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Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is a teeming city located at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. In the early 17th century, when Bangkok began to grow, it was little more than a cluster of ramshackle huts in a swampy delta. At that time, the most prominent kingdom in Siam (Thailand) was Ayutthaya, which was based far to north along the same river. When foreign trade began to grow in the 17th century, Bangkok suddenly became an important waypoint where large ships could drop off their cargo. From there, smaller ships sailed up the Chao Phraya River to deliver goods to Ayutthaya. The strategic importance of the city was not lost on the French, who constructed a pair of star-shaped fortresses that can still be seen today. Before going further, the French influence on 17th century Siam is worth mentioning as it had considerable impact on later events in Thai history.
The French first arrived in Siam in 1665 when Jesuit missionaries reached Ayutthaya. The Jesuits misinterpreted the friendliness of the king as a sign of interest in Catholicism. Their reports stirred the imagination of the French King Louis XIV, who believed that the conversion of Siam to Christianity would facilitate to the expansion of French hegemony in Southeast Asia. The French King soon wrote a personal letter to Narai, the King of Ayutthaya, which reached Siam in 1673 to the delight of the Ayutthaya court.
The French efforts were aided by a gifted Greek cabin boy named Phaulkon who arrived in Siam in 1678, ironically aboard a British vessel. In just two years he managed to learn the Thai language and begin work as an interpreter for the British. Not long afterward he had a falling-out with his employers and switched to the French side. His frequent dealings with Narai had an effect on the King, who took an interest in the foreigner and promoted him to the high position of Phya Vijayendra (a title of nobility).
Phaulkon's pro-French position rubbed off on the King, who sent two ambassadors to Paris. King Louis answered with a mission of his own in 1685. As relations between the two countries grew closer, foreign trade began to slowly transform Bangkok from a sleepy swamp town into an important city. Thai, French, and Chinese merchants all set up shop here. Facilities for the French also came into being.
Phaulkon was not entirely truthful to his Thai benefactors. Secretly he plotted with Jesuit priests to convert Siam to Christianity. To even attempt this audacious scheme, he needed the support of the French government. After another exchange of emissaries, he outlined his plans to Louis XIV, who eagerly responded with more than Phaulkon anticipated. The King delivered several warships crowded with 500 elite troops from the French army, who landed in Ayutthaya with Narai's consent. This event, coupled with Phaulkon's extravagant lifestyle, provoked unrest among the Thai elite who were concerned that Phaulkon was trying usurp the throne for himself. In 1688 the commander of the King's royal regiment of elephants rose up in revolt and confined the king to the palace. Gravely ill, the King could do nothing as Phaulkon was executed (scarcely 10 years after arriving in Thailand).
The leader of this rebellion, Phra Phetracha, took the throne for himself and expelled the French. He abandoned Narai's free trade policy and sharply restricted the amount of trade and missionary activity allowed in the kingdom. For 150 years thereafter the Thai kingdom was fairly insular and Bangkok again reverted to an unimportant village. Had events not conspired as they did, it is possible that Bangkok would have grown into a more important town earlier.
Not surprisingly, the reemergence of Bangkok coincided with the demise of Ayutthaya and its closed-door trading policies. In 1768 Burmese armies sacked Ayutthaya, destroying centuries of cultural heritage in an orgy of fiery destruction. The Burmese held the city for seven months. During this time a resistance force led by the general Taksin gathered momentum in the south. Taksin was familiar with Western firepower and was comfortable with oceangoing vessels. Accordingly, he moved the capital south to a location called Thonburi, just across the river from modern Bangkok. He felt that its location near the sea would facilitate foreign trade and make it easier to defend the area.
Taksin faced difficulties from the start, including fighting the remaining Burmese forces. Although he was a masterful general on the battlefield, he became despotic and unpredictable at home. He believed himself to be a bodhisattva, or Buddha-to-be, and ordered everyone--including his wife--to pay homage to him. During a revolt in 1782 he abdicated and left for a monastery. The architect of the revolt, a low-ranking official, offered the throne to Chao Phya Chakri, a general who was widely revered for having marched his armies all the way to Laos to recover the Emerald Buddha, a statue believed to have supernatural powers, including the ability to protect the city it resides in.
