864. [52] Si Suriyawong el Kalahom respondió haciendo que Norodom firmara otro tratado de oposición que reconocía la soberanía siamesa sobre Camboya [53] y lo publicó en The Straits Times en 1864, [52] para gran vergüenza de Gabriel Aubaret, el cónsul francés. [53] Los franceses intentaron anular el tratado de oposición cuando Aubaret trajo una cañonera a Bangkok. [52] Un borrador de compromiso franco-siamés sobre las cuestiones camboyanas se firmó en 1865, pero la ratificación se retrasó en París debido a la perspectiva de que Francia aceptara las reclamaciones siamesas sobre el "Laos siamés". [52] [54] Siam envió otra misión a París para resolver las disputas. El tratado fue finalmente ratificado en París en julio de 1867, [54] en el que Siam cedió oficialmente Camboya pero conservó el noroeste de Camboya, incluidos Battambang y Siem Reap, que también serían cedidos más tarde en 1907.
El imperialismo occidental introdujo en Siam un nuevo concepto de demarcación de fronteras y proclamaciones territoriales. En el sudeste asiático premoderno, las fronteras entre los estados estaban mal definidas. El gobierno tradicional siamés sólo tenía autoridad en ciudades, pueblos y zonas agrícolas, mientras que las montañas y los bosques se dejaban en gran medida intactos, ya que era difícil que las autoridades pudieran llegar a ellos. En la era del colonialismo, las reivindicaciones fronterizas y la elaboración de mapas fueron claves para la posición de Siam frente a las invasiones coloniales. Los delegados británicos y siameses se reunieron en las colinas de Tenasserim en 1866 para explorar y definir las fronteras anglo-siamesas entre Siam y la Birmania británica desde el río Salween hasta el mar de Andamán, convirtiéndose así en la moderna frontera entre Myanmar y Tailandia cuando se firmó el tratado en 1868. [55]
Cuando el rey Mongkut ascendió al trono en 1851, nombró a su hermano menor Pinklao como virrey o segundo rey [12] [34] del Palacio Delantero , dándole a Pinklao inmensos poderes. El virrey Pinklao falleció antes que el rey Mongkut en 1866. Después de la muerte de sus pares, Chaophraya Si Suriyawong emergió como el noble más poderoso. El rey Mongkut hizo un viaje para observar un eclipse solar en Prachuap Khiri Khan pero contrajo malaria y murió en octubre de 1868. Su hijo de 15 años Chulalongkorn fue confirmado para suceder al trono bajo la regencia de Si Suriyawong. [12] Este último, sin precedentes, nombró a Wichaichan , hijo de Pinklao, virrey del Palacio Delantero y presunto heredero [12] [56] sin el consentimiento de Chulalongkorn. Su regencia fue la época en la que el poder de los Bunnag alcanzó su punto álgido. El joven rey Chulalongkorn, que había sido educado por Anna Leonowens [12] y que entonces no tenía poder bajo el influjo del regente Bunnag, pasó el principio de su reinado aprendiendo y observando. Chulalongkorn visitó Singapur y la Java holandesa en 1871 y la India británica en 1872, donde aprendió sobre las administraciones coloniales occidentales, convirtiéndose en el primer monarca siamés en viajar a su país. [57] Chulalongkorn formó la Sociedad de los Jóvenes Siamés [34] , compuesta por jóvenes príncipes y nobles liberales occidentalizadores que aspiraban a reformas financieras estatales y a la abolición del control de la mano de obra regulado por el gobierno para el desarrollo de la economía, la gente y el reino, y también para consolidar el poder real a través de la centralización. [51]
Cuando el rey Chulalongkorn alcanzó la edad de 20 años en 1873, la regencia terminó [51] ya que Si Suriyawong fue recompensado con el rango más alto de Somdet Chaophraya , convirtiéndose en Somdet Chaophraya Si Suriyawong. Bajo el ineficaz sistema de recaudación de impuestos chino, el rey Chulalongkorn encontró que el tesoro del gobierno estaba endeudado. Inició sus reformas con el establecimiento de Ho Ratsadakorn Phiphat [34] ( หอรัษฎากรพิพัฒน์ ) u Oficina de Auditoría Financiera [51] en junio de 1873 para centralizar y reorganizar el sistema tributario para lograr una recaudación de ingresos más estricta. Chulalongkorn fue coronado por segunda vez en octubre de 1873 para significar la asunción de las autoridades, pero Si Suriyawong siguió manteniendo el poder de facto. El rey también nombró el Consejo de Estado en mayo de 1874, compuesto por nobles de rango medio de la facción de Young Siam, [34] y el "Consejo Privado" en agosto de 1874, compuesto exclusivamente por príncipes reales. Las reformas fiscales de Chulalongkorn entraron en conflicto con los beneficios existentes de la antigua nobleza y pusieron al rey en conflicto político con Si Suriyawong, que representaba a la facción conservadora. [34] Chulalongkorn ejerció sus poderes legislativos a través del Consejo de Estado que aprobó muchas leyes relativas a las reformas fiscales. También en 1874, el rey Chulalongkorn dio su primer paso gradual hacia la abolición de la esclavitud al decretar que el precio de redención de un niño esclavo seguiría disminuyendo con la edad hasta la edad de 21 años, cuando sería liberado. [58]
Tanto Chulalongkorn como Si Suriyawong acordaron abolir el trabajo forzoso. [34] Sin embargo, estas reformas molestaron al príncipe Wichaichan del Palacio del Frente, que había heredado de su padre Pinklao una enorme cantidad de mano de obra en servicio con más de un tercio de los ingresos del reino que le correspondían; también tenía el apoyo de Thomas George Knox, el cónsul británico. Una noche de diciembre de 1874, se produjo un incendio en el palacio real del rey, en el que las fuerzas policiales del Palacio del Frente debían entrar para ayudar a apagar los incendios, pero los guardias del rey les negaron la entrada por temor a que el Palacio del Frente hubiera preparado el escenario del incendio para entrar en los aposentos del rey. [34] [59] El rey Chulalongkorn hizo que sus guardias rodearan el Palacio del Frente. Este incidente se conoció como la Crisis del Palacio del Frente o la Crisis de Wangna . Chulalongkorn, en su movimiento de "nadar hacia el cocodrilo" [34] , pidió a Si Suriyawong que interviniera para aplacar la situación. Sin embargo, Si Suriyawong sugirió términos duros para Wichaichan, quien luego huyó para refugiarse dentro del consulado británico cinco días después, en enero de 1875. [34] Siam estaba al borde de la guerra civil y la intervención extranjera [12], y Wichaichan se resistía a cualquier compromiso porque creía que los británicos le darían todo su apoyo. [34] Después de muchas negociaciones infructuosas, Si Suriyawong sugirió que los británicos invitaran a una figura respetable para lidiar con esta situación. [34] Andrew Clarke , el gobernador de los Establecimientos del Estrecho, que anteriormente había mantenido relaciones amistosas con Chulalongkorn, [34] llegó a Bangkok desde Singapur en febrero de 1875 para actuar como mediador. Clarke simpatizaba con la causa del rey y su intervención fue fructífera. Wichaichan se vio obligado a aceptar términos humillantes: renunciar a su puesto de virrey, pero conservar la Oficina del Palacio del Frente, una reducción de su personal a 200 hombres y su virtual encarcelamiento dentro del Palacio del Frente. [34]
Las consecuencias de esta crisis fueron un triunfo político para Chulalongkorn y el declive de los poderes de Bunnag cuando Si Suriyawong se retiró a su finca en Ratchaburi . En abril de 1875, Chulalongkorn creó el moderno Ministerio de Finanzas que asumió el control de todos los ingresos. Sin embargo, la facción conservadora ganó la jornada cuando el rey Chulalongkorn decidió estancar más reformas [12] [51] durante una década para evitar conflictos políticos. El rey se dio cuenta de que su antiguo regente todavía tenía poderes sustanciales y que necesitaba más consolidación política para las reformas. Solo después de la muerte de Si Suriyawong en 1883, el rey Chulalongkorn pudo asumir sus plenos poderes e implementar sus reformas. Cuando el príncipe Wichaichan murió en 1885, [56] Chulalongkorn abolió por completo la centenaria Oficina del Palacio Frontal en 1886 [60] y nombró a su propio hijo Vajirunhis como príncipe heredero de estilo occidental y heredero aparente .
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Después de la derrota de la Rebelión Taiping en China en 1864, las fuerzas disidentes chinas restantes entraron en Vietnam del Norte en 1868, saqueando y ocupando los principados Tai de Sipsong Chuthai y Houaphanh que normalmente enviaban tributos a los reyes laosianos de Luang Phrabang . Los siameses llamaban a los chinos que venían de las tierras altas del norte como Haw ( ฮ่อ ), de ahí el nombre de Guerras Haw . Los insurgentes Haw se fusionaron en Ejércitos de Bandera, más notablemente el Ejército de Bandera Negra y el de Bandera Amarilla. [61] En 1875, el Ejército de Bandera Amarilla atacó Muang Phuan , ocupó la Llanura de las Jarras y atacó Nongkhai . [61] El rey Chulalongkorn envió ejércitos siameses que lograron expulsar temporalmente a los Haw hacia las montañas. El Ejército de la Bandera Amarilla fue derrotado en 1875 por las autoridades chinas y se desintegró en pequeños grupos de bandidos, pero resurgió y se estableció permanentemente en la Llanura de las Jarras.
En el sudeste asiático premoderno, las políticas tradicionales no estaban definidas por fronteras territoriales sino más bien por una red y una jerarquía de alianzas y obligaciones tributarias definidas por el sistema mandala . El imperio siamés multicultural había albergado una serie de estados tributarios , incluidos Lanna Chiangmai , los reinos laosianos de Luang Phrabang y Champasak , cacicazgos menores lao-lannas y sultanatos musulmanes malayos del sur. Sin embargo, para enfrentar la invasión colonial, los territorios y la soberanía tuvieron que definirse claramente. Los británicos adquirieron la Alta Birmania y los franceses adquirieron Tonkín en 1886. [62] Este desarrollo intensificó los designios imperialistas en Siam y condujo a una mayor presencia occidental en el interior del norte de Siam. Siam respondió a las amenazas imperialistas con la centralización y la reestructuración interna que integraron los estados tributarios en Siam propiamente dicho, poniendo fin a sus autonomías. Los señores Lanna se habían beneficiado de su propiedad tradicional de los vastos bosques de teca del norte y sus patentes forestales, a veces conflictivas, otorgadas a los madereros británicos podrían provocar la intervención británica. [63] Lanna fue el primer objetivo de las reformas, ya que se encontraba en la primera línea [63] de una posible incursión británica. El Tratado anglo-siamés de Chiangmai en 1883 instó a Bangkok a reforzar su control sobre Lanna. El rey Chulalongkorn envió un comisionado real a Chiang Mai [12] [63] en 1883 para iniciar las reformas. Se impusieron un gobierno de estilo siamés central y una tributación estricta. Las reformas fueron prometedoras al principio, pero gradualmente se desvanecieron debido a la persistencia de los gobernantes Lanna, cuyos privilegios y poderes tradicionales se vieron comprometidos por las reformas.
El rey Chulalongkorn envió otra expedición siamesa para subyugar a los Haws en la Llanura de las Jarras en 1884-1885, pero la campaña fue desastrosa. [61] La corte siamesa adoptó entonces un enfoque más serio [64] sobre los insurgentes chinos. Se enviaron regimientos siameses recién modernizados para reprimir a los Haws y tomar el control de la frontera [65] en 1885. Chaomuen Waiworanat (más tarde Chaophraya Surasak Montri ) tomó una posición de mando en Muang Xon para pacificar Houaphanh y luego proceder a Muang Thaeng en Sipsong Chuthai. Sin embargo, las fuerzas siamesas se enfrentaron a la resistencia de Đèo Văn Trị , hijo de Đèo Văn Sinh, el gobernante Tai Blanco de Muang Lay , que estaba estrechamente aliado con las Banderas Negras. Estos acontecimientos coincidieron con la llegada de Auguste Pavie , un defensor de los colonialistas franceses, en febrero de 1887 para asumir el cargo de cónsul francés en Luang Phrabang. [64] Incapaz de ir más allá, Waiworanat terminó su campaña en abril de 1887, tomando prisioneros a Haw y Tai, entre ellos los hermanos de Đèo Văn Trị [64] a Bangkok. El enfurecido Đèo Văn Trị dirigió al Ejército de la Bandera Negra para apoderarse y saquear Luang Phrabang en junio de 1887. [64] Auguste Pavie rescató al rey Ounkham de Luang Phrabang y lo llevó en una canoa [64] a Bangkok. Los franceses aprovecharon esta oportunidad para entrar y ocupar Sipsong Chuthai, que Siam había intentado reclamar. Después de discusiones entre Surasak Montri y Pavie, se acordó en 1888 que la Indochina francesa recibiría Sipsong Chuthai mientras que Siam conservaría Houaphanh. [64]
Las relaciones franco-siameses se deterioraron después de la toma francesa de Sipsong Chuthai en 1887. Auguste Pavie, que había sido transferido para convertirse en cónsul francés en Bangkok, trajo el cañonero Lutin a Bangkok en marzo de 1893 y presionó al gobierno siamés para que renunciara a todas las tierras laosianas en la orilla izquierda (este) del río Mekong . Cuando Siam no cumplió, los franceses avanzaron sus fuerzas hacia Laos, lo que resultó en la muerte del oficial francés Grosgurin a manos de Phra Yot Mueang Khwang ( พระยอดเมืองขวาง ), el gobernador siamés de Khammouan , en junio de 1893. El parlamento francés en París, dominado por sentimientos colonialistas, [66] ordenó una fuerte represalia militar contra Siam. Dos cañoneras francesas más, la Inconstant y la Comète , entraron en el río Chao Phraya y se abrieron paso hasta Bangkok para amenazar el palacio real siamés mientras se intercambiaban disparos entre las cañoneras francesas y el fuerte siamés de Chulachomklao durante el incidente de Paknam . El príncipe Devawongse, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, fue a "felicitar" a los invasores franceses [12], pero Pavie presentó un ultimátum, instando a Siam a ceder tierras al este del Mekong, pagar una indemnización de tres millones de francos y castigar a Phra Yot Mueang Khwang. [12] Como Siam vaciló, los franceses impusieron un bloqueo naval a Bangkok. [66] La corte siamesa esperaba encontrar apoyo británico contra la agresión francesa, pero los británicos no respondieron, por lo que Siam decidió cumplir incondicionalmente con las demandas francesas en julio de 1893. Los cañoneros franceses partieron de Bangkok en agosto de 1893, pero procedieron a ocupar Chanthaburi en la costa oriental de Siam para asegurar su cumplimiento. El tratado se firmó en octubre de 1893. [12] Laos , que había estado bajo el dominio siamés durante aproximadamente un siglo desde 1779, se unió a la Indochina francesa en 1893. La guerra franco-siamesa de 1893 o Crisis del año 112 ( วิกฤตการณ์ ร.ศ. ๑๑๒ ) fue el momento en que Siam estuvo más cerca de ser conquistado por una potencia imperialista occidental.
Después de la muerte de Somdet Chaophraya Si Suriyawong en 1883, el rey Chulalongkorn controló el gobierno a mediados de la década de 1880 y pudo implementar reformas. [67] Después de décadas de dominación por parte de una nobleza poderosa, Chulalongkorn llevó a muchos príncipes reales, sus hermanos e hijos, a roles gubernamentales. [34] Los príncipes recibieron una educación modernizada y formaron una élite educada. El rey comenzó a enviar a sus hijos a recibir educación europea en 1885. Muchos príncipes se especializaron en sus campos de responsabilidad. Los más notables fueron el príncipe Devawongse, que se especializó en asuntos exteriores, y el príncipe Damrong, en asuntos internos. Siguiendo el modelo europeo, por sugerencia del príncipe Devawongse, [12] el rey Chulalongkorn comenzó a formar ministerios modernos en 1888 [35] para reemplazar el gobierno central desorganizado de Chatusadom, que había durado siglos . En abril de 1892, se formó el primer gabinete siamés moderno, compuesto principalmente por príncipes reales. [67] El príncipe Damrong se convirtió en Ministro del Interior Mahatthai en 1892. Damrong introdujo una burocracia moderna y, en 1893, anunció el establecimiento del sistema Monthon que reemplazó la red tributaria tradicional de gobernantes semiindependientes con numerosos niveles de unidades administrativas basadas en territorios con un comisionado designado centralmente a cargo.
Sin embargo, en medio de estas reformas, los franceses enviaron cañoneras para amenazar a Bangkok en 1893, lo que llevó a Siam a ceder todo Laos al este del Mekong a la Indochina francesa. Los términos del tratado de octubre de 1893 también establecieron una zona desmilitarizada de 25 km a lo largo del Mekong, pero solo en el lado siamés. El mayor temor de la corte siamesa se hizo realidad cuando los franceses invadieron en 1893, ya que la supervivencia de la soberanía de Siam quedó a merced de los conflictos anglo-franceses. [68] Como los británicos expresaron sus preocupaciones sobre los avances franceses en Siam, el acuerdo anglo-francés de 1896 garantizó la independencia de Siam como un " estado tapón " solo en los territorios centrales de Siam, permitiendo la intervención británica en el sur de Siam y la intervención francesa en el este de Siam. [12] [68] El rey Chulalongkorn emprendió su gran gira europea en 1897, con la reina Saovabha como regente durante su ausencia real, para promover la imagen de su reino como civilizado y occidentalizado, no candidato a la colonización. Mientras tanto, el ejercicio de la autoridad francesa sobre sus "súbditos asiáticos franceses" en Siam, a saber, los laosianos, camboyanos y vietnamitas, condujo a negociaciones prolongadas e inestables [37] y a la continua ocupación francesa de Chanthaburi.
Después de 1893, varias reformas siamesas se aceleraron. Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns , el consejero belga del rey, convenció al gobierno siamés de que la contravención de la soberanía de Siam por parte de las potencias occidentales se debía al hecho de que la ley siamesa y su sistema legal, que databan de la época de Ayutthaya, eran anticuados y aún no se habían modernizado. [66] El rey Chulalongkorn nombró el Consejo Legislativo en 1897, compuesto por especialistas legales occidentales, para crear una ley siamesa moderna basada en el sistema de derecho civil . Los Monthons continuaron formándose, poniendo fin a los poderes de los antiguos señores locales. La integración de Lanna comenzó en 1893 y se convirtió en un Monthon de pleno derecho , Monthon Phayap, en 1899. Las ciudades laosianas restantes en la meseta de Khorat al oeste del Mekong se organizaron en cuatro Monthons . La Ley de Administración Provincial de 1897 definió la estructura del sistema Monthon . Sin embargo, las políticas de centralización no estuvieron exentas de resistencia. Numerosos líderes tribales de Isan que afirmaban poseer poderes sobrenaturales surgieron durante la Rebelión del Hombre Santo en 1901-1902. El sultán Abdul Kadir, el último rajá de Pattani, buscó el apoyo británico [12] de Singapur y planeó una insurgencia, pero fue atrapado de antemano cuando siete sultanatos malayos de Pattani se integraron en Siam en 1902. Los inmigrantes shan en Phrae se levantaron en la Rebelión Shan de Phrae en 1902, [12] declarando que se mantuvieran las tradiciones Lanna y que se matara a los funcionarios de Siam Central. Sin embargo, Chaophraya Surasak Montri logró sofocar la Rebelión Shan en 1902. En abril de 1905, el rey Chulalongkorn abolió por completo la esclavitud. [56] También en 1905, Chulalongkorn reemplazó el sistema tradicional de trabajo forzoso por un sistema de reclutamiento universal moderno [57] a través de la Ley de Reclutamiento Militar de agosto de 1905, en la que los reclutas prestaban servicio durante un tiempo limitado. La primera ley siamesa moderna, el Código Penal, se promulgó en 1908. [69] La compilación de la ley siamesa moderna llevaría casi cuatro décadas, y se terminaría en 1935.
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La influencia del Partido Colonial en París presionó para más concesiones siameses durante las negociaciones, [66] en las que el Príncipe Devawongse fue el representante siamés. En 1904, Siam tuvo que ceder Mluprey , [ aclaración necesaria ] Champasak y Sainyabuli en la orilla derecha (oeste) a Francia a cambio del abandono francés de Chanthaburi, pero los franceses procedieron a mantener Trat en su lugar. La Entente Cordiale anglo-francesa en 1904 confirmó el reconocimiento mutuo de la independencia siamesa por ambas potencias. En 1907, delegados franceses y siameses se reunieron para demarcar las fronteras franco-siameses y se decidió que Francia devolviera Trat y Dansai a Siam a cambio del noroeste de Camboya, incluyendo Battambang y Siemreap, que fueron cedidos a la Indochina francesa y los franceses también acordaron restringir el ejercicio de la jurisdicción sobre los súbditos asiáticos franceses en Siam. [37] Por último, Siam decidió ceder los sultanatos malayos del norte, incluidos Kedah , Kelantan , Terengganu y Perlis, a la Malasia británica en el Tratado anglo-siamés de 1909 a cambio de un préstamo británico de cuatro millones de libras a Siam para la construcción del ferrocarril del sur de Siam y la entrega británica de la mayor parte de la jurisdicción extraterritorial en Siam. [37] Estos territorios perdidos estaban en los márgenes de la esfera de influencia siamesa, sobre la que Siam sólo había ejercido cierto grado de control; el concepto de " territorios perdidos " no fue creado hasta después de la Revolución siamesa de 1932 por los nacionalistas militares tailandeses. [70] Durante su largo reinado, Chulalongkorn implementó reformas gubernamentales, fiscales y sociales y se deshizo de la periferia tributaria siamesa, transformando a Siam de una red política tradicional de mandala en un estado-nación moderno más compacto [71] con una burocracia centralizada y límites claramente definidos, que limita con la Birmania británica al oeste, la Indochina francesa al este y la Malasia británica al sur.
Un grupo de príncipes, embajadores y funcionarios siameses que trabajaban como diplomáticos en Europa, liderados por el príncipe Prisdang , [69] presentaron una petición al rey Chulalongkorn en enero de 1885, [69] instando al rey a respaldar la monarquía constitucional de estilo occidental [72] en el evento conocido como Incidente del año 103 ( เหตุการณ์ ร.ศ. ๑๐๓ ). Chulalongkorn respondió a esta petición, diciendo que el reino necesitaba reformas primero. [12] Chulalongkorn creó la monarquía absoluta siamesa moderna , en la que el rey, como monarca ilustrado , [56] con una realeza europeizada, [69] ejercía poderes reales ilimitados a través de una burocracia centralizada. Su reinado también vio el surgimiento de figuras liberales comunes, que habían sido encarceladas por sus ideologías, [12] incluyendo a KSR Kulap , quien acuñó el término siamés Prachathippatai (del sánscrito prajā "pueblo" y del pali ādhipateyya "soberanía") para "democracia" en 1894 y Thianwan , quien propuso radicalmente un gobierno representativo y un parlamento para limitar los poderes reales en 1905. Thianwan también abogó por la monogamia y los derechos de las mujeres [50] contra la sociedad tradicional patriarcal siamesa predominantemente polígama de su tiempo. Los visionarios siameses tomaron al Japón Meiji como modelo para el éxito de la modernización asiática automotivada. El rey Chulalongkorn fue elogiado oficialmente como "Phra Piya Maharaj" [73] ( พระปิยมหาราช , "Gran Rey Amado") en 1907.
El príncipe heredero Vajirunhis, el heredero designado, murió prematuramente en 1895. [74] Chulalongkorn entonces nombró a su otro hijo Vajiravudh , que se encontraba en Ascot, Berkshire , como el nuevo príncipe heredero. [74] Vajiravudh fue a entrenarse en Sandhurst Military en 1896 y estudió historia y derecho en Oxford en 1900, regresando a Siam solo en 1903. [74] El rey Chulalongkorn hizo una promesa de que su hijo y sucesor Vajiravudh consentiría una constitución. [75] Chulalongkorn se embarcó en otra gira europea en 1907 para buscar cura para su enfermedad, con el príncipe heredero Vajiravudh como regente durante su ausencia. [12] [74] El rey Chulalongkorn murió en octubre de 1910. [12] Su hijo Vajiravudh ascendió como el nuevo rey Rama VI como el primer rey siamés en ser educado en el extranjero. [74] Las amenazas colonialistas occidentales habían terminado técnicamente y Siam enfrentaba nuevos desafíos: movimientos hacia la monarquía constitucional y la democracia.
La Revolución Xinhai de 1911 derrocó a la dinastía imperial china Qing y dejó a Siam como una de las pocas monarquías absolutas funcionales en Asia. El nuevo rey Vajiravudh, educado en Gran Bretaña, era un caballero eduardiano . [12] Vajiravudh creó Suea Pa o Cuerpo de Tigres Salvajes en mayo de 1911 [74] como fuerza paramilitar bajo su control directo. [12] Esto alejó a Vajiravudh de un grupo de personal militar de rango medio que se sintieron ofendidos por el castigo corporal de un oficial militar por orden de Vajiravudh algunos años antes. [74] Este grupo de oficiales militares subalternos conspiró la Revuelta de Palacio de 1912 o Rebelión del Año 130 ( กบฏ ร.ศ. ๑๓๐ ) en enero de 1912 en un intento de derrocar a la monarquía absoluta. Sin embargo, el complot se filtró y los conspiradores fueron detenidos en abril de 1912. Al comprender el contexto de las tendencias liberales, Vajiravudh evitó que los conspiradores fueran condenados a muerte, pero solo dio penas de prisión a los principales líderes de este complot abortado. [12] El gobierno siamés asoció esta rebelión con el movimiento republicano chino. [73] El movimiento paramilitar desapareció en gran medida en 1927, pero revivió y evolucionó hasta convertirse en el Cuerpo de Defensa Voluntaria , alternativamente llamado Scouts del Pueblo. ( Tailandés : ลูกเสือบ้าน ) [76] La rama menor de Suea Pa o el Cuerpo de Tigres sobrevivió en la Tailandia moderna como la Organización Scout Nacional .
A diferencia de su padre Chulalongkorn, que llenó el gabinete con príncipes reales de alto rango, Vajiravudh prefería a sus favoritos personales, [12] que eran en su mayoría príncipes de la generación más joven. Inicialmente, el gobierno de Vajiravudh estaba dominado por príncipes de alto rango del reinado de su padre. [12] Con la renuncia del príncipe Damrong del gobierno en 1915 debido a la fricción con el nuevo rey, la administración siamesa dio un vuelco. Chaophraya Yommaraj Pan Sukhum reemplazó al príncipe Damrong como el administrador más competente del rey. En 1915, el gabinete real pasó de estar dominado por príncipes de alto rango a estar lleno de los círculos internos del rey. Las provincias periféricas de Monthon se reorganizaron y reorganizaron en Phak o regiones más grandes, cada una con Uparat o virrey como superintendentes. El favoritismo del rey permitió que hombres comunes de antecedentes no reales, a quienes se les permitió más educación y oportunidades, ascendieran en el gobierno [12] a través de conexiones con el rey.
Vajiravudh fue un monarca relativamente liberal [74] ya que permitió que la prensa pública tuviera opiniones sobre él. Durante su reinado, los periódicos y revistas, en siamés, inglés y chino, [77] proliferaron [78] para discutir las ideologías políticas de la época. El reinado de Vajiravudh fue la era de la prensa popular y vio el advenimiento del periodismo político tailandés. [77] Los periódicos eran directos y despectivos hacia el gobierno en contra del orden absoluto, [77] incluido el propio rey, ganando lectores de todas las clases de la sociedad, incluidas las mujeres. [77] Vajiravudh participó personalmente en estas discusiones políticas bajo el seudónimo de Asavabhahu . Su reinado también fue un período rico de literatura tailandesa moderna , en el que el rey tradujo muchas obras occidentales y exploró ideas abstractas novedosas a través de la creación de vocabularios modernos utilizando léxicos pali y sánscrito . El propio rey fue autor y actor teatral. Vajiravudh experimentó la democracia con una ciudad en miniatura llamada Dusit Thani , fundada en julio de 1918, como una ciudad con una constitución, elecciones simuladas y un parlamento modelo y como una obra de teatro. [74] Fue la época de la libertad de prensa en comparación con períodos posteriores de la historia tailandesa. [77] Después de la huelga de los trabajadores del tranvía Siam Electric en 1922, la primera lucha laboral en la historia tailandesa, [79] Vajiravudh decidió frenar la libertad de prensa y restaurar el orden a través de su Ley de Publicaciones de enero de 1923, haciendo que los editores fueran pasibles de un delito penal de lesa majestad . [72] El reinado de Vajiravudh fue relativamente liberal y creativo, pero restrictivo a cualquier cambio profundo realista. Aún así, el rey Vajiravudh estaba comprometido con la monarquía absoluta y negaba las ideologías liberales occidentales con el argumento de que Siam tenía sus propios principios tradicionales únicos basados en el budismo. [80]
En su discurso al Cuerpo de Tigres Salvajes, el rey Vajiravudh instituyó la sagrada e inseparable trinidad de Chat (Nación), Satsana (Religión Budista) y Phra Maha Kasat (Monarquía), [12] [78] que eran la esencia de la nación siamesa, del Dios, Rey y País británicos . [74] El rey Vajiravudh inventó el nacionalismo de élite tailandés que enfatizaba la identidad nacional unificada siamesa bajo la jerarquía social tradicional. [12] Seow Hutseng (蕭佛成), jefe de la rama siamesa del Kuomintang , [73] editó las publicaciones Chinosayam Warasap ("revista chino-siamesa") para propagar ideas revolucionarias republicanas entre los chinos en Siam, que sumaban 8,3 millones de personas. [73] El rey adoptó una postura antichina y se refirió a ellos como los "judíos del Este". [12] Los inmigrantes chinos se convirtieron en blancos fáciles del nacionalismo económico siamés. [12] En 1913, Vajiravudh introdujo el sistema de apellidos y definió la nacionalidad tailandesa por sangre en respuesta a las reclamaciones de ciudadanía china. [73] Vajiravudh fundó la Universidad Chulalongkorn , la primera universidad siamesa moderna, en honor a su padre, en 1916. [12] Vajiravudh también instituyó la educación moderna obligatoria en idioma tailandés central en todo el país, incluido el sur malayo musulmán, [81] en el nivel primario para todos los géneros a través de su Ley de Educación Primaria de 1921. [82]
La integración de las antiguas entidades políticas tributarias continuó. En el norte de Siam , Khruba Siwichai , un popular monje Lanna, lideró una resistencia pasiva en la década de 1910 contra la integración de la orden monástica Lanna en el budismo estatal de Siam central. [60] Las líneas ferroviarias desde Bangkok llegaron a Pattani en 1919 y a Chiang Mai en 1922. Con la creación de Monthon Pattani en 1905, los malayos de Pattani del sur musulmán quedaron exentos del servicio militar obligatorio y de la mayoría de los impuestos. Sin embargo, las reformas educativas nacionalistas afectaron a la educación malaya islámica en Pattani. [81] [83] Combinado con la insatisfacción por el impuesto de capitación, los malayos rurales de Pattani planearon el levantamiento de Namsai de 1922 [83] pero nuevamente fueron interceptados de antemano. El gobierno siamés respondió con Seis Principios para la Gobernanza de la Provincia de Pattani en junio de 1923, propuestos por Yommaraj Pan Sukhum, que presionaban para que se manejara con cuidado la región musulmana del sur a través de medidas fiscales indulgentes y el respeto a la religión islámica.
Vajiravudh declaró inicialmente la neutralidad hacia Siam durante las primeras etapas de la Primera Guerra Mundial en 1914, a pesar de que el rey era pro-aliados [12] debido a su formación académica británica. Vajiravudh pronto se dio cuenta de que permanecer en la neutralidad privaría a Siam de sus debidas concesiones. Vajiravudh finalmente llevó a Siam a declarar la guerra a las Potencias Centrales en julio de 1917, [12] tras la entrada estadounidense en la guerra. Vajiravudh envió Fuerzas Expedicionarias Siamesas de 1.284 hombres voluntarios, [78] bajo el mando de Phraya Phichaicharnrit , [78] para unirse al frente occidental de la Primera Guerra Mundial . Para ir a la guerra, Siam necesitaba una bandera moderna. La bandera del elefante era difícil de imprimir, por lo que Vajiravudh adoptó la bandera tricolor en septiembre de 1917 con sus colores reflejando la trinidad del estado. [74] Por primera vez, Siam, como nación, participó en un conflicto militar de nivel mundial enviando su ejército en el barco de vapor francés SS Empire y también enviando un escuadrón de fuerza aérea a Francia en junio de 1918. [12] Siam ya había establecido su propia fuerza aérea y había estado entrenando aviadores siameses desde 1913. Las fuerzas siamesas llegaron a Europa en Marsella en julio de 1918 justo a tiempo para la ocupación aliada de Renania, en la que las propias fuerzas siamesas participaron durante 1918-1919. Las fuerzas siamesas se unieron al desfile de la victoria en París en julio de 1919. La entrada de Siam en el lado de los Aliados le aseguró un lugar en la Conferencia de Paz de Versalles [12] en 1919, convirtiéndose en miembro fundador de la Liga de las Naciones en 1920.
A través de su orgullosa participación en la Primera Guerra Mundial, Siam presionó para la abrogación de los "tratados desiguales" con las potencias occidentales, previamente hechos a mediados del siglo XIX que otorgaban jurisdicción extraterritorial y la imposición de aranceles bajos a los occidentales. Estas concesiones habían estado comprometiendo la soberanía nacional de Siam. El Tratado Americano-Siamés de 1920 y el Tratado Japón-Siam de 1924 sirvieron como prototipos para otros tratados renovados con naciones occidentales. [37] El rey Vajiravudh encargó a Phraya Kanlayana Maitri Francis Bowes Sayre , profesor de Derecho de Harvard , como delegado de Siam para renegociar los tratados con las naciones europeas en su gira europea de 1924-1926. [37] [78] Francia y el Reino Unido consintieron en nuevos tratados con Siam en 1925. [12] [37] Se abolieron los derechos extraterritoriales de los extranjeros en Siam y la restricción de la imposición de aranceles a los bienes importados, restableciéndose la autonomía judicial y fiscal de Siam. [37]
El gobierno real siamés comenzó a enviar hombres no pertenecientes a la realeza para recibir educación europea en 1897, a través de la beca del rey tailandés , principalmente para acompañar a los príncipes reales en sus estudios y para formar funcionarios nativos que trabajaran en el gobierno siamés modernizado. Esto condujo a la formación de la clase media educada siamesa, compuesta por la antigua clase noble baja y los inmigrantes chinos asimilados. [57] Estas nuevas personas de clase media estuvieron expuestas a la educación moderna y a las ideas occidentales de civilización y progreso. [84]
El rey Vajiravudh gastó una gran cantidad de dinero en sus numerosos proyectos y gastos personales, [12] por un total de nueve millones de baht que representaban aproximadamente el diez por ciento del presupuesto estatal anual. [12] La creciente burocracia y modernización de Siam requirió una gran cantidad de gasto público. La participación en la Primera Guerra Mundial también fue costosa y la crisis económica de posguerra afectó mucho a la economía siamesa. El despilfarro de Vajiravudh ha sido citado en la mayoría de las historiografías como la raíz de la posterior crisis financiera de Siam [74], pero la frágil economía de Siam también jugó un papel. Siam no experimentó la industrialización debido a la falta de progreso tecnológico y siguió siendo una economía agraria orientada a la exportación. La fluctuación del precio mundial del arroz, el principal producto de exportación de Siam, en la década de 1920, [74] se combinó con las malas cosechas durante 1919-1921 para empeorar la situación. [12] Después de 1919, la balanza comercial y el presupuesto estatal de Siam estaban en gran déficit, con una gran cantidad de plata saliendo del reino, [12] desestabilizando la moneda baht.
Vajiravudh estuvo soltero durante la mayor parte de su reinado hasta 1920, cuando se comprometió con una candidata y tomó tres consortes durante 1921-1922. [74] En 1924, el rey Vajiravudh promulgó la ley de sucesión real siamesa moderna , dando precedencia a los linajes de los verdaderos hermanos de Vajiravudh que compartían la misma madre, la reina Saovabha, [12] seguidos por los príncipes que nacieron de las otras dos reinas principales de Chulalongkorn. La quinta consorte de Vajiravudh dio a luz a una hija dos días antes de su muerte en noviembre de 1925, [12] sin dejar herederos varones. El príncipe Paribatra de Nakhon Sawan era el hermano mayor sobreviviente de Vajiravudh del rango celestial Chaofa , pero era el medio hermano de Vajiravudh, teniendo una madre diferente. Según la ley de sucesión de Vajiravudh de 1924, el trono siamés pasaría al hermano menor de Vajiravudh, de 32 años [12], el príncipe Prajadhipok de Sukhothai.
Prajadhipok acababa de regresar de su educación militar en Francia y el Reino Unido cuando se enteró de su inesperada sucesión al trono real en 1925. [12] Prajadhipok no estaba preparado [12] y declaró abiertamente su falta de experiencia en el gobierno, solicitando asistencia de figuras superiores. Esto llevó a la creación de Abhiradhamontri Sabha ( อภิรัฐมนตรีสภา ) o el Consejo Supremo de Estado , compuesto por cinco príncipes reales de alto rango [12], incluido el príncipe Paribatra, que había estado a cargo del ejército, y el príncipe Damrong, que reanudó sus funciones en el gobierno. Este Consejo de Estado ayudó a Prajadhipok en el gobierno, pero también dejó de lado los roles activos del rey. Los príncipes reales regresaron al gobierno, recordando los días del rey Chulalongkorn, después de los días en que el rey Vajiravudh favorecía sus decisiones personales, ya que el personal de Vajiravudh fue reemplazado gradualmente por miembros de la familia real en el gabinete del nuevo reinado. [12]
Cuando la facción principesca conservadora recuperó el poder, la preocupación inmediata del gobierno real fue abordar los problemas fiscales estatales en curso, [12] heredados del reinado de Vajiravudh, mediante austeridades y recortes. El gobierno real redujo activa y agresivamente los gastos gubernamentales de 10,8 a 6,8 millones de baht durante el año fiscal 1926-1927 [12] mediante la reducción del tamaño de la burocracia. Se fusionaron muchos puestos gubernamentales y se disolvieron los innecesarios, acompañados por los despidos de un gran número de burócratas y el recorte de los salarios de los funcionarios restantes. Incluso se fusionaron algunos Monthon provinciales. Esta política tuvo algunos efectos positivos, ya que las finanzas estatales de Siam pasaron de déficit a superávit en tres años [85], pero estos acontecimientos generaron resentimientos políticos de la clase media burocrática educada, que se encontró repentinamente desempleada, hacia el gobierno real. Los periódicos políticos de Bangkok, cada vez más florecientes y portavoces de la clase media, expresaban opiniones enconadas contra el régimen real siamés absolutista. Esto obligó al gobierno de Prajadhipok a promulgar otra ley para restringir la libertad de prensa en 1927, decretando que quienes cometieran actos de lesa majestad serían condenados como enemigos de la nación. [69] También se prohibieron las enseñanzas académicas de principios económicos.
En 1932, cuando el país se encontraba sumido en una profunda depresión, el Consejo Supremo optó por introducir recortes en el gasto, incluido el presupuesto militar. El rey previó que estas políticas podrían crear descontento, especialmente en el ejército, por lo que convocó una reunión especial de funcionarios para explicar por qué eran necesarios los recortes. En su discurso, afirmó lo siguiente: "Yo mismo no sé nada de finanzas, y todo lo que puedo hacer es escuchar las opiniones de los demás y elegir lo mejor... Si he cometido un error, realmente merezco ser disculpado por el pueblo de Siam".
Ningún monarca de Siam había hablado nunca en esos términos. Muchos interpretaron el discurso no como Prajadhipok aparentemente pretendía, es decir, como un llamamiento franco a la comprensión y la cooperación, sino como un signo de su debilidad y una prueba de que debía abolirse un sistema que perpetuaba el gobierno de autócratas falibles. Se amenazaba con graves disturbios políticos en la capital y en abril de 1932 el rey accedió a introducir una constitución en virtud de la cual compartiría el poder con un primer ministro. Esto no fue suficiente para los elementos radicales del ejército. El 24 de junio de 1932, mientras el rey estaba en la playa, la guarnición de Bangkok se amotinó y tomó el poder, liderada por un grupo de 49 oficiales conocidos como " Khana Ratsadon ". Así terminaron 800 años de monarquía absoluta .
En los años 1950 y 1960, los académicos del sudeste asiático occidental investigaron poco la historia política tailandesa. Tailandia, como el único sistema político nominalmente "nativo" del sudeste asiático que escapó a la conquista colonial, se consideraba relativamente más estable en comparación con otros estados recientemente independizados del sudeste asiático. [86] Se percibía que había conservado suficiente continuidad de sus "tradiciones", como la institución de la monarquía, para haber escapado del caos y los problemas causados por la descolonización y para resistir la invasión del comunismo revolucionario. [86] Por implicación, esta línea de argumentación sugiere que la revolución de 1932 no fue nada más que un golpe de Estado que simplemente reemplazó a la monarquía absoluta y su aristocracia con una clase de élite plebeya compuesta por generales y burócratas civiles educados en Occidente y, esencialmente, que hubo poco de revolucionario en este evento. David K. Wyatt, por ejemplo, describió el período de la historia tailandesa de 1910 a 1941 como "esencialmente el resultado político de las consecuencias sociales de las reformas del reinado de Chulalongkorn". [87] La revolución de 1932 fue caracterizada en general como el resultado inevitable de "las consecuencias naturales de las fuerzas puestas en movimiento por Rama IV y Rama V". [88]
Siam había estado bajo una monarquía absoluta que ejercía poderes legislativos, ejecutivos y judiciales. [89] Los primeros reyes de Bangkok, los primeros tres reyes de la dinastía Chakri , heredaron el concepto de realeza de la realeza ayutthayana, que había estado dominada por el culto devaraja [89] [90] o Dios-Rey derivado de Angkor-Khmer , en el que el rey era consagrado como deidad en la tierra a través de la ceremonia de entronización hindú Rajabhisekha . Un rey siamés tenía autoridad absoluta sobre sus súbditos en el reino, siendo Chao Chiwit [89] o Señor de la Vida y Chao Phaendin [89] o Señor de la Tierra. El rey poseía todas las tierras de su reino antes de ser distribuidas a sus súbditos y estaba facultado para dictar sentencias de muerte a cualquiera de sus súbditos según su juicio. Los reyes siameses eran llamados Phra Ratcha Ongkarn (del sánscrito oṅkāra , a través del antiguo jemer oṅkāra ) y su ciudad capital era llamada Krung Thep (Ciudad de la Deidad). Al igual que otros monarcas contemporáneos del sudeste asiático, el rey siamés era un Chakravartin , que tiene dos aspectos; [89] el Glorioso Conquistador Universal que obtuvo éxitos militares en batallas y el aspecto del Rey de la Justicia Universal, [91] que defendió y protegió la ley moral Thammasat . [72]
Aunque ninguna ley humana podía restringir la autoridad del rey siamés, [91] moralmente, el rey estaba obligado a observar las Diez Virtudes Reales o Thotsaphit Ratchatham y a seguir el camino de Thammasat o la Ley de Manu . [89] El rey también era el único legislador del reino, ya que sus órdenes estaban inscritas para convertirse en ley, aunque, en teoría, sus leyes y órdenes no podían desviarse de Thammasat o las normas establecidas. [89] A diferencia de Ayutthaya, el rey Rama I buscó la retórica y la explicación del budismo Theravada ortodoxo como base para sus decretos reales. [89] El aspecto budista de la realeza siamesa, perteneciente al concepto de Dharmaraja [91] o el rey defensor del Dharma , se reafirmó mediante la promulgación de la Ley de los Tres Sellos en 1804 para restaurar la forma pura original de Thammasat . [89] [91] Sin embargo, la realeza primitiva de Bangkok siguió siendo esencialmente la misma que la de Ayutthaya.
El rey siamés era reverenciado por sus súbditos como una deidad en la tierra y era tratado como tal. En una audiencia real, el rey se sentaba en lo alto de un elaborado trono real con sus ministros y funcionarios postrados en el suelo con las manos juntas, sin mirar al rey ni usar ninguna prenda superior, con el torso desnudo. Al hablar con la realeza, se utilizaba un registro lingüístico especial conocido como Rachasap , [92] caracterizado por léxicos derivados del índico y el jemer , [90] [92] . Los súbditos siameses usaban una deferencia extrema en su conversación con el rey, refiriéndose a sí mismos como Kha Phra Phutthachao [92] o "Sirviente de Buda" [92] [93] como pronombre en primera persona y dirigiéndose al rey como Taifa La-ong Thuli Phrabat [92] o "Bajo las motas de polvo bajo los pies reales" [92] [93] como pronombre en segunda persona. Siempre que el rey salía del palacio real en procesión, se colocaban vallas de celosía a lo largo del camino [90] para impedir la vista, ya que la policía real les decía a los plebeyos que entraran, cerraran las puertas y ventanas, [94] nunca miraran física y directamente al rey como los ojos comunes nunca deberían fijarse en el cuerpo divino del rey, [94] para que no les dispararan con una perdigones de tierra en el ojo como castigo, [89] también posiblemente por razones de seguridad. [90] La persona del rey o cualquier figura real nunca debía ser tocada físicamente. [90] Durante las procesiones de barcazas reales en los ríos, si algún miembro de la realeza se hundía y se ahogaba, estaba prohibido que alguien nadara para salvar a esa persona real bajo pena de muerte. [90]
La ceremonia de entronización siamesa , conocida como Rajabhisekha , de Raja 'rey' y Abhisekha 'ungir con agua bendita', se originó del Rajasuya védico . [90] El ritual, que era llevado a cabo por los brahmanes de la corte hindú, implicaba principalmente bañar y verter sobre el rey el agua sagrada, que se obtenía de cinco ríos siameses y cuatro estanques en Suphanburi , [90] y la bendición bramánica, en la que el rey se sentaba en el trono octogonal de madera de higuera para ser ungido por los brahmanes ocho veces cada uno en ocho direcciones. [90] El rey luego se sentaba en el trono Bhadrapita , cuando los altos brahmanes o Phra Maha Rajaguru recitaban un mantra tamil para abrir el portal de Kailasha para invitar al dios hindú Shiva a fundirse en la persona del rey. [90] El rey se convertía así en un avatar de las deidades celestiales. Los altos brahmanes le entregaron entonces al rey las insignias reales y un nombre ceremonial completo inscrito en una placa de oro. Finalmente, el rey transmitió su primera orden u Omkara . Las insignias reales siamesas incluían: [90]
El rey Mongkut , que había sido monje budista durante 27 años, [12] durante los cuales aprendió sobre la civilización occidental, ascendió al trono en 1851. El rey Mongkut reformó en gran medida el concepto y la ideología de la realeza siamesa. Incluso antes de su entronización, Mongkut ordenó a los funcionarios de la corte que usaran prendas superiores durante los eventos reales [93] ya que estar con el torso desnudo sería considerado bárbaro por los occidentales. El rey Mongkut agregó el elemento budista de las bendiciones de los monjes budistas [95] a su ceremonia de entronización Rajabhisekha , que anteriormente había sido principalmente un ritual hindú, ya que enfatizó la dimensión budista de la realeza siamesa [91] y también apareció más visible para la población en general. Mongkut fue el primer rey siamés en usar realmente la Gran Corona de la Victoria para dar la sensación de "coronación" al estilo occidental. [95] Los representantes occidentales también estuvieron presentes por primera vez. Mongkut adoptó el epíteto Maha Chonnikorn Samoson Sommut [72] o "Elegido por Consenso de Todos", [72] enfatizando el concepto budista de Maha Sommutiraj o el Gran Rey Elegido, [72] en el que el pueblo elegía al más capaz como su líder, como base para su reinado, aunque en realidad no fuera elegido según el sentido moderno y también reflejando su ascenso al trono a través del apoyo de la poderosa nobleza. El concepto de Maha Sommutiraj, el rey consensual, le permitió al rey relacionarse más con sus súbditos, ya que Mongkut basó su reinado en el consentimiento del pueblo.
Mongkut tomó el nombre real de Rey Chomklao y estableció una nueva convención de nombres con el sufijo -klao , nombrando póstumamente a su predecesor, el Rey Rama III, como Rey Nangklao. Mongkut abolió oficialmente la práctica de disparar a los ojos [96] en 1857 y alentó a los plebeyos a salir de sus casas para postrarse afuera para ver al rey durante las procesiones reales. Mongkut pareció ser el primer rey siamés en realizar viajes no militares ni religiosos para visitar a sus súbditos en las provincias. A fines de 1857 y principios de 1858, el rey Mongkut realizó su viaje a lo largo de la costa oriental de Siam , visitando Chonburi , Rayong , Chanthaburi , Trat y Koh Chang . En 1859, el rey Mongkut se embarcó en una visita real al sur de Siam desde Pranburi hasta Nakhon Si Thammarat y Songkhla . Mongkut realizó otro viaje al sur de Siam en 1863, embarcándose en un moderno barco de vapor, llegando hasta Pattani .
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En el período inicial, Rattanakosin heredó la mayor parte del aparato burocrático del difunto Ayutthaya. La burocracia de la corte real siamesa se centró en los seis ministerios. [12] Los dos primeros ministros principales de la corte eran Samuha Nayok ( สมุหนายก ), el Primer Ministro del Norte de Siam que supervisaba el Mahatthai o Ministerio del Interior, y Samuha Kalahom ( สมุหกลาโหม ), el Primer Ministro del Sur de Siam que supervisaba el Kalahom o Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas. Por debajo de ellos estaban los Cuatro Ministerios o Chatusadom ( จตุสดมภ์ );
Additionally there were other subsidiary departments, for example:
Government officials were ranked by Bandasak[14] (บรรดาศักดิ์) levels and the Sakdina (ศักดินา). The Bandasak levels determined the official's position in the bureaucratic hierarchy (see Thai nobility). The Bandasak levels were, in descending order; Chaophraya, Phraya, Phra, Luang, Khun, Meun, Phan and Nai. The two top ministers, Samuha Nayok and Samuha Kalahom, were always ranked Chaophraya in the Bangkok period. The Four Ministers of Chatusadom were initially ranked Phraya in the reign of King Rama I, with some exceptions. They were later elevated to Chaophraya in subsequent reigns.[citation needed]
Sakdina is the theoretical amount of land and numerical rank accorded to an official for his position in bureaucracy, which determined the amount of production received and the severity of punishment for crime.[97] The Sakdina of each every single government position was described in the Three Seals Law. For example, the Sakdina of Samuha Nayok, Samuha Kalahom and the Four Ministers of Chatusadom were 10,000 rai each.
Cities and towns in 'Siam proper', which correspond roughly to modern Central and Southern Thailand, were organized into the 'Hierarchy of Cities', in which small towns were under the jurisdiction of larger cities. There were four levels of cities, in descending order;[98] the Mueang Ek (เมืองเอก), Mueang Tho (เมืองโท), Mueang Tri (เมืองตรี) and Mueang Chattawa (เมืองจัตวา). Mueang Ek was the highest level of city representing regional centre. The Mueang Eks in the Rattanakosin period were Nakhon Si Thammarat,[99] which was the centre of Southern Siam, and Nakhon Ratchasima, which was the centre of the northeast. Phitsanulok, which had been the centre of Northern Siam, used to be Mueang Ek in the Ayutthaya period. However, Phitsanulok was largely depopulated in the early Rattanakosin due to the wars in the Thonburi period and its role as an outpost against northern Burmese invasions diminished in favor of Lanna kingdom. The cities and towns in Northern Siam were under jurisdiction of Samuha Nayok and Southern Siam under Samuha Kalahom.
The governors of cities were ranked according to the level and importance of their cities. The governors of Mueang Eks were usually ranked Chaophraya.[99] The local bureaucracy in each city was headed by the governor. Below the governor was the vice-governor called either Palat[98] (ปลัด) or Tukkarat (ทุกขราษฏร์), Below the vice-governor was the deputy vice-governor called Yokkrabat[98] (ยกกระบัตร). The governorship of large cities were usually passed down through generations of the same family due to that family's important role and connections in the area.
The tributary kingdoms were called Prathetsarat (ประเทศราช), each of which were political entities in its own rights and bound to Siam through the Southeast Asian political ideology of mandala system.[100] Native culture and traditions were largely retained. The Siamese court required the periodic presentation of ceremonial golden and silver trees[100] and the provision of other resources. In wartime, tributary kingdoms were requested to send troops or to join the war on behalf of Siam. Tributary kingdoms of the Rattanakosin included;
The governors of large cities, in practice, were also in charge of the affairs of its adjacent tributary kingdoms. The governor of Nakhon Ratchasima was responsible for the affairs in Lao kingdoms of Vientiane and Champasak. The governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat (Ligor) was responsible for the affairs in Kedah and Kelantan. The governor of Songkhla was responsible for the affairs in Pattani and Terengganu.
Majority of the Siamese legal corpus were lost in the Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767.[101] Siamese authorities then relied on scattered legal manuscripts to operate. In 1804, a woman who was in relationship with another man successfully sued for divorce from her husband. The husband complained that the court ruling was unjustified and appealed the case to King Rama I. King Rama I then opinioned that the existing laws of Siam were corrupted[101] and ordered the recompilation of Ayutthaya laws to rectify and cleanse or chamra the laws of any distortions. The physical copies were imprinted with the three seals of Mahatthai (north), Kalahom (south) and Phrakhlang (treasury), signifying that the laws affected kingdom-wide[101] and became known as the Three Seals Law that served the Siamese kingdom for the next century.[12] The Siamese laws had taken the Indic Mānu-Dharmaśāstra as its model.
The king was the sole legislator of the kingdom. His words were recorded and inscribed to become laws. There was no single unified judiciary department as cases were distributed among the judging courts of each ministries according to the concerning matter.[101] For example, foreign trade disputes belonged to the Kromma Tha or Trade Ministry and land disputes belonged to Krom Na or Ministry of Agriculture. The Mahatthai maintained the appeal court that settled cases from the primary courts. Unsettled cases from outlying cities were also appealed to Bangkok. When the appeal court failed to settle the case, it would be forwarded to the king himself. Presiding over the Supreme Royal Court was a part of royal daily routines.
Siamese law court involved two sets of legal personnel: the Lukkhun[101] (ลูกขุน ณ ศาลหลวง) or council of twelve Bramanistic jurors who possessed legal knowledge and acted only as the advisory body of consultants but held no power to judge the cases and Tralakarn[101] (ตระลาการ) or layman judges who carried out actual judgements under suggestions from the Lukkhun. The Nakhonban or Police Bureau dealt specifically with criminal cases including murder, robbery and adultery. The Nakhonban employed the trial by ordeal or judiciary tortures including compression of skull, hammering of nails and entering a large rattan ball to be kicked by an elephant. These torture methods were known as the Nakhonban creed (จารีตนครบาล) and were used only in certain circumstances[101] in criminal cases. Sometimes when the issues were not settled, defendants were made to dive into water or walk into fire to prove their guilty or innocence. Westerners were particularly horrified by these methods of judiciary tortures and sought to dissociate themselves from traditional Siamese inquisition, resulting in the granting of extraterritoriality to Western nations in the Bowring Treaty of 1855 and other subsequent treaties.
Westerners who came to Siam during the early nineteenth century were horrified of traditional Indo–Siamese judiciary system that involved trial by ordeal and trial by supernatural forces, especially in criminal cases and they were unwilling to be under jurisdiction of Siamese authorities. In the Bowring Treaty of 1855, Siamese court agreed to grant extraterritorial rights to British subjects in Siam,[37] meaning that any legal cases concerning any British subjects, in both civil and criminal cases, would be tried and under jurisdiction of the newly established British consular court at Bangkok[37] under British law rather than indigenous Siamese judiciary system, with the British consul himself acting as the judge. The United States acquired similar agreement with Siam in the Harris Treaty of 1856, France also in 1856 and other Western nations followed.[37] These agreements of extraterritoriality were parts of the 'unequal treaties' and compromised Siamese sovereignty.[37] Chinese immigrants, whose legal status in Siam was ambiguous, usually registered themselves as British or French subjects in order to avoid Siamese laws.
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In 1892, King Chulalongkorn established modern Ministry of Justice[72] in order to unify scattering Siamese judiciary courts of various departments into a single unified system. After French military threats to Bangkok during the Franco–Siamese War of 1893, Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns, Chulalongkorn's Belgian advisor, told the king that violation of Siam's sovereignty by Western colonial powers was due to the fact that Siamese antiquated legal system, dated to Ayutthaya times, had not yet been modernized to conform with Western standards.[66] Siamese government then began to consider abolition of Western extraterritorial jurisdiction in Siam to preserve Siam's sovereignty. Chulalongkorn established Legislative Council in 1897, composing of appointed Western legal specialists, to compose modern Siamese law based on the common law system, led by Prince Raphi, the king's son who had just graduated from Faculty of Law, Oxford, and Rolin-Jaequemyns himself. In 1898, Japan asked for extraterritorial rights from Siam. Siam agreed to grant extraterritoriality to Japan in Japan–Siam Treaty of 1898 on conditions that Japanese extraterritorial jurisdiction in Siam would terminate as soon as Siam completed its legislation of modernized civil and criminal codes.[37]
Rolin-Jaequemyns left Siam in 1902 to return to his hometown in Belgium where he soon died.[66] Georges Padoux, the king's new French legal advisor, was appointed as the head of legislative body in 1905. After the event of 1893, the French had been demanding that all 'French Asian subjects' in Siam, including the Laotians, the Cambodians and the Vietnamese, including those who had immigrated during pre-modern wars a century prior, come under French jurisdiction[37] – a demand that Siamese government would not accept, leading to decade-long protracted Franco–Siamese negotiations. In the Franco–Siamese Treaty of 1907, the French assumed authority over existing French Asian subjects in Siam but left new registered French Asian subjects to Siamese jurisdiction in exchange for many lands in Laos and Cambodia going to French Indochina.[37] The Penal Code, the first modern Siamese law, was promulgated in 1908.[37] In the Penal Code of 1908, modern lèse-majesté or royal defamation law was introduced,[72] with imprisonment up to seven years for insult of royalty.[69][72] With a modern law in Siamese hands, the British surrendered most of their extraterritorial jurisdiction in Siam in the Anglo–Siamese Treaty of 1909, in which all British subjects in Siam, including both the British and the Burmese, became subjected to Siamese law, in exchange for Northern Malay sultanates joining British Malaya.[37]
King Vajiravudh defined Thai nationality through his Thai Nationality (Sanchat Thai) Law of 1913, putting emphasis on paternal nationality.[50][73] Any persons with a Thai father, regardless of birthplace,[50] domestic or abroad, were to be classified as Thai citizens under Thai law.[73] Siam joined World War I in 1917 on the Allies side, earning Siam an opportunity to re-negotiate and abolish Western extraterritoriality in Siam. According to Article 135 of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), extraterritorial jurisdiction of Germany and Austria-Hungary in Siam were retrospectively terminated from 1917 because they were war losers.[37] For other Western nations, Siam sought to conclude a treaty with the United States first to procure a prototype for new treaties as America was then a rising dominating world power.[37] In American–Siamese Treaty of 1920, American citizens in Siam came under Siamese law and legal system but, as the compilation of modern Siamese civil code had not yet completed, the American legation had rights, up to five years after completion of Siamese civil code, to evoke any cases it deemed appropriate from Siamese court. Siam in early twentieth century was in the time of press freedom and liberal political discussions. In 1922, Thai workers of Siam Electric tramline went on strike with support from socialist newspaper Kammakon ('Laborer').[79] King Vajiravudh then decided to contain freedom of press and restore order through his decree on books, documents and journals in 1923, in which document editors were made liable to punishments of lèse-majesté offense.[69] Propagation of political and economic theories against the monarchy was also considered similar offense.[69]
Japan–Siam Treaty of 1924 also put Japanese people in Siam under Siamese law under similar conditions to the Americans.[37] King Vajiravudh assigned Phraya Kanlayana Maitri Francis Bowes Sayre, an American Harvard Law professor, to be the Siamese delegate to embark on a European tour in 1924–1926 to conclude new treaties with European nations of behalf of Siam.[37] France agreed to new treaty with Siam in 1925, in which French subjects in nearly all parts of Siam, except for those in Monthon Ubon and Monthon Isan (modern Northeastern Thailand), came under Siamese law.[37] King Prajadhipok decreed, in 1927, that those who committed lèse-majesté were to be classified as enemies of the nation.[69] Compilation of modern Siamese civil code took decades to complete. It was only in 1926 that the first portion of Siamese Civil and Commercial code was issued. Siamese civil code was eventually completed in 1935[37] in post-revolution rule of Khana Ratsadon.
Due to the raging wars and population dearth, the overall productivity of Siam in the early decades of Rattanakosin remained relatively low. The Siamese economy in the early Bangkok period was based on subsistence agrarian economy. Commoners lived on the production of their lands and the central authority levied taxes as income. Land was abundant, while manpower was in shortage. Taxation and Royal Junk expenditures were the main revenues of the royal court. Traditionally, as in Ayutthaya, the royal court levied four kinds of taxes;
Taxes were collected in forms of commodities or currency money. Main spending of the royal court went to the Biawat or the stipends of all administrative officials and the construction of palaces and temples and firearm purchases. In the early decades of Rattanakosin, the financial situation of the royal court was in strain. In 1796, Prince Maha Sura Singahanat of the Front Palace, who received 1,000 chang annually, informed King Rama I that his share was inadequate to be distributed as Biawat to his officials.[13] King Rama I replied that the prince should invest more in the Royal Junks to earn money.[12] King Rama I conducted his personal trade with Qing China through the Samphao Luang (สำเภาหลวง) or Royal Junks,[103] in joint venture with Chinese merchants who provided the crew.[103] Export demands on Siam had been mainly forest products such as agarwood and sappanwood. The royal court acquired valuable products from the hinterland and loaded them on the junks to be traded. Chinese merchants enhanced this process by taking the role as middlemen and shippers.
Qing China had been the main trading partner of Siam since the late Ayutthaya period. In the early nineteenth century, Qing China requested to buy rice from Siam. Traditionally, rice was the forbidden commodity due to the fact that it was the main staple and crucial to stability of the kingdom. King Rama II allowed rice to be exported to China in some rice-surplus years. Chinese settler merchants played very important roles in the development of Siamese economy in the early Rattanakosin period. In the 1810s, the Chinese introduced the technology of sugar production leading to the establishment of numerous Chinese-owned sugarcane plantations in Central Siam.[104] Crawfurd mentioned the Chinese sugarcane plantations in ฺBang Pla Soi, Nakhon Chaisi, Bangkok and Petriu.[104][105] In 1822, Siam exported more than 8 million pounds of sugar.[104] For the first time, the export-oriented marketization took over native trade of forest products. However, the profits of these growing agro-industries were limited to the Chinese bourgeoisie and native elite class.[105] The sugar industry remained as the major Siamese export well into the late nineteenth century.
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By the reign of King Rama II, however, the Samphao Luang or Royal Junks became less profitable due to competition with growing private sectors.[103] Since the Ayutthaya period in the fifteenth century, the Siamese royal court had monopolized foreign trades through the Phra Khlang Sinkha (พระคลังสินค้า) or Royal Warehouse.[33] All incoming foreign ships including European merchants should go through inspection by the Phra Khlang Sinkha and would subject to at least two duties; the general eight-percent[106] tariff levied on merchandise goods and the Phasi Pak Reua or measurement duties that was based on the size of the ship. Crawfurd exemplified the situation in 1822 by narrating a commercial venture of British merchant brig Phoenix that brought goods from British India with the value of 24,282 ticals. Phoenix was subjected to multitudes of duties including 1,499-tical (equivalent to baht) measurement duties for ship size, 2,906 ticals for import duties and 6,477 ticals for export duties.[106] These duties had been a major source of revenue for royal court. Moreover, Phra Khlang Sinkha would haggle and bargain for suppressed prices as foreign merchants could not trade 'restricted goods' directly with the private Siamese.[106] Government-restricted goods in early nineteenth century included bird's nest, sappanwood, tin, peppers, timber, Malabar cardamom, lead, ivory and Hanbury's garcinia.
When the British arrived in the 1820s, they saw traditional royal monopoly as a hindrance and implied that free trade should be the better agreement. This culminated in the arrival of Henry Burney and the promulgation of the Burney Treaty in June 1826, which ended three centuries of royal monopoly by granting the rights to the British to trade privately. However, some trade restrictions remained. Rice and ammunition were not permitted to be traded freely and British merchandise ships were still required to go through the Phra Khlang Sinkha for the measurement duties imposition.[37]
King Rama III, who ascended the throne in 1824, faced major financial problems. The Burney Treaty of 1826, which terminated royal trade monopoly, took drastic effect on the royal court revenue. King Rama III then realized that, instead of relying on the Royal Junks, the royal court should rather invest in tax farming.[103] In his reign, thirty-eight new taxes were enacted to compensate the revenue loss. New tax farms required experienced collectors and the Chinese eagerly filled in these roles, leading to the creation of 'Chinese tax collector system'. When a new tax was announced, the Chinese merchants would compete for the rights to collect the tax on behalf of royal court. Those who promised highest amount of income would win this 'tax auction'. Deprived government revenues and decline in Chinese tributary trade in the 1840s pushed Siamese court towards more isolationist and conservative policies.[107] Chinese tax farming system re-imposed restrictions and tariffs on most trades.[43] British delegate Sir James Brooke, who argued that the Burney Treaty had not been honored by Siam, arrived in Bangkok in 1850 to find the Siamese court opposing any further concessions.[43] In 1850, few years prior to the Bowring Treaty, Siam's total export value was around 5.6 million baht, with more than fifty percent came from natural products and fifteen percent from sugar export.[108]
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Facing geopolitical pressures, Siamese government under liberal-minded King Mongkut[43] and Chaophraya Si Suriyawong (Chuang Bunnag) gave in to British demands with the signing of Bowring Treaty in 1855. General import tariff was reduced and fixed at three percent ad valorem, which was lower than other Asian states[37] including China's five percent[109] and Japan's five percent,[110] on all items except for opium and bullion.[44][50] Phasi Pak Ruea or measurement duties, which was based on ship size, was abolished and incoming merchant ships were levied for duties only once along the course of trade venture, whether import or export.[44] The rice export, which had been previously restricted due to concerns of national security, was liberalized.
Revolutionary effect of Bowring Treaty was that Siamese economy was liberalized as never been before, shifting away from traditional subsistence to export-oriented economy, expanded in market volume[50] and integrated into world economy. Rice arose to become the top export commodity, leading to rapid expansion of rice fields in Central Siam. Siam exported 60,000 tons of rice in 1857[111] and became one of the world's leading rice exporters in the 1860s as rice was mostly shipped to Hong Kong and Singapore.[108] Increasing rice export put the raise on incentives of rice producers who worked more lands and produced more crop than that was simply to feed themselves.[51] Another effect was the beginning of disparity of wealth between Central Siam and inner hinterlands when Central Siam flourished from new economies but the hinterlands, which had earlier depended on forest product trade through Central Siam, declined.[34] Bowring Treaty also forced decriminalization of opium, which had been outlawed since 1809, in Siam.
Trade agreements of Bowring Treaty and other 'unequal treaties' with Western nations also took detrimental effects on Siamese government revenues. Traditional trade tariffs was sacrificed in order to preserve the kingdom's security in regards of colonial threats.[12] This put Siamese government in dire financial situation even in the time that Siam's economy was expanding[34] and led to creation of fourteen even more tax farms in the reign of King Mongkut for Chinese collectors to levy. Numerous and disorganized taxes were scattered across many departments, which were under control of nobility who benefitted from their tax collection responsibilities. Largest taxes, opium tax and alcohol tax, belonged to the Bunnag-led Kalahom and Kromma Tha.[34] Nobles responsible for tax collection treated tax farms under their control as their own properties and sought to limit their payment to government treasury at fixed rate.[34] Government revenues were not effectively harnessed from this deranged taxation system and led to fiscal reforms by King Chulalongkorn in 1873.
Rattanakosin Kingdom used the silver bullet money known as Photduang (พดด้วง) as currency until it was officially replaced with flat coins in 1904.[112] Photduang originated in the Sukhothai period and had been in use through the Ayutthaya period. A silver bar was cut into discrete units of weight, which were melted and cast into strips that were bent to curve in the form of curled worms – hence the name Photduang meaning 'curled worm'.[112][113] Photduang bullet coins were imprinted with the Chakra Seal, which was the kingdom seal, on one side and the regal seal of each reign on other side. King Rama I had the Unalom Lotus Seal imprinted on the Photduang of his reign. King Rama II used the garuda seal. The seal of King Rama III was in the shape of a palace.[112] The weight units of Photduang were Tamleung (ตำลึง, 60 g of silver), Baht (บาท, 15 g), Salueng (สลึง, quarter of Baht), Fueang (เฟื้อง, half of Saleung) and Phai (ไพ, quarter of Fueang).
Different currencies were used in Lanna and Lao Kingdoms. In Laos, the Lat silver bars were used. Photduang were also accepted in those regions.
Though Photduang currency existed, the barter exchange remained prevalent. In the reign of King Rama II, the royal court distributed Biawat stipends to government officials in the form of white clothes. Some taxes were collected in form of commodity products.
Before Bowring Treaty of 1855, most Siamese economic transactions were done through barter exchange. After Bowring, the Siamese economy expanded in scale and led to monetization of the economy.[51] Cash in the forms of Mexican real, Dutch guilder, Indian rupee, Japanese and Vietnamese coins flooded into Siam. Siamese people were reluctant to switch to coin usage and stuck with their Photduang. Foreign coins were melted and re-cast into Photduang silver bullets. However, casting of Photduang required craftsmanship and did not meet the demands of Siam's growing economy. Government had to declare foreign coins legal for usage inside Siam in 1857.[51] During the Siamese Mission to London in 1857, Queen Victoria gifted a coin-minting machine to Siamese court,[113] leading to establishment of minting house in royal treasury department. ฺThree British engineers arrived in Siam with the machine in 1857 but all three of them died soon from fever, drowning and cholera, leaving the machine unoperated. King Mongkut then had to assign a native Siamese nobleman named Moed[113] (โหมด) to learn operation of minting machine. First Siamese machine-minted coinage was issued in 1860. It took time for Siamese society to accept modern coin usage and traditional Photduang was used concurrently.
Siam had entered the Chinese tributary relationship system, in which the Chinese imperial court recognized the rulers of Siam to maintain relations, since Sukhothai and Ayutthaya periods. Siamese missions to the Chinese imperial court were called Chim Kong[114] (進貢 POJ: chìn-kòng จิ้มก้อง "to offer gifts"). The Chinese Emperors conferred the Hong investitures (封 Peng'im: hong1 หอง) on Siamese monarchs as Siamlo Kok Ong[114] (暹羅國王). Siamese kings did not consider themselves as submitted tributary rulers but rather as amicable gift exchangers, while the Chinese court would construe this as vassal homage from Siam.[114] Entering the tributary relationship with China permitted the Siamese royal court to conduct lucrative commercial activities there. The Siamese court presented commodities ascribed by the imperial court as tributes to the Chinese Emperor who, in return, granted luxurious goods, which were more valuable than Siamese presented goods, in exchange. The Siamese mission to China was a profitable expenditure in itself in the view of Siamese royal court. The tributary relation with China did not have political implications in Siam as the Beijing court wielded little to no influence over Siam.
Kings of the Chakri dynasty of the early Rattanakosin period continued the tradition of Chim Kong. King Taksin of Thonburi had been in difficulties gaining recognition from the Chinese imperial court due to Emperor Qianlong telling Taksin to restore the Ayutthayan dynasty instead of establishing himself as king.[115] Later the Qing court took more positive view on Taksin, who managed to send a diplomatic tributary mission to Beijing in 1781.[115] The Chinese imperial court was informed that the new Siamese king Rama I was a son of Taksin[115] so the new royal court of Bangkok was officially recognized and the king was invested title by the Qing court in 1787.[115] Siam sent tributes to China once every three years. The Chakri kings used the family name "Zheng" (鄭),[114] which was the family name of King Taksin, in diplomatic letters to China. Chinese imperial court granted the Lokto Seal (駱駝 โลโต) to the Siamese king in recognition. The jaded Lokto Seal bore Chinese letters Siamlo Kok Ong with the handle sculpted in the shape of camel. On each mission, the Siamese envoys presented three letters to the Chinese court;
The Lokto Seal served as confirmation of validity of the Siamese mission. Siamese envoys to China were hailed from the Kromma Tha Sai (กรมท่าซ้าย 'Department of the Left Pier') that dealt with Chinese affairs and were usually Chinese-speakers themselves. The mission consisted of three dignitaries; the First Envoy Rachathut, the Second Envoy Upathut, the Third Envoy Trithut and two translators; Thongsue and Pansue. The Siamese mission took maritime journey to Guangzhou, where Chinese officials verified the Lokto. The Siamese mission then proceeded by land to Beijing.
By the 1830s, the Chinese junk trades declined.[114] In 1839, Emperor Daoguang ordered Siam to send tributes once every four years instead of three years.[114] The Treaty of Nanking of 1842, in the aftermath of First Opium War, abolished the Canton system and the British took over maritime trade in Asia. The Sino-Siamese trades shifted from junk trades based on the Chim Kong to the free trades using British cargoes.[114] Upon his ascension, King Mongkut dispatched a Chim Kong mission to China in 1851. The mission was rejected at Guangzhou on the grounds that Emperor Xienfeng was in mourning for his father Emperor Daoguang. Another mission was re-dispatched in 1852. However, the mission was robbed by local Chinese bandits and the Pansue translator was killed. King Mongkut then asserted that the Chim Kong tradition might give misguided impression that Siam had been under political suzerainty of China and was inappropriate for an independent sovereign kingdom to conduct.[114] King Mongkut then ordered the Chim Kong to be discontinued in 1863. The Chim Kong of 1852 was the last Siamese tribute mission to China in history.
In 1785, the Sultan of Kedah ceded Penang Island to the British East India Company in exchange for British military protection against Siam. Kedah had stopped sending tribute to the Siamese court since the dissolution of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767. Following the ascension of the Chakri dynasty, Siam demanded the resumption of tributary missions from the Sultanate of Kedah. When the Siamese army was at the doorstep of Kedah, the British refused to assist the Kedah Sultanate, arguing that the treaty made with the Sultan was between the Sultan and Francis Light, not the East India Company. The Kedah Sultanate attempted to retake Penang but failed, resulting in the official handover of Penang to the British in 1791. In 1800, Seberang Perai (Province Wellesley) was ceded to Britain. The French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars delayed official British contact with Siam for another twenty years.
In 1821, Marquess of Hastings the Governor-General of India sent John Crawfurd to Siam.[106] Also in 1821, Phraya Nakhon Noi the "Raja of Ligor" invaded and occupied the sultanate of Kedah resulting in Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah taking refuge in the British-held Penang. The British at Penang were concerning about Siamese presence in Kedah when Crawfurd arrived on the island in 1822. Crawfurd arrived in Bangkok in 1822.[106] There was no English translators in Siamese court so the British messages were translated into Portuguese then into Malay and into Thai. Crawfurd proposed tariff reduction. Phraya Phrakhlang (Dit Bunnag) asked to acquire firearms for Siam. Crawfurd, however, said that the British would sell firearms on conditions that Siam "were at peace with the friends and neighbours of the British nation", indirectly referring to Burma. Siamese court, whose main concern in dealings with Western powers was to purchase firearms to be used in Burmese Wars,[21] were dissatisfied. The final straw came when Crawfurd delivered the personal letter of the Kedah sultan to King Rama II, complaining Nakhon Noi as the source of his discontents. The negotiations were effectively soured.[21] Crawfurd eventually departed for Saigon later that year.[116]
Despite the events during his mission in 1822, Crawfurd remained in contact with the Siamese court as the Resident of Singapore. In the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1824, Crawfurd informed Siam that the British Empire was at war with Burma and requested Siamese aid. King Rama III then assigned Siamese troops led by the Mon commander Chaophraya Mahayotha[21] to assist the British in Tenasserim Region. However, the 'Mergui Incident' in 1825, in which Siamese and British commanders argued over the deportation of people of Mergui, prompted King Rama III to withdraw all troops from Burma. Lord Amherst then sent Henry Burney to Bangkok in 1825.[35] Henry Burney arrived at Ligor where he was escorted by Nakhon Noi to Bangkok in 1826. Agreements were reached and the Burney Treaty was signed in June 1826.[117] Burney Treaty ended traditional Siamese royal court monopoly[35] by allowing the British to trade freely and privately, in which the British accepted of Siamese domination over Kedah.[36]
The Burney Treaty also offered the British some disadvantages. The British in Siam, who were horrified by the Nakhonban methods of judiciary tortures, were still subjected to Siamese laws and court. The infamous Phasi Pak Reua or the measurement duties were still intact. After the First Opium War in 1842, the British came to dominate maritime trade in Asia and the British pushed for more free trades. Siamese court introduced the Chinese tax collector system, in which Chinese merchants would 'auction' for new commodity taxes and levy the taxes on behalf of government. This new taxation system effectively re-imposed trade barriers in the 1840s. James Brooke the governor of Labuan arrived in 1850[98] to amend agreements. However, his proposals were vehemently rejected by Siamese trade officials. Brooke even suggested gunboat diplomacy[43] but eventually left empty-handed. It was not until the Bowring Treaty of 1855 that the British rhetorical demands were achieved.
The new king Mongkut, who had ascended the throne in 1851 and his minister Chaophraya Si Suriyawong (Chuang Bunnag) embraced more liberal policies than their predecessors. Sir John Bowring the Governor of Hong Kong, who was the delegate of Aberdeen government[45] in London rather than the East India Company,[12] arrived in Bangkok in March 1855 along with Harry Parkes in the ship Rattler.[45] Si Suriyawong, called 'Kralahom', was an advocate of free trade principles. Though free trade proposals were initially opposed by Somdet Chaophraya 'Ong Noi'[37][45] Phichaiyat, agreements were reached and Bowring Treaty was signed in April 1855. Harry Parkes brought drafted agreement to London where Law Officers of the Crown pushed for clarifications of some vagueness, leading to the 'Supplementary Agreement of 1856'.[37] Parkes returned to Bangkok with ratifications exchanged in 1856. Bowring Treaty reduced and fixed general standard tariff at three percent and granted extraterritoriality to British subjects in Siam who would subject to British consular authority and British law rather than Siamese judiciary system.[37] The British were also allowed land ownership in area within 24-hour journey from Bangkok. Charles Hillier became the first British consul in Bangkok in 1856[118] but he died soon four months later. King Mongkut granted a land on Chao Phraya River bank next to Portuguese Consulate to be British Consulate.[118]
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King Mongkut sent a Siamese mission, led by Phraya Montri Suriyawong (Chum Bunnag), boarding on British ship Encounter, to London in 1857. This mission was the first Siamese mission to Europe since the last one in Ayutthaya Period in 1688. The envoys had audience with Queen Victoria in November 1857. There was a question about whether the Bowring Treaty terms affected and applied in Siam's tributary states including Lanna Chiang Mai. Robert Schomburgk arrived in 1857[118] to take the consul position in Bangkok. Schomburgk, himself a naturalist, visited Chiangmai in 1859–60 to observe political situation and to explore possible ways to connect to Isthmus of Kra.[119] King Kawilorot Suriyawong the ruler of Chiang Mai asserted that the Bowring Treaty did not affect Lanna as there was no mention about tributary states in the treaty and suggested that the British should conclude a separate treaty with Chiang Mai.[120]
Sultan Mahmud Muzaffar Shah of Riau-Lingga was deposed by the Dutch in 1857. Also in 1857, Pahang Civil War, which pitted Raja Bendahara Tun Mutahir of Pahang, who was supported by British Straits Settlements, against his brother Wan Ahmad, erupted. Wan Ahmad allied with Mahmud Muzaffar, who also allied with Sultan Baginda Omar of Terengganu due to familial relations. Mahmud Muzaffar came to reside in Bangkok in 1861. In 1862, Mahmud Muzaffar, telling Siamese court that he was to visit his mother in Terengganu, procured a Siamese ship to Terengganu. William Cavenagh the governor of Straits Settlements was greatly alarmed by Siamese intervention as it would broaden the war. Cavenagh demanded that Siam retrieve Mahmud Muzaffar back to Bangkok and sent gunboats to Kuala Terengganu, pressing the Terengganu sultan to surrender. When Terengganu did not yield, British warships bombarded Terengganu, leaving fires and damages.[121] Mahmud Muzaffar eventually returned to Siam. As Terengganu was Siam's tributary state, Chaophraya Thiphakorawong (Kham Bunnag) the Phrakhlang protested the incident to London, urging for investigation.[121] British parliament criticized Cavenagh for his attacks on 'friendly town' and instructed British naval commanders not to attack without orders of the Admiralty.[121]
British India had acquired Lower Burma in aftermath of the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. In 1866, after difficulties, British India sent a special commissioner Edward O'Riley to meet with Siamese delegate Phraya Kiat the Mon officer at Three Pagodas Pass in 1866 to explore and demarcate Anglo-Siamese borders between Siam and British Burma in Tenasserim Hills from Salween River to Andaman Sea. Border agreement treaty was signed in 1868,[55] becoming definition of modern Myanmar-Thailand borders.
Thomas George Knox arrived in Siam in 1851 when he was hired by Vice-King Pinklao to train modernizing Front Palace armies. Knox married a Tavoyan woman and had children with her including his daughter Fanny Knox.[122] Thomas Knox then switched to diplomatic career, becoming vice-consul in 1857, consul in 1865[122] and consul-general in 1868. Acquainted with Siamese elite circle, Knox politically supported Pinklao and his lineage[34] and became rather an ally of Si Suriyawong.[12] With ascension of King Chulalongkorn in 1868 under regency of Si Suriyawong, Prince Wichaichan, Pinklao's son, was made Vice-King of Front Palace. When Knox was away in 1868, Chinese-Siamese tax collectors burnt down some British opium houses in Bangkok. Henry Alabaster the acting consul pressed for compensation from Siamese court. Si Suriyawong, who was the patron of tax collectors, vehemently defended his subordinates. When Knox returned, he ruled in favor of Si Suriyawong. The disgraced Alabaster resigned and left Siam. King Chulalongkorn assumed personal rule in 1873 and appointed Henry Alabaster, nemesis of Si Suriyawong, to be his royal advisor. During the Front Palace Crisis in 1874–75, when Knox was absent again, the acting consul Newman acted in concert with Knox's interest to support and provide shelter to Prince Wichaichan in British consulate. When Sir Andrew Clarke the governor of Straits Settlements, who had earlier maintained cordial correspondences with King Chulalongkorn,[34] arrived in February 1875 to mediate the conflicts, he reversed British stance on the situation, favoring Chulalongkorn and forcing Wichaichan to accept humiliating terms instead.
Fanny Knox, daughter of Thomas Knox, married her lover Phra Pricha Konlakarn, a promising young Siamese nobleman, in 1878. Pricha Konlakarn and his father, Mot Amatyakul, had been by the king's side in political opposition against Si Suriyawong. By marrying to Pricha Konlakarn, Fanny Knox crossed factional division line and upset Si Suriyawong who intended to marry one of Bunnag gentlemen to her to cement alliance with consul Knox. Pricha's marriage drew ire from Siamese elite society as marrying Westerner was frowned upon at the time and required king's consent. Pricha Konlakarn had overseen a royal gold mine project. However, his abuses led to deaths of his workers. Local workers filed the case against Pricha Konlakarn with embezzlement and murder.[122] Si Suriyawong, out of political motives, pushed for death penalty of Pricha as corruption on royal revenue was punishable by death. Thomas Knox, in desperate attempt to save Pricha Konlakarn for the sake of his daughter, brought British gunboat Foxhound to Bangkok to force the release of his son-in-law. Despite Knox's interjection, Pricha Konlakarn was sentenced to death and executed in November 1879. Thomas Knox, after his fourteen years of tenure, was relieved of his consul position in 1879 for his improper exercise of power[122] and the Knox family left Siam. These incidents prompted King Chulalongkorn to send a mission to London in 1880 to explain the incident.
In late nineteenth century, the presence of British subjects, both the British themselves and British Asian subjects including the Burmese, in Northern Siam i.e. Lanna increased due to the expanding teak logging industry there. Siamese northern frontiers, where many ethnic tribes lived, was far from stable. Occasional Shan and Karen raids in the frontiers damaged British properties and sometimes British subjects were hurt. In 1873, the British Government of India pressed this issue onto Siam, urging Siam to ensure safety in the frontiers or else the British would occupy these lands themselves. Chulalongkorn then sent his delegate Phraya Charoen Ratchamaitri,[37] a brother of Mot Amatyakul and uncle of Phra Pricha Konlakarn, to negotiate an agreement with British India at Calcutta. The Anglo–Siamese Treaty of Chiangmai in 1874 dictated Lanna–Siam to employ security forces to guard the frontiers[37] and indirectly recognized the Salween River as the border between British and Siamese spheres of influences. However, this agreement alone was ineffective in dealings with British subjects in Lanna. The Chiangmai Treaty of 1883 stipulated establishment of the second British consulate at Chiang Mai and Anglo–Siamese mixed judicial court, composing of native Siamese judges applying Siamese law with British legal advisors, at Chiang Mai to oversee British subjects in provinces of Chiang Mai, Lampang and Lamphun.[37] Edward Blencowe Gould served as the first British vice-consul in Chiang Mai in 1884.
After British conquest of Burma in the Third Anglo–Burmese War in 1885, the British completed their control over the Shan States in 1889. Even though the British had previously recognized the eastern bank of Salween as being under Siamese influence, Siam held no power nor authorities over the trans-Salween Shan States. Siam then had borders with British Burma in Lanna, leading to Anglo–Siamese competitions over these mountainous unclaimed lands, which were rich in profitable teak. In 1884, Prince Phichit Prichakorn the Kha Luang, the king's commissioner at Chiang Mai, laid claims to trans-Salween 'Five Shan towns' or 'Thirteen Shan and Karenni towns' by organizing them into a unit called Wiang Chaipricha and sending Siamese troops to occupy the area. British Burma, however, viewed these towns as belonging to the Shan States under British control. Situation in northern frontiers was further aggravated by conflicts between Kengtung and the Tai Lue princely statelet of Chiang Khaeng or Kengcheng. Kengcheng and Kengtung had dynastic ties as Lord Kawng Tai of Kengcheng ascended as the ruler of Kengtung in 1881.[123] Kawng Tai replaced himself with his uncle Salino as the new ruler of Kengcheng but Salino sought to move away from Burmese domination by moving his seat to Muang Sing on the eastern side of Mekong in 1887.[123]
In 1889, the Government of India requested Anglo–Siamese joint boundaries settlement, led by British official Ney Elias but Siam did not attend.[124] Ney Elias then proceeded to uniterally demarcate the borders, which became northern portions of modern Myanmar–Thailand borders, and told the Siamese occupying forces to leave the trans-Salween disputed area.[124] Also in 1889, King Chulalongkorn commanded the Northern Thai Prince of Nan to bring forces to occupy and vassalize Kengcheng to safeguard against British incursions. Kengtung accepted British rule in 1890.[124] British Burma then, on behalf of Kengtung, laid claims to Kengcheng as the British had been seeking pathways to Sipsongpanna to China.[123] W.J. Archer the British vice-consul of Chiang Mai argued that Kengcheng's vassalge to Siam was invalid.[123] The looming French threats left Siam with no choices but to comply with British demands. In 1892, King Chulalongkorn consented to surrender trans-Salween Shan–Karenni towns to British Burma. France's entry into the scene further complicated the issue. In the aftermath of Franco–Siamese War of 1893, French Indochina annexed and laid claims to all Siamese lands east of Mekong, including eastern half of Kengcheng. This led to conflicting British and French claims in Kengcheng in upper reaches of Mekong in order to reach China.[123] The British outright seized control of whole Kengcheng in 1895.[123] Both sides eventually agreed to divide Kengcheng among themselves, using the Mekong as border, in 1896[123] with eastern half of Kengcheng going to French Indochina and western half going to British Burma.
During the Franco–Siamese conflicts, Lord Rosebery the British Foreign Secretary adopted a non-intervening policy, agreeing to allow the French to encroach and annex Siamese Lao lands east of Mekong,[68] in order to avoid Anglo–French conflicts,[68] while also preserving Siam's sovereignty. Facing French threats, Siam requested for British assistance.[68] When the French actually invaded Siam in March 1893, Rosebery expected the French to be satisfied with annexation only up to Middle Mekong.[68] Rosebery made clear that the British would not intervene,[68] while also telling Siam to comply with French demands. Rosebery sent some British gunboats to Bangkok under pretext to protect British subjects just to please the Siamese[68] as the British vessels did not engage with the invading French gunboats during the Paknam Incident. However, the French indeed annexed up to Upper Mekong, not satisfied with Middle Mekong as Rosebery had expected, reaching Kengcheng, which the British also claimed, leading to overlapping Anglo–French territorial claims at Kengcheng in the upper reaches of Mekong. The British were dissatisfied with French aggression towards Siam. The British Empire and French Republic were on the brink of war over Siam in July 1893.[68]
The returning British Foreign Secretary Lord Salisbury, who reconsidered British policies towards this Franco–Siamese issue, was more proactive in defending Siam. In October 1895, Lord Salisbury proposed that both the British and the French should jointly agree to leave the Menam Chao Phraya River valley of Central Siam alone. The French agreed with this plan as it would allow both the British and the French to pursue colonial acquisitions outside Central Siam,[68] Malay peninsula for the British and Northeastern Siam for the French. The Anglo-French Declaration was signed in January 1896, without Siamese acknowledgement, in which neither the British nor the French should advance their armed forces into the Menam Valley[125] of Central Siam, guaranteeing Siam's sovereignty only in Central Siam, allowing British intervention in Southern Siam.
Lord Salisbury, however, skeptically viewed this 1896 declaration as being insufficient to safeguard Siam[125] and proposed Siam for another treaty. The Anglo–Siamese Secret Convention was signed on 6 April 1897,[125] in which Siam was made to promise that Siam would not grant any concessions in Southern Siam below Bang Saphan to any other colonial powers than the British.[125] This 1897 Secret Convention was problematic for Siam as it served to guarantee British interests in Malay peninsula and also thwarted Siam's attempt to bring a third power, namely the German Empire, into the scene. Siam, still under French threats, had no choices but to accept any forms of British protection. This 'Secret Convention' was kept in secrecy[125] because both Siam and the British could not afford the French to demand similar concessions. Even the government of Straits Settlements was minimally informed about this treaty.[125] The British exploited Siam's vulnerability to further their gains in the Malay peninsula. The treaty soon became a source of frictions and discontents[125] between the British and Siamese government as Siam could not grant any concessions, both territorial and commercial, to any other powers but only to the British in Southern Siam.
Since 1786, Northern Malay sultanates of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu had owed traditional tributes of bunga mas to Siamese royal court, which were sent regularly. However, these tributary relations were vague and ill-defined in the realm of modern international law and diplomacy. British Foreign Office and Colonial Office had different approaches[126] towards Siamese rule over the Malay peninsula and Siam usually dealt directly with London to bypass the colonial government at Singapore. In 1882, Frank Swettenham argued that Malay bunga mas tribute to Siam was a 'token of friendship' rather than token of submission but the Foreign Office ruled in favor of Siam in 1885, saying that the British should maintain Siam's sovereignty in the region as a buffer state. Lord Salisbury the British Foreign Secretary was sympathetic towards Siam, compromising British Malaya's expansion. Things took a downturn for Siam during 1900–1902. Lord Lansdowne the new British Foreign Secretary supported British colonial expansion in Malay peninsula at the expense of Siam.[126] Muhammad IV the new sultan of Kelantan was pro-British.[126] Frank Swettenham the most outspoken advocate of British colonial expansion in Malay peninsula,[126] who had been working against Siamese rule over the Malays since the 1880s, was the governor of Straits Settlements.
In 1900, Robert William Duff procured a tin mining patent in Kelantan from Sultan of Kelantan for his company Duff Syndicate[126] but his grant was not ratified by Siamese government, who insisted that tributary rulers had no rights to issue concessions without approval from Bangkok.[126] Duff complained his case to the Foreign Office and to Frank Swettenham, who took this opportunity to dismantle Siamese influence. Swettenham and Lord Lansdowne forcefully proposed that Siam should allow British advisors in Kelantan and Terengganu.[126] King Chulalongkorn sent a delegate Phraya Si Sahathep to talk directly to Lansdowne at London[126] that Siam agreed to send British advisors to those Malay states but they were to be chosen by Siam. Kelantan-Siam and Terengganu-Siam Treaties were signed in December 1902,[126] under British mediation, establishing the 'Advisor system'. Pro-Siamese British advisors, who were more loyal to Bangkok than to Singapore, were sent to Kelantan and Terengganu in July 1903,[126] much to the dismay of Swettenham, who expected pro-colonial personnel from Straits Settlements to be appointed there instead.[126]
In Franco–Siamese Treaty of 1907, Siam ceded Northwestern Cambodia to French Indochina in exchange for curtailment of French extraterritorial jurisdiction in Siam.[37] Edward Strobel, King Chulalongkorn's advisor, told Siamese government that Siam should sacrifice its non-Thai peripheral tributary states in exchange for more favorable treaty terms, in similar manner to the Franco–Siamese Treaty of 1907. This connotation coincided with Southern Siamese railway project. The Anglo–Siamese Treaty was signed on 10 March 1909 between Prince Devawongse the Siam's Foreign Minister and Ralph Paget the British Minister at Bangkok, in which Siam ceded Northern Malay sultanates including Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis, which had been more or less, at least nominally, under Siamese suzerainty, to British Malaya in exchange for all British subjects in Siam, both Asian and European, coming under Siamese modernized legal system, the 4 million pound British loan to Siam for construction of Southern Siamese railways and abrogation of the controversial Secret Convention of 1897, returning foreign policy independence to Siam. British extraterritorial jurisdiction over Siam, stipulated by the Bowring Treaty of 1855 some fifty years prior, was mostly abolished by this Anglo–Siamese Treaty of 1909.[37]
Franco-Siamese relations terminated after Siamese revolution of 1688 in Ayutthaya Period.[37] The French maintained low-level presence in Siam through French missionary works. In 1856, Charles de Montigny arrived in Bangkok, with the aid of Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix the vicar apostolic of Siam, to conclude Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1856 that, in similar manner to British Bowring Treaty, granted low tariff and extraterritoriality to the French. Comte de Castelnau became the first French consul in Bangkok. King Mongkut sent a mission led by Phraya Siphiphat (Phae Bunnag) to Paris in 1861, where they had audience with Emperor Napoleon III.
After the French had acquired Cochinchina in 1862, they took over Vietnam's position in competing against Siam and were proved to be expansionist colonial power. Earlier in 1860, King Ang Duong of Cambodia had died, resulting in civil war between Norodom and his brother Si Votha. Pierre-Paul de La Grandière the governor of French Cochinchina sailed to Oudong in 1863, persuading Norodom to sign a treaty to make Cambodia a French protectorate without Siam's acknowledgement. Gabriel Aubaret assumed consular position in Bangkok in 1864. The French urged Siam to release Cambodian royal regalia for Norodom. Siam sent Phraya Montri Suriyawong (Chum Bunnag), accompanied by French Consul Aubaret, to bring Cambodian regalia to Oudong in June 1864, where French admiral Desmoulins placed Cambodian crown onto Norodom,[52] signifying French authority over Cambodia. However, Chaophraya Si Suriyawong the Kralahom had earlier secretly had Norodom sign another opposing treaty that recognized Siamese suzerainty over Cambodia, which was published in The Straits Times in August 1864.[52] Aubaret was embarrassed at the existence of such opposing treaty. The French sought to annul Cambodian-Siamese treaty and Aubaret brought gunboat Mitraille to Bangkok in 1864.[52] Compromise agreement draft between Siam and France was brought by Aubaret to Paris to be ratified in 1865.[54] However, ratification was delayed at Paris due to prospect that France would have to accept Siamese claims over 'Siamese Laos'[52] – France's future colonial ambitions. Siam sent another mission to Paris, led by Phraya Surawong Waiyawat (Won Bunnag), in 1865 to settle Cambodian issue disputes and to attend Exposition Universelle. The treaty was finally ratified in July 1867.[54] Earlier Cambodian-Siamese treaty was annulled as Siam officially ceded Cambodia to France but retained northwestern Cambodia including Battambang and Siemreap. The treaty also allowed the French to navigate the Mekong in Siamese territories,[54] leading to French Mekong expedition of 1866–1868. Siam then made joint preliminary border demarcations with French Cambodia in 1868 with border markers put at Chikraeng on northern side of Tonle Sap and at Moung Ruessei on the southern side, with Northwestern Cambodia remaining under Siamese rule.
The French gained control of Vietnam through the Treaty of Huế in 1884, also gaining complete control of Tonkin or Northern Vietnam after the Sino-French War of 1884–1885. After gaining control over Vietnam, the French pursued colonial ambitions over Laos, which had been under Siamese control since 1779. In the highlands that separated Laos from Northern Vietnam, there had been several Tai princedoms, including Sipsong Chuthai, Houaphanh and Muang Phuan that owed traditional allegiances and tributes to either or both Laos–Siam and Vietnam. The Haws or Chinese insurgents of the aborted Taiping Rebellion had been ravaging and pillaging these Tai princedoms since the 1870s and Siam struggled hard to deflect and contain the Haws in the Haw Wars. The French demanded that Siam allow establishment of second French consulate at Luang Prabang to mimic similar rights that Siam had granted to the British at Chiang Mai in 1883, even though there was virtually no French subjects in Laos by that time.[37] Siam allowed the French to establish the second consulate at Luang Prabang in 1886[37] with Auguste Pavie, who was an advocate of making Laos a French colony,[26] serving as the first French vice-consul at Luang Prabang. Pavie's taking of position at Luang Prabang coincided with Siamese expedition under Chaomuen Waiworanat (later became Chaophraya Surasak Montri) to suppress the Haws in 1885–1887. The Siamese faced opposition from Đèo Văn Trị, son of Đèo Văn Sinh the White Tai ruler of Muang Lay, who had allied with the Haws. Believing that the Haws had been pacified, Waiworanat ended his campaign and returned to Bangkok in 1887. However, Đèo Văn Trị was enraged that the Siamese had captured his brothers so he ransacked Luang Prabang two months later in 1887.[64] Pavie rescued King Ounkham of Luang Prabang from his burning palace to Bangkok.[64]
The sack of Luang Prabang by Đèo Văn Trị in 1887 worsened Siam's situation in the frontiers and also provided the French an opportunity to challenge Siam's power in the region.[26] Siam had no choice but to request for French military aid against the Haws. Unbeknownst to Siam, the French had allied with Đèo Văn Trị who allowed French troops under Théophile Pennequin to occupy Muang Lay in French expedition to conquer Sipsong Chuthai. Surasak Montri led his Siamese troops to the Black Tai town of Muang Thaeng or Điện Biên Phủ in 1887 but the wars to suppress the Haws had turned into Franco–Siamese conflicts over Sipsong Chuthai instead, in which surveys and mapmaking are crucial parts to territorial claims of each party on the region.[65] In December 1888, after arguments, in the Agreement of Muang Thaeng, Pavie and Surasak Montri agreed that Siam would withdraw from Sipsong Chuthai in exchange for Siam retaining Houaphanh and Muang Phuan. Pavie and French Indochina based their claims on Laos on Vietnamese historical archives.
Vietnamese Nguyen government appointed a Tai Phuan official called Bang Bien, who had rebelled against Siam, as an official in Muang Phuan under French auspices. This act enraged Siamese government, who sent troops to arrest Bang Bien at Muang Phuan in 1891. Pavie was transferred from Luang Prabang to become the French consul-general at Bangkok in 1892.[26] In April 1892, two French men defied Siamese authorities by attempting to cross border at Khammouane without proper documents nor paying tariffs, ending up expelled. French Colonial Party or Parti Colonial pushed to make Siam a French protectorate.[66] The French wanted the whole eastern side of Mekong in order to reach the Upper Mekong, which they believed would provide access to China.[68] Next year, Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan the governor-general of French Indochina began offensives into Siam-controlled territories of Laos by sending forces to seize Southern Laos around Stung Treng and Khong in March 1893, thus the Franco–Siamese War began. Also in March, Pavie brought French gunboat Lutin to French embassy at Bangkok in a gunboat diplomacy to pressure Siam to relinquish all Lao lands on the left bank (east) of Mekong to French Indochina. The Siamese believed that they had support from the British[26] so they did not yield. Siamese defense forces at the frontiers responded, resulting in capture of French official Thoreaux[66] in May and the killing of French officer Grosgurin in June at the hands of Siamese commander Phra Yot Mueang Khwang. French governments, both colonial and republican, with their colonialist and expansionist sentiments,[66] reacted furiously to these events. Through journalism, French Colonial Party incited public hatred in France towards Siam.[68] Siam also attempted to enlist support from the British, who took neutral stance and told Siam not to be provocative[68] instead.
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British gunboats began to arrive in Bangkok[68] in early July 1893, under the pretext to protect British subjects. British arrival prompted Pavie, who asserted that the French had rights to bring vessels to Bangkok per the 1856 Treaty, to send two more French gunboats Comète and Inconstant to Bangkok to join Lutin the French gunboat already there, escalating the threats. Rear Admiral Edgar Humann at Saigon commanded Captain Borey to bring those two French gunboats to Bangkok. With escalating French threats from Pavie, Prince Dewavongse the Siamese Minister of Foreign Affairs telegraphed the Siamese minister at Paris to approach Jules Develle the French Minister of Foreign Affairs for arbitration. Develle agreed to halt Pavie's two gunboats and sent Charles Le Myre de Vilers to convince Siam to accept French terms. Pavie had no choices but to accept the policy of his superior. However, in a historic turn of event, Captain Borey, who had not yet been informed about the change of French plans, proceeded to cross the river bar at Paknam to Bangkok on 13 July 1893, bringing Comète and Inconstant, leading to the Paknam Incident. Borey exchanged gunfires with Siamese defenders at Chulachomklao Fort under Danish commander "Phraya Chonlayuth Yothin" Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu. Borey eventually managed to anchor off at the French embassy. Both the Siamese and the French were equally shocked by the actions of Captain Borey.
Actions of Captain Borey nevertheless brought Siam to the knees in favor of the French. On 20 July 1893,[127] Auguste Pavie delivered ultimata to the Siamese government, including ceding of all lands east of Mekong to French Indochina, paying indemnities to French damages, punishment of offending Siamese officials and deposition of three million francs to guarantee the terms.[127] Siam bargained to cede only to the 18th parallel,[127] angering the French. The French then officially severed their relations with Siam on July 26 and imposed naval blockade on Bangkok at the mouth of Chao Phraya River. Siam eventually accepted all French demands unconditionally as the blockade was lifted and Franco–Siamese relations were restored. To punish Siam for the delay, the French imposed even harsher terms and went on to occupy Chanthabun or Chanthaburi in August 1893. The Franco–Siamese Treaty of 1893 was signed on 3 October 1893[127] between Prince Dewawongse the Siamese Foreign Minister and Le Myre de Vilers as French plenipotentiary. Siam officially ceded all Lao lands east of Mekong to French Indochina. A demilitarized zone of 25 kilometers all along the western bank of Mekong only on the Siamese side was established, where the Siamese were forbidden to have any military garrisons.[127] Siamese government paid three million francs for indemnities. The French would continue to occupy Chanthaburi until these terms were achieved and satisfied. Anglo-French Declaration of January 1896 between British and French governments,[68] not under knowledge of Siam, guaranteed Siamese sovereignty only in Central Siam, allowing French intervention in Eastern and Northeastern Siam. The French refused all Siamese officials, both civil and military, to enter this so-called demilitarized zone, leading to Siamese abandonment of Chiang Saen and Nongkhai cities that fell in the zone.
The French demanded registration of Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants in Siam, regardless of how many generations they had been in Siam, including voluntary immigrants and war prisoners of the pre-modern era, as French protégés[37] or French Asian subjects, effectively exerting French jurisdiction over Siam. Siamese government said that this demand was impossible because those ethnic immigrants had been assimilated and their ancestries were largely forgotten. The French also learned that the Kingdom of Luang Prabang, newly-acquired by the French in 1893, had ruled over some lands west of Mekong including Sainyabuli and Dansai. Franco–Siamese dispute over these issues led to protracted negotiation, in which Prince Dewawongse served as the Siamese representative, and the continuing French occupation of Chanthaburi. In the Franco–Siamese Convention of 1902, Siam agreed to registration of French Asian subjects in Siam as French protégés.[37] However, the treaty faced strong opposition in the French parliament, who insisted that Siam should cede more territories. In the augmented treaty version of 1904, Siam ceded areas on the west (right) bank of Mekong, including Sainyabuli, Champasak and Melouprey (modern Preah Vihear province) to French Indochina in exchange for settlement over "French Asian subjects" in Siam and French withdrawal from Chanthaburi, signed in February 1904.
Siam had annexed Northwestern Cambodia, including Battambang, Siemreap and Sisophon (modern Cambodian provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey, called "Inner Cambodia" in Thai), containing Angkor Wat, under direct Siamese rule in 1794[35] through a line of Siam-appointed governors of Battambang. Franco–Siamese Treaty of 1867 confimed Siamese rule over Northwestern Cambodia. However, the French viewed this area as being rightfully belonging to Cambodia. Siam organized Northwestern Cambodia into a Monthon in 1891, which was renamed as Monthon Burapha or "Eastern Province" in 1901. After the 1904 Treaty, in spite of French withdrawal from Chanthaburi, the French proceeded to occupy Kratt or Trat and Dansai to enforce treaty terms. France and Siam brought forward a delimitation commission to define boundaries between Siam and French Indochina. Fernand Bernard was appointed as the French representative. Bernard reported back to Paris in 1906[37] that French holding of Dansai and Kratt was impractical. The Franco–Siamese Treaty of 1907 was signed on 13 March 1907 between Prince Dewawongse and Victor Collin de Plancy the French minister in Bangkok,[37] in which Siam ceded Northwestern Cambodia to French Indochina in exchange for Trat and Dansai going back to Siam and the new registered French Asian subjects in Siam coming under Siamese legal system instead. This 1907 Treaty and the accompanying territorial settlement had ramification into modern times, resulting in Cambodian–Thai border dispute during 2008–2011.
Edmund Roberts was appointed by President Andrew Jackson as the American envoy to the Far East in 1831.[38] After visiting Canton and Danang, Roberts arrived in Bangkok in 1833 on the US Sloop-of-war Peacock.[39] Roberts met and negotiated with Chao Phraya Phrakhlang. The draft of Treaty of Amity and Commerce,[38][39] which became known as the 'Roberts Treaty', was presented to King Rama III in 1833. The Roberts Treaty was the first treaty between United States and an Asian nation and Siam became the first Asian nation to come into official relations with United States. The content of the treaty was largely in the same manner as the British Burney Treaty. Difference between the American Roberts Treaty and British Burney Treaty was that the United States required to be granted the same prospective benefits as other Western nations. If Siam reduced the tariffs of any other Western nations, the United States would be eligible for the same rights. If Siam allowed any other Western nations but the Portuguese to establish a consulate, the Americans would also be allowed. The treaty also stipulated that if an American failed to pay Siamese debts or bankrupted, the Siamese would not punish or hold the American debtor as slave.
However, the Chinese tax collector system imposed many tariffs in the 1840s that rendered trade much less profitable. No American merchants ship sailed to Bangkok from 1838 to 1850.[46] Like the British, the Americans later requested for amendments of the initial treaty. Joseph Balestier, a French man who became American diplomat, arrived in Bangkok in 1850 to propose the amendments.[39] Phrakhlang (Dit Bunnag), the usual receiver of Western envoys, had been away conducting the Sak Lek in Southern Siam. Phrakhlang's younger brother Phraya Siphiphat (That Bunnag) took over the task of receiving Joseph Balestier. However, the meetings were not friendly ones. According to Thai chronicles, Balestier behaved unceremoniously.[46] Phraya Siphiphat rejected any proposals to modify the existing treaty. Balestier even did not manage to deliver the presidential letter.[37][43] When Phrakhlang returned, Balestier complained to him that his younger brother Siphiphat had offended him as the envoy of the President of the United States but Phrakhlang did not respond.[46] Eventually, Balestier left Bangkok empty-handed.
Townsend Harris, on his way to Japan, arrived in Siam in April 1856 on San Jacinto to conclude a new treaty. Arrival of Harris was at the same time when the British Harry Parkes had been negotiating supplementary terms of Bowring Treaty.[37] Reception of the American envoy was delayed to due Siamese court preventing the British and the American to meet and join efforts to demand further concessions.[46] Harris presented gifts from President Franklin Pierce to Siamese court and asserted to Vice-King Pinklao that the United States "had no territory in the East and desired none".[46] Siamese Harris Treaty, based on Bowring Treaty and signed in May 1856, granted similar rights to the Americans including low tariff and extraterritoriality. Stephen Matoon was hired as the first American consul in Bangkok. Compared to the British and the French, the United States had little interest in Siam.[46] J.H. Chandler succeeded as American consul in Bangkok in 1859. King Mongkut sent a letter to President Abraham Lincoln in 1861, suggesting that Siam would gift elephants to be beasts of burden, in which President Lincoln politely declined, stating that "steam has been our best and most efficient agent of transportation in internal commerce".[46]
The Siamese effective manpower had been in decline since the late Ayutthaya period. The Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 was the final blow as most Siamese were either deported to Burma or perished in war. The manpower shortage of Siam was exemplified during the Nine Armies' War in 1785, in which Burma sent the total number of 144,000 men to invade Siam who managed to only gather 70,000 men for defenses.[13] D.E. Malloch, who accompanied Henry Burney to Bangkok in 1826, noted that Siam was thinly populated and the Siamese lands could support about twice the size of its population.[104]
Manpower had been a scarce resource during the early Bangkok period. The Department of Conscription or Registers, the Krom Suratsawadi (กรมสุรัสวดี), was responsible for the record-keeping of able-bodied men eligible for corvée and wars. Krom Suratsawadi recorded the Hangwow registers[128] (บัญชีหางว่าว) – a list of available Phrai commoners and That slaves to be drafted into services. However, pre-modern Siam did not maintain an accurate census of its population. The survey by the court focused on the recruitment of capable manpower not for statistical intelligence.[129] Only able-bodied men were counted on that purpose, excluding women and children and those who had escaped from authority to live in the wilderness of jungles.
The authority of Siamese government extended only to the towns and riverine agricultural lands. Most of the pre-modern Siamese lands were dense tropical jungles roamed by wild animals. Leaving the town for jungles was the most effective way to avoid the corvée obligations for Siamese men. The Siamese court devised the method of Sak Lek (สักเลก) to strictly control the available manpower. The man would be branded with the heated iron cast to create an imprinting tattoo on the back of his hand in the symbol of his responsible department. The Sak Lek enabled prompt identification and prevented the Phrai from escaping government duties. The Sak Lek was traditionally conducted once in a generation, usually once per reign and within Central Siam. King Rama III ordered the Sak Lek of Laos in 1824,[21] which became one of the preceding events of the Anouvong's Lao Rebellion in 1827. Sak Lek of Southern Siamese people were conducted in 1785, 1813 and 1849. Effective manpower control was one of major policies of the Siamese court in order to maintain stability and security.
Surviving sources on the accurate population of pre-modern Siam does not exist. Only through the estimated projections that the demographic information of pre-modern Siam was revealed. In the first century of the Rattanakosin period, the population of what would become modern Thailand remained relatively static at around 4 million people.[130] Fertility rate was high but life expectancy was averaged to be less than 40 years with infant mortality rate as high as 200 per 1,000 babies.[130] Wars and diseases were major causes of deaths. Men were periodically drafted into warfare. Siamese children died from smallpox yearly[131] and the Cholera epidemics of 1820 and 1849 had claimed 30,000[132] and 40,000 deaths, respectively.
Bangkok was founded in 1782 as the royal seat and became the primate city of Siam. Bangkok inherited the founding population from Thonburi, which had already been enhanced by the influx of Lao and Cambodian war captives and Chinese and Mon immigrants. Through the early Rattanakosin period, the population of Bangkok was estimated to be around 50,000 people.[133] Chinese immigration was the greatest contributor to the population of Bangkok and Central Siam. By the 1820s, Bangkok had surpassed all other cities in Siam in population size.[133] Others estimated population of major town centres in Central Siam in 1827 included[131] Ayutthaya at 41,350, Chanthaburi at 36,900, Saraburi at 14,320 and Phitsanulok at 5,000 people. Within the Siamese sphere of influence, Chiang Mai was the second most populated city in Rattanakosin Kingdom after Bangkok.[133]
Siam's economy, at least in Central Siam, was neoliberalized from subsistence economy to rice-export-oriented economy through the Bowring Treaty of 1855. This stimulated population growth as surplus food drove more new births to provide labor for the economy.[130] The population of Siam experienced a steady growth after 1850, from around five milliion people to 8.13 million by 1910. The population of Bangkok was around 100,000 people in 1850 and rose up to 478,994 in 1909.[131] Introduction of Western medicine and establishment of sanitation system in the late nineteenth century greatly improved the quality of life[130] and reduced the chance of deadly epidemics. In 1909, the first official modern nationwide Thai census was conducted.
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Since the Thonburi period, Siam had acquired ethnic population through many campaigns against the neighbouring kingdoms. Ethnic war captives were forcibly relocated. In 1779, when the Siamese forces took Vientiane during the Thonburi period, ten thousands[14] of Lao people from Vientiane were deported to settle in Central Siam in Saraburi and Ratchaburi, where they were known as the Lao Vieng (ลาวเวียง). The Lao elite class, including the princes who were the sons of the Lao king, were settled in Bangkok.[14] In 1804, the Siamese-Lanna forces captured the Burmese-held Chiang Saen. Northern Thai inhabitants of Chiang Saen, which were by that time known as "Lao Phung Dam" (ลาวพุงดำ, the black bellied Lao), were relocated down south to settle in Saraburi and Ratchaburi. The greatest influx of Lao people came in 1828 after the total destruction of Vientiane, which was estimated to be more than 100,000[21][14] people. Through the early nineteenth century, there was a gradual Lao population shift[12] from the Mekong region to the Chi-Mun Basin of Isan, leading to the foundation of numerous towns in Isan. In 1833, during the Siamese-Vietnamese War, the Siamese forces took control of Muang Phuan and its whole Phuan population were deported to Siam in order to curb Vietnamese influence. The Lao Phuan people were settled in Central Siam.
During one of the civil wars in Cambodia in 1782, King Ang Eng and his Cambodian retinue were settled in Bangkok. In 1783, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh took refuge and settled in Bangkok along with his Vietnamese followers. Cambodians were deported to Siam in Siamese-Vietnamese conflict events of 1812 and 1833. They were settled in Bangkok and the Prachinburi area. In 1833, during the Siamese expedition to Cochinchina, Christian Vietnamese and Cambodians from Cochinchina were taken to settle in Bangkok in Samsen.
Due to the insurgencies of Malay tributary states against Siam, Malays were deported as war captives to Bangkok on several occasions.[14] In 1786, when Pattani was sacked, the Pattani Malays[134] were deported to settle in Bangkok at Bang Lamphu.[14] In the 1830s, Pattani and Kedah rebellions prompted deportations of 4,000 to 5,000[14] Malays from the south to settle on the eastern suburbs of Bangkok known as Saensaep and at Nakhon Si Thammarat in the aftermath.
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After the Fall of Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1757, the Mon people of Lower Burma suffered from genocide by the Burmese and had taken refuge in Siam since the late Ayutthaya period. Another failed Mon rebellion caused an influx of Mon people in 1774 in Thonburi period. In 1814, Mon people of Martaban rose up against an oppressive Burmese governor and the 40,000 of Mon people migrated through the Three Pagodas Pass to Siam. King Rama II sent his young son Prince Mongkut to welcome the Mons at Kanchanaburi on that occasion.
Chinese immigration was the greatest contributor to the population growth of Central Siam. They were increasingly integrated into Siamese society over time. Crawfurd mentioned 31,500[104] male registered Chinese taxpayers in Bangkok in his visit in 1822. Malloch stated that, during his stay in 1826, 12,000[104] Chinese people arrived in Siam annually from Guangdong and Fujian Provinces. The Chinese settlers were adorned with special treatment by the royal court. Unlike other ethnicities, the Chinese were spared from corvée obligations and wartime drafts on the condition that they paid a certain amount of tax[104] known as Phuk Pee (ผูกปี้). Once the tax was paid, they were given an amulet to be tied around their wrists as the symbol. The first Phuk Pee was conducted in the reign of King Rama II. The Chinese settlers played a very important role in the development of Siamese economy in the early Bangkok period. The unrestricted Chinese were free to move around the kingdom, serving as commercial middlemen and became the first 'bourgeoisie' class of Siam.
Despite important political changes, the traditional Siamese society in the early Rattanakosin period remained largely unchanged from the Ayutthaya period. Theravada Buddhism served as the main ideology on which the societal principles were based. The king and the royal dynasty stood atop of the social pyramid. Below him was the common populace who were either the Nai[51] (นาย), who were the leader of their subordinates and held official posts, or Phrai commoners and That slaves, though there were substantial degree of social mobility. Ethnic immigrants became Phrai and That also, with the exception of the Chinese who had paid the Phuk Pee tax.
Sakdina was the theoretical and numerical rank accorded to every men of all classes in the kingdom, except the king himself, as described in the Three Seals Law. Sakdina determined each man's exact level in the social hierarchy. For example, the Sakdina of the nobility ranged from 400 rai to 10,000 rai each. The Sakdina of a basic Buddhist monk was 400 rai. The Sakdina of a slave was 5 rai.[97] The traditional Siamese society was roughly stratified into four distinct social classes;[50]
The royalty and the nobility, who had authority over and commanded the commoners, were collectively called Munnai (มูลนาย).
Outside the social pyramid were the Buddhist monks, who were revered and respected by the Siamese of all classes including the king. The Buddhist monks were exempted from corvée and any forms of taxation as, according to the vinaya, monks could not produce or earn wealth on his own.
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Maintenance of orthodox Theravadin Sangha monkhood was one of the main policies of Siamese royal court in the early Rattanakosin period.[12] King Rama I ordered the high-ranking monks to convene the Buddhist council to recompile the Tripitaka Pāli canon in 1788, which was regarded as the ninth Buddhist council according to Thai narrative. King Rama I renovated many local existing temples of Bangkok into fine temples. Important monastic temples of Bangkok included Wat Mahathat, Wat Chetuphon, Wat Arun, and Wat Rakhang. In the reign of King Rama III, massive number of nearly seventy Buddhist temples were either constructed or renovated in Bangkok, including both royal and demotic temples. In Early Bangkok, there were two Theravadin denominations: the mainstream Siamese Theravada and the Mon tradition. Influx of Mon people from Burma brought, along with them, the Mon Buddhist traditions and Mon monks themselves.
A Siamese man, regardless of social class, was expected to be ordained as a monk at some parts of his life.[136] Usually, a young man at the age of twenty temporarily became a monk as a part of coming-of-age customs. Women could not become monks, though she can shave her hair and wear white robes but would not officially be regarded as a monk. There were two monastic paths: the doctrinal 'city-dwelling' Khamavasi[136] (คามวาสี) that focused on Theravada philosophy and Pāli learning and the meditational 'forest-dwelling' Aranyavasi[136] (อรัญวาสี) that focused on mental exercise and meditation practices. Phra Yanasangvorn Suk was an influential monk in the 1810s who specialized in meditational Vipatsana practices, which was interpreted by some modern scholars as the Tantric Theravada.[137]
Monastic governance was organized into a hierarchical ecclesiastic bureaucracy. Sangharaja or Buddhist hierophant or Supreme Patriarch, appointed by the king, was the head of Siamese monkhood.[136] Sangharaja was treated as a prince with rachasap used on him. Below Sangharaja was the ecclesiastic hierarchy with ranks and positions nominated by the king. The Sangharaja would be entitled Somdet Phra Ariyawongsa Katayan and took official residence at Wat Mahathat. Royal court controlled the Buddhist Sangha to regulate and preserve traditions that were considered orthodox through the Krom Sankhakari (กรมสังฆการี) or Department of Monastic Affairs that had authorities to investigate Vinaya violations and to defrock monks.
Upon ordination, the Buddhist monk would take the vow of 227 precepts as the Vinaya or law regulating daily life conducts.[136] Valid ordination required presentation of existing genuine monks to transmit the monkhood onto the new monk. Buddhist monks traced their lineage of ordinations back to Buddha himself. In the early Bangkok period, the Siamese authority faced dilemma in which Buddhist laws declined as the violations of Vinaya were widespread including accumulation of personal wealth and having children. Many attempts by the royal court were made to purify the monkhood and purged any of 'non-conformist' monks. In 1824, the young Prince Mongkut was ordained as a monk. However, his father King Rama II died fifteen days later and his elder half-brother Prince Chetsadabodin took the throne as King Rama III. Prince Mongkut stayed in monkhood to avoid political intrigues[138][139] and pursued religious and intellectual life. Prince Mongkut soon found that the mainstream Siamese monkhood was then generally laxed in Vinaya. He then met Phra Sumethmuni a Mon monk in 1830[139] and discovered that Mon traditions was more strict and closer to the supposed original Buddha's Vinaya and, therefore, the authentic lineage traceable to Buddha. In 1830, Prince Mongkut moved from Wat Mahathat to Wat Samorai and officially began the Thammayut or Dhammayuttika (ธรรมยุต 'adhering to the dharma') movement. He studied and followed Mon traditions. Prince Mongkut re-ordained as a monk in Mon tradition at Wat Samorai,[138] where the Thammayut accumulated followers. The mainstream Siamese monks then became known as the Mahanikai (มหานิกาย). Robes of Thammayut monks were brownish-red in colour and worn over both shoulders in Mon style,[139] while the robe colour of Mahanikai monks was bright-orange. Thammayut forbid the monks to touch money. New Pāli pronunciation and the routine of daily Buddhist chanting were also introduced.[139] Prince Mongkut was appointed as the abbot of Wat Baworn Nivet, which became the headquarter of Thammayut, in 1836.
The royal court had mixed reactions with the Thammayut. King Rama III tolerated Thammayut but commented on the Mon-style robes. Prince Rakronnaret, who oversaw the Krom Sankhakari, was the main opponent of Thammayut. Prince Mongkut acquainted himself with Westerners in Bangkok, including Bishop Pallegoix, and learnt Western sciences and philosophy that would later influence Mongkut's rational rethinking and Buddhist realism in his Thammayut ideals.[139][93] Thammayut emphasized the importance of Pāli learning as the sole doctrinal source and considered meditations, magical practices and folklore syncretism as mythical.[138][139] In 1851, Prince Mongkut decided to order Thammayut monks to abandon Mon-style robes due to pressures. Prince Mongkut went to become the king in 1851 and the Mon-style monk robes were reinstated. The leadership of Thammayut passed to Prince Pavares Variyalongkorn.
Since 1730 in Ayutthaya Period, Siam had forbidden Christian catechisms to be written in Siamese alphabets.[140] Siamese, Mon and Lao-Lanna people were also forbidden to convert,[140] on the pain of death. In pre-modern Siam, religion was closely tied with ethnicity. Westerners were allowed to practice their religion freely in Siam but conversion of native people was forbidden as it deviated from ethnocultural norms. In 1779, King Taksin of Thonburi ordered the expulsion of three French Catholic priests:[141] Olivier-Simon Le Bon the vicar apostolic of Siam, Joseph-Louis Coudé and Arnaud-Antoine Garnault from Siam for their refusals to drink the sacred water to swear fealty to the king. Le Bon retired to Goa where he died in 1780.[141] Coudé left for Kedah and he was appointed the new vicar apostolic of Siam in 1782.[142] Coudé returned to Bangkok in 1783. Coudé was pardoned by King Rama I and was allowed to skip the lustral water drinking ceremony. Coudé took the vicarate seat at Santa Cruz church in Kudi Chin district. However, as French bishops continued to monopolize vicarate position in Siam, Coudé faced oppositions from the Portuguese who formed the majority of Catholics in Bangkok. Coudé left Bangkok for Kedah where he died in 1785[142] and was succeeded by Garnault in 1787. Vicars apostolic of Siam in the early Bangkok period usually spent most of tenure in Kedah, Penang, and Mergui due to resistance from the Portuguese in Bangkok who always requested for Portuguese bishops from either Goa or Macau. Chantaburi arose as the centre of immigrated Vietnamese Catholics. Kedah, Malacca, Singapore and Tenasserim were added to the territory of apostolic vicarate of Siam in 1840.[143]
Jean-Paul Courvezy, the vicar apostolic of Siam, chose Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix as his coadjutor in 1838.[143][144] Courvezy moved to stay permanently in Singapore,[143] leaving Pallegoix in Bangkok. In 1841, in accordance with the papal brief Univerci Dominici,[143] the apostolic vicarate of Siam was divided into apostolic vicarates of Eastern Siam, corresponding to Siam proper, and Western Siam corresponding to Malay peninsula. Courvezy remained as the vicar apostolic of Western Siam at Singapore,[143] while Pallegoix was appointed the vicar apostolic of Eastern Siam in Bangkok.[144] Pallegoix was the first vicar apostolic to spend most of his time in Bangkok. As Siamese people were forbidden to convert, episcopal authority in Siam oversaw Christians of foreign origins. In 1841, there were total of 4,300 recorded Catholics in Siam with 1,700 Vietnamese Catholics in St. Francis Xavier Church in Bangkok, 700 Portuguese-Cambodian Catholics in Immaculate Conception Church, 500 Portuguese-Siamese Catholics in the Santa Cruz Church and another 500 at Holy Rosary Calvário Church and 800 Vietnamese Catholics in Chanthaburi.[144] In 1849, during the Cholera epidemic, King Rama III ordered the Christian churches to release domesticated animals and feed them[144] to make merits to appease the diseases according to Buddhist beliefs. Missionaries did not comply and incurred the anger of the king. Pallegoix then decided to release the animals per royal orders. King Rama III was satisfied but ordered the expulsions of eight priests who refused to comply. In 1852, King Mongkut personally wrote to the expelled eight missionaries urging them to return and promising not to impose Buddhist beliefs on missionaries in the future. Pope Pius IX issued thanks to King Mongkut by papal briefs Pergrata Nobis (1852) and Summa quidem (1861).[144] Mongkut declared freedom of religion for his subjects in 1858,[49] ending more than a century of conversion ban and opened new era of native Siamese Christian converts.
In 1828 saw the arrival of first two Protestant missionaries in Bangkok: British Jacob Tomlin from London Missionary Society and German Lutheran Karl Gützlaff.[98][145] Tomlin stayed only for nine months and Gützlaff stayed until 1833. Protestant missions in Siam was then very nascent. American Presbyterian missionaries from ABCFM and Baptist missionaries arrived in this period. American missionaries were called 'physicians' by the Siamese because they usually practiced Western medicine. Though their missionary works were largely unclimactic, they contributed to Thai history by the introduction of Western sciences and technologies. These included Presbyterian Dan Beach Bradley[98] (หมอบรัดเล, arrived in 1835), who introduced surgery, printing and vaccination to Siam, Presbyterian Jesse Caswell[146] (arrived in 1839 together with Asa Hemenway), who closely associated with Prince Mongkut, Baptist John Taylor Jones[147] (arrived in 1833) and Baptist J.H. Chandley[147] (หมอจันดเล, arrived in 1843).
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After the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom and failed attempts to reacquire the portage route long by the Chakri rulers, Persian and Muslim influence in Siam declined as Chinese influence within the kingdom grew. Despite this, however, the Muslim community remained a sizable minority in Bangkok, particularly in the first hundred years or so.
After the Fall of Ayutthaya, Shiite Muslims of Persian descent from Ayutthaya settled in the Kudi Chin district. 'Kudi' (กุฎี) was the Siamese term for Shiite Imambarah, though it could also refer to a mosque. Muslim communities in Siam were led by Phraya Chula Ratchamontri (พระยาจุฬาราชมนตรี), the position that had been held by a single lineage of Shiite Persian descendant of Sheikh Ahmad since 1656 and until 1939.[148] Phraya Chula Ratchamontri was also the Lord of the Right Pier who headed the Kromma Tha Khwa (กรมท่าขวา) or the Department of the Right Pier that dealt with trade and affairs with Muslim Indians and Middle Easterners. Shiite Persians were elite Muslims who served as officials in Kromma Tha Khwa. Shiites in Siam were characterized by their ritual of the Mourning of Muharram or Chao Sen ceremony (Imam Hussein was called Chao Sen[148] เจ้าเซ็น in Siamese). King Rama II ordered the Muharram rituals to be performed before him in the royal palace in 1815 and 1816. Kudi Mosques were established and concentrated on the West bank of Chao Phraya River in Thonburi. Important Kudis in Thonburi included Tonson Mosque (Kudi Yai or the Great Kudi, oldest mosque in Bangkok), Kudi Charoenphat (Kudi Lang, the Lower Kudi) and Bangluang Mosque (Kudi Khao or the White Kudi).
The Siamese used the term Khaek[148] (แขก) for the Islamic peoples in general. In traditional Siam, religion was closely tied with ethnicity. Muslims in Siam included the Sunni Khaek Cham and Khaek Malayu (Malays) and Shiite Khaek Ma-ngon or Khaek Chao Sen, referring to Persians.
The Burmese Wars and the Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 prompted the Siamese to adopt new tactics. Less defensive strategies and effective manpower control contributed to Siamese military successes against her traditional enemies. Acquisition of Western flintlock firearms through diplomatic and private purchases was crucial.
In wartime, all court officials and ministers, civilian or military, were expected to lead armies in battle. The bureaucratic apparatus would turn into war command hierarchy with the king as supreme commander and ministers becoming war generals. There was a specific martial law regulating the war conducts. A general defeated by the enemy in battlefield would be, in theory, subjected to death penalty. In the offensives, auspicious date and time were set to begin marching. Brahmanistic ceremony of cutting trees with similar names to the enemy was performed, while the army marched through a gate with Brahmins blessing with sacred water.
Siamese armies in the early Bangkok period consisted mostly of conscripted militias, who might or might not go through military training. There was also professional standing army – the Krom Asa (กรมอาสา) – but its role in warfare was largely diminished in comparison to the Ayutthaya period due to the manpower shortage. The Phrai militia infantry, who were armed with melee weapons such as swords, spears or javelin or matchlock firearms formed the backbone of Siamese armies. Regiments also indicated social hierarchy, with nobility on horseback and the king on an elephant, while commoners were on foot. Krom Phra Asawarat (กรมพระอัศวราช) was responsible for horse-keeping for royal elite troops, while Krom Khotchaban (กรมคชบาล) was responsible for taking care of royal elephants.
There were ethnic regiments that were assigned with special tasks. For example, the Krom Asa Cham (กรมอาสาจาม), the Muslim Cham-Malay regiment that took responsibilities in naval warfare and the Mon regiment that served as Burmese-Siamese border patrol. The Mon regiment played crucial role in surveillance of the borders with Burma due to their familiarity with the area and would provide timely alerts of imminent Burmese incursion to the Bangkok court. The members of the Mon regiment were usually Mon immigrants who had been escaping the Burmese rule into Siam since the Thonburi period.
The Portuguese introduced matchlock arquebus to Siam in the sixteenth century. The Portuguese and other Europeans filled in positions in the arquebusier regiment known as Krom Farang Maen Peun (กรมฝรั่งแม่นปืน). Though the Siamese were unable to produce firearms, European traders provided unrelenting sources of firearms. Captured enemy ammunition was another source of supply. Firearms usage later spread to native Siamese soldiers who received training from European arquebusiers.
The Siamese were exposed to flintlock muskets from French soldiers visiting Siam in the seventeenth century during the reign of King Narai. Flintlock muskets produced twice firing frequency in comparison to matchlock arquebus.[149] However, like other kingdoms in the Far East, flintlock firearms remained rare commodity and were acquired through purchases from Westerners. Francis Light the British merchant, who had been residing in Thalang or Phuket Island from 1765 to 1786 when he moved to Penang, had been a major supplier of firearms to the Siamese court. During the Nine Armies' War in 1785, Light provided the defenders of Thalang with muskets. Light also gave 1,400 muskets to the Siamese court, earning him the title Phraya Ratcha Kapitan. In 1792, the Samuha Kalahom asked to buy muskets and gunpowder from Francis Light.[150] Flintlock muskets were usually reserved for the elite troops and those who could afford. Krom Phra Saengpuen (กรมพระแสงปืน), was responsible for the keeping and training of firearms. Royal court strictly controlled the firearm trade in Siam.[102] Firearms could only be purchased by the royal court and unpurchased firearms should be taken back.
The Siamese had been able to cast their own cannons since the Ayutthaya period.[149] Native Siamese large muzzleloader cannons were called Charong (จ่ารงค์), which were made of bronze and usually 4–5 inches in calibre. Charong cannons were put on city walls or on warships. Bariam cannons (บาเรียม from Malay meriam) were European-produced cast-iron cannons with relatively larger calibre and shorter barrel. Barium cannons inflicted high damages on the battlefields and were sought after to purchase from Westerners by the court. Small breechloader cannons were also used. In the reign of King Rama III, the Siamese learned to produce small cast-iron cannons from the Chinese. In 1834, Christian Vietnamese from Cochinchina immigrated to settle in Bangkok and formed the Vietnamese firearm regiment that specialized in cannons and muskets.
In the early Rattanakosin period, Siam accumulated cannons and firearms. In 1807, there were total 2,500[102] functioning cannons in Siam, with 1,200 of them stationed in Bangkok, 1,100 distributed to provinces and the last 200 installed on 16 royal warships. The total number of firearms in Siam in 1827 were over 57,000.[102]
Before 1852, Siam did not have a standing navy. Most of the Continental Southeast Asian warfare was land-based or riverine. When a naval warfare was initiated, the authority would gather native Siamese riverine barges and, if possible, Western galleons or Chinese junks. The Siamese relied on either Chinese or Malay junks for seafaring activities. Commercial and war vessels were used interchangeably. The navy was manned by the Krom Asa Cham or the Cham-Malay regiment who possessed naval knowledge. The naval commander would be either Phraya Ratchawangsan, the leader of Krom Asa Cham, or Phrakhlang, the Minister of Trade.
Growing powers of the British and the Vietnamese in the 1820s urged Siam to engage in naval preparations against possible incursions from sea. Siamese temporary fleets composed of sampans, which were for riverine and coastal campaigns and either constructed or levied. Siamese warships were essentially Chinese junks armed with Charong cannons. In the 1820s, Chao Phraya Nakhon Noi maintained his dock at Trang and became an important Siamese shipbuilder. In 1828, Nakhon Noi constructed augmented Chinese junks rigged with Western masts. These Chinese-Western fusion war junks were used during the Battle of Vàm Nao in 1833 where they faced large Vietnamese 'mobile fort' Định Quốc war junks armed with heavy cannons. King Rama III then ordered the construction of Vietnamese-style mobile-fort junks in 1834. Prince Isaret (later known as Pinklao) and Chuang Bunnag pioneered the construction of western-style seafaring ships. In 1835, Chuang Bunnag successfully constructed Ariel (Thai name Klaew Klang Samutr) as the first native brig, while Prince Isaret constructed Fairy (Thai name Phuttha Amnat) as a barque in 1836. However, the barques and brigantines were already outdated by the mid-nineteenth century in favor of steamships. Robert Hunter, a British merchant in Bangkok, brought a steamboat to Bangkok for the royal court to see in 1844 but King Rama III refused to buy the ship due to overpricing.
As early Chakri kings sought to emulate old Ayutthaya, art tradition of Early Rattanakosin Period followed the style of Late Ayutthaya. Siamese arts and architecture reached new peak in Early Bangkok in early nineteenth century.[151] Prevailing mood was that of reconstruction with little explicit innovations.[151] Like in Ayutthaya, the Bangkok court hosted Chang Sip Mu (ช่างสิบหมู่) or Ten Guilds of Royal Craftsmen to produce arts, crafts and architecture.[152] Traditional Siamese arts mainly served royal palaces and temples. King Rama I the founder of Rattanakosin kingdom began construction of the Grand Palace including Wat Phra Kaew, which was the 'royal chapel' used by the king[153] for ceremonies without any monks residing, in 1783. Royal palace pavilions took inspiration from Ayutthayan palace buildings. When finished, Wat Phra Kaew housed the Emerald Buddha, moved from Wat Arun in 1784. Ubosoth or main ordination hall of Wat Phra Kaew is the best-preserved structure that can be an example of how Ayutthayan style was implemented in Early Bangkok Period.[153] Three-tiered roof, decorated gable motifs with curved base and inlaid mother-of-pearl doors of the Ubosoth were characteristic of Ayutthayan architecture.[153][154]
In Early Bangkok Period, local existing temples in Bangkok were renovated into fine temples. Central structures of Thai temples included ordination hall Ubosoth (อุโบสถ), which was wide rectangular in shape,[153] for monks to chant and perform ceremonies and Wiharn (วิหาร), which was for general public religious services. Bas reliefs of gable pediments represented Hindu figures and patterns made from gilded carved wood or glass mosaics.[152] Innovation was that temple buildings in Bangkok Period were enclosed by cloister galleries called Rabiang Khot[152] (ระเบียงคต), which was not present in Ayutthaya. Sacred ceremonial grounds for monks were marked by Bai Sema (ใบเสมา) stones. Prasat (ปราสาท) was new structure of Early Bangkok characterized by cruciform plan with Angkorian-style Prang towering in the center.[151] While temples were built with sturdy bricks, vernacular and lay residential structures were wooden and did not endure for long period of time.[151][153]
Redented-corner and Neo-Angkorian Prang were the most popular styles of Chedis or pagodas in Early Bangkok Period.[151] The grand Prang pagoda of Wat Arun was constructed in 1842 and finished in 1851. It remained the tallest structure in Siam for a significant period of time. When King Mongkut, who was then a Buddhist monk, made pilgrimages to Northern Siam he took inspiration from Sukhothai-Singhalese rounded pagoda style, culminating in construction of round-shaped Wat Phra Pathomchedi pagoda in 1853.[151]
Traditional Thai painting was dedicated to Buddhist mural arts of temples depicting Buddhist themes including the life of Buddha, Jataka tales and cosmology.[151] Colors were restricted mostly to earth-tones.
Buddha images were not as extensively cast as they used to be in Ayutthaya Period.[151] Numerous Buddha images from ruinous cities of Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Phitsanulok were moved to be placed in various temples in Bangkok during Early Bangkok Period.
King Rama III, known before ascension as Prince Chetsadabodin, had overseen Kromma Tha or Ministry of Trade and had acquainted with Chinese traders in Bangkok. In 1820, Prince Chetsadabodin led army to the west to fight the Burmese. He rested his troops at Chom Thong where he renovated the existing Chom Thong Temple in Chinese style using stucco decorated with Chinese motifs rather than traditional Siamese decorations. The renovation completed in 1831 and the temple became known as Wat Ratcha-orot Temple, which was the prototype of Sino-Siamese fusion architecture – called Phra Ratchaniyom (พระราชนิยม) "Royal Preference" style. Sinicization was strong during the reign of King Rama III[152] (r. 1824–1851), during which up to seventy Theravadin temples were either constructed or renovated and one quarter of those temples involved were in Chinese style.[152] Chinese elements introduced were blue-and-white inlaid with stucco,[154] ornate ceramic mosaic, ceramic roofs and ridged tiles. Pediments were plastered and decorated with Chinese floral motifs in ceramic mosaics rather than traditional wooden gilded Hindu-deities decorations.[152] Chinese decorative objects including Chinese pagodas, door guardian statues, door frames and glass paintings were imported from China to be installed in chinoiserie temples. Well-known Chinese-style temples included Wat Ratcha-orot, Wat Thepthidaram and Wat Phichaiyat. Neo-Angkorian Prang of Wat Arun, constructed during the reign of Rama III, was adorned with Chinese stucco motifs,[154] representing fusion of array of styles. Chinese style persisted into the reign of King Mongkut in the 1860s.
Siam opened the kingdom as the result of the Bowring Treaty of 1855, leading to influx of Western influences onto Siamese art. Khrua In Khong, a native Siamese monk-painter, was known for his earliest adoption of Western realism and for his impressionist works. Previously, traditional Siamese painting was limited to two-dimensional presentation. Khrua In Khong, active in the 1850s, introduced Western-influenced three-dimensional style to depict Buddhist scenes and Dharma riddles. In his temple-mural paintings, Khrua In Khong depicted Western townscapes, applying laws of perspective and using color and light-and-shade techniques.[155]
French bishop Pallegoix introduced daguerreotypes to Siam in 1845. Pallegoix had another French priest Louis Larnaudie bring camera apparatus from Paris to Bangkok.[156] However, Siamese superstitious belief was against photography in aspect that photos would entrap person's soul. Later King Mongkut embraced photography. Larnaudie taught wet-plate photography to a Siamese nobleman Mot Amatyakul, who was the first native Siamese photographer, and a Siamese Catholic Francis Chit.[156] Francis Chit opened his own studio in Kudi Chin in 1863, producing photos of temples, palaces, dignitaries, landscapes and cityscapes.[156] Chit was appointed as official royal photographer in 1866 with title Khun Sunthornsathisalak and was later promoted in 1880 to Luang Akkhani Naruemit. Francis Chit accompanied King Chulalongkorn as royal photographer on royal trips abroad.[156] Chit sent his son to learn photography at Germany and after his death in 1891 his studio Francis Chit & Sons continued to operate.[156]
Siamese (now known as Thai) was the language of Rattanakosin government. The royal court maintained a specialized register called Rachasap (ราชาศัพท์) to be used onto royalty characterized by Khmer lexicon usage.[92] Another set of special vocabulary was used onto the monks. Thai script was used to write worldly matters including historical chronicles, government decrees and personal poems, while a variant of Khmer script called Khom Thai script was used to write Buddhist Pāli texts including the Tripitaka. Native Siamese people spoke Siamese language. Other languages were spoken by ethnic immigrants or people of tributary states including Northern Thai language of Lanna, Lao language of Laos and Khorat Plateau, Malay language of southern sultanates and other minority languages. Languages of Chinese immigrants were Teochew and Hokkien. Ethnic immigration also affected Siamese language. Plethora of Southern Min Chinese lexicon entered Thai language. Chinese loanwords prompted invention of two new tone markers; Mai-Tri and Mai-Chattawa that were used exclusively for Chinese words to transmit Chinese tones.[157] Mai-Tri and Mai-Chattawa first appeared around mid-to-late eighteenth century.[157]
During religious reforms in mid-nineteenth century, King Mongkut discouraged the use of Khom Thai script in religious works for reason that its exclusivity gave wrong impression that Khmer script was holy and magical, ordering the monks to switch to Thai script in recording Buddhist canon. Mongkut also invented Roman-inspired 'Ariyaka script' c. 1841 to promote printing of Tripitaka instead of traditionally inscribing on palm leaves[158] but it did not come into popular use and eventually fell out of usage. Only in 1893 that first whole set of the Pāli canon in Thai script was printed.[158]
Siamese royal court of Early Bangkok Period sought to restore royal epics and plays lost during the wars. Kings Rama I and Rama II themselves wrote and recomposed royal plays including Ramakien (adapted from Indian epic Ramayana) and Inao (Thai version of Javanese Panji tales).[159][160] Kings' own works were called Phra Ratchaniphon (พระราชนิพนธ์ "Royal writing").[161] Refined royal theater plays, known as Lakhon Nai[162] (ละครใน "Inner plays"), was reserved only for royal court and was performed by all-female actors that were part of royal regalia,[163] in contrast to vernacular, boisterous Lakhon Nok[162] (ละครนอก "Outer plays") that entertained commoner folk and performed by all-male troupes.[163] Krom Alak or Department of Royal Scribes formed circles of illustrious court poets and scholars[161] under royal supervision. Traditional Siamese non-fiction genre includes Buddhist and historical themes. Chaophraya Phrakhlang Hon[161] was known for his translation of Chinese Romance of Three Kingdoms and Burmese Razadarit Ayedawbon into prose works Samkok and Rachathirat, respectively.[159] Despite foreign origins of these works, they were appropriated into Thai literature repertoire to be distinctively Thai[159] and incorporated many local Siamese legends. Prince Poramanuchit, who was the Sangharaja hierophant from 1851 to 1853, produced vast array of educational literature including a new version of Thai Vessantara Jātaka, Samutthakhot Khamchan that narrated moral lessons, Krishna teaches his Sister that narrated morals for women and Lilit Taleng Phai (1832) that described Burmese-Siamese Wars of King Naresuan.[160][161] Traditional Thai literature were produced in first three reigns more than any other periods.[161]
King Rama II (r. 1809–1824) was a great patron of Siamese poetry and his reign was considered to be "Golden Age of Thai literature".[160][164] His court hosted a large number of authors and it was said that any nobles who could compose fine literary works would gain royal favor. King Rama II the 'poet king'[164] was known to personally wrote many works and even composed a new version of Sang Thong,[160] a folktale. The king was an accomplished musician, playing and composing for the fiddle and introducing new instrumental techniques. He was also a sculptor and is said to have sculpted the face of the Niramitr Buddha in Wat Arun. Among royal poets was the most prominent one – Sunthorn Phu (1786–1855), who enjoyed royal favor as one of the most accomplished court poets. Sunthorn Phu's fortunes took a downturn, however, in 1824 when the new king Rama III, whom Sunthorn Phu had previously offended, ascended the throne. Phu ended up leaving royal court to become a wanderer and drunkard. It was during his unfortunate times of life that Sunthorn Phu produced his most famous works. His most important masterpiece was Phra Aphai Mani – a poetic work with more than 30,000 lines[59] telling stories of a rogue womanizer prince who left his kingdom to pursue gallant adventures in the seas. Sunthorn Phu produced many Nirats, poems describing journeys and longing for home and loved ones,[165] including Nirat Mueang Klaeng (journey to Klaeng, his father's hometown, 1806–07),[165] Nirat Phra Bat (journey to Phra Phutthabat, 1807),[59] Nirat Phukhaothong (journey to Ayutthaya, 1828), Nirat Suphan (journey to Suphanburi, 1831), Nirat Phra Pathom (journey to Phra Pathomchedi, 1842) and Nirat Mueang Phet (journey to Phetchaburi, c. 1845). Sunthorn Phu's greatness was his literary range, his brilliant creativity and naturalism not restricted to refined formalities.[165] Phu's genuine language, sincerity and realism made his works appealing to the public mass.[165]
There was no official institutions for education such as universities in pre-modern Siam. Siamese traditional education was closely tied to the Buddhist religion. Boys went to temples or became novice monks to learn Thai and Pāli languages from monks, who offered tutorships for free as a part of religious works. Princes and young nobles received tuition from high-ranking monks in fine temples. Girls were not expected to be literate and were usually taught domestic arts such as culinary and embroidery. However, education for women was not restricted and upper-class women had more opportunities for literacy. There were some prominent female authors in the early Rattanakosin period. Craftsmanships and artisanships were taught internally in the same family or community.
The only higher education available in pre-modern Siam was the Buddhist Pāli doctrinal learning – the Pariyattham (ปริยัติธรรม). Monks took exams to be qualified to rise up in the ecclesiastic bureaucracy. There were three levels of Pariyattham exams inherited from Ayutthaya with each level called Parian[166] (เปรียญ). In the 1810s, the three Parian levels were re-organized into nine Parian levels. Pariyattham exams were organized by the royal court, who encouraged Pāli learning in order to uphold Buddhism, and were usually held in the Emerald Buddha temple. Examinations involved translation and oral recitation of Pāli doctrines[166] in front of examiner monks. Pariyattham exam was the vehicle both for intellectual pursuits and for advancement in monastic hierarchy for a monk.
King Rama III ordered traditional Thai religious and secular arts, including Buddhist doctrines, traditional medicine, literature and geopolitics to be inscribed on stone steles at Wat Pho from 1831 to 1841. The Epigraphic Archives of Wat Pho was recognized by UNESCO as a Memory of the World and were examples of materials with closer resemblance to modern education. The Epigraphical Archives of Wat Pho (external link)
Rama VI was the first king of Siam to set up a model of the constitution at Dusit Palace. He wanted first to see how things could be managed under this Western system. He saw advantages in the system, and thought that Siam could move slowly towards it, but could not be adopted right away as the majority of the Siamese people did not have enough education to understand such a change just yet. In 1916 higher education came to Siam. Rama VI set up Vajiravudh College, modeled after the British Eton College, as well as the first Thai university, Chulalongkorn University,[167] modeled after Oxbridge.
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As same as Ayutthaya period, both Thai males and females dressed themselves with a loincloth wrap called chong kraben. Men wore their chong kraben to cover the waist to halfway down the thigh, while women covered the waist to well below the knee.[168] Bare chests and bare feet were accepted as part of the Thai formal dress code, and is observed in murals, illustrated manuscripts, and early photographs up to the middle of the 1800s.[168] However, after the Second Fall of Ayutthaya, central Thai women began cutting their hair in a crew-cut short style, which remained the national hairstyle until the 1900s.[169] Prior to the 20th century, the primary markers that distinguished class in Thai clothing were the use of cotton and silk cloths with printed or woven motifs, but both commoners and royals alike wore wrapped, not stitched clothing.[170]
From the 1860s onward, Thai royals "selectively adopted Victorian corporeal and sartorial etiquette to fashion modern personas that were publicized domestically and internationally by means of mechanically reproduced images."[170] Stitched clothing, including court attire and ceremonial uniforms, were invented during the reign of King Chulalongkorn.[170] Western forms of dress became popular among urbanites in Bangkok during this time period.[170]
During the early 1900s, King Rama VI launched a campaign to encourage Thai women to wear long hair instead of traditional short hair, and to wear pha sinh (ผ้าซิ่น), a tubular skirt, instead of the chong kraben (โจงกระเบน), a cloth wrap.[171]
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