On April 6, 1782 Chao Phya Chakri proclaimed the founding of the Chakri dynasty, which still rules today. Taksin was executed and the new King took the reign title Rama I. One of his first acts was to move the capital across the river to Bangkok. There, on what was once an island, he ordered the construction of the Wat Phra Kaeo monastery to enshrine the captured Buddha image. Laborers captured during the Burmese wars dug new moats and constructed many of the original buildings. A shrine called Lak Muang was also established to mark the founding of the new city.
Bangkok's history from 1782 can be neatly divided into the reigns of the 9 kings of the Chakri dynasty. A summary of each rule of each is given below:
Rama I: ruled 1782-1809 (see above)
Rama II: ruled 1809-1824. This king was a great sponsor of the arts, building and repairing many monasteries throughout Bangkok. His most prominent legacy is Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn, which was completed opposite the royal palace across the river. It is said that he carved the doors of Wat Suthat with his own chisels, throwing them away when he was done so that his work could never be duplicated. Rama II also restored many of the customs of the Ayutthaya court, including dance troupes. He also helped write a Thai interpretation of the Indian Ramayana classic poem. In foreign relations, the King allowed the Portuguese to establish an embassy, although large scale trade with the West did not develop during his reign.
Rama III: ruled 1824-1851. An extremely faithful Buddhist, Rama III was derided as "reactionary" by European critics. He continued to patronize the arts and decorated many of Bangkok's temples with Chinese porcelain tiles, a style that ended with his reign. Although wary of European influence, he allowed missionaries and doctors to import Western medicine.
Rama IV: ruled 1851-1868. Rama IV is Thailand's most famous King, depicted in the films "Anna and the King" and "The King and I." Both films are based on the conflated accounts of his English tutor, Anna Leonowens, who exaggerated her ties to the Siamese monarch. Rama IV was the younger brother of Rama III and spent 27 years in a Buddhist monastery before assuming the throne. During this time he learned to read Buddhist scriptures in the Pali language and also studied natural sciences such as astronomy and geography. He also managed to learn Latin and English. Ironically, his interest in science indirectly led to his death: while on an outing to view a solar eclipse, he contracted malaria and died.
Rama V: ruled 1868-1910. Rama V was just 15 when he ascended the throne. Fluent in English, the young king was determined to use his knowledge to modernize the country and prevent Western encroachment. Rama V abolished serfdom and ended the ancient custom of having subjects bow before the King. In order to keep Siam free of colonial occupation, he ceded fringe territory to save the center—and it held. Rama V is still widely revered as the "Beloved Great King" for leading Siam into the modern world as an independent nation.
Rama VI: ruled 1910-1925. Having been educated at Oxford, this King was especially enamored of nationalism and education. He brilliantly secured the independence of Siam by sending a contingent of troops to fight on the allied side on WWI, guaranteeing Siam a seat on the League of Nations. He also commanded every citizen to adopt a surname, which was unusual in Thai society given the lack of strong clan or social hierarchies. Despite his reforms and successes, the King had an extravagant personal life that ate away at the treasury until a deficit accumulated—leading to problems in the next reign.
Rama VII: ruled 1925-1935 (coup 1932). Rama VII was the younger brother of the previous King. He tried to undo the damages of his older brother's excesses by stressing fiscal austerity. By and large the effort succeeded, but only by removing large numbers of civil servants and reducing pay raises. This prompted a coup in 1932 by disgruntled military men led by the French-educated Pridi Panomyong of the Peoples' Party. To prevent bloodshed, the King accepted a constitution in which he was allowed to continue to reign but only as a figurehead.
After 1932 a succession of military and civilian rulers have held power. Currently Thailand is a democratic state with the king occupying a largely symbolic position. Rama VIII ruled from 1935-1946, and Rama IX has been on the throne ever since.
Bibliography:
Aasen, Clarence. Architecture of Siam: A Cultural History and
Interpretation
Oxford University Press. Oxford. 1998
Cummings, Joe. Thailand
Lonely Planet Publications. Singapore. 1990
Rutherford, Scott. Insight Guide: Thailand
APA Publications, Singapore. 1999
Suksri, Naengnoi. Palaces of Bangkok: Royal Residences of the
Chakri Dynasty
Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1996.
All images copyright 2000-2001 by Professor Yunsheng Huang of the University of Virginia, and Professor Kerk L. Phillips of Brigham Young University, Utah, USA.
Links:
For an amazing indexed map of Bangkok, visit http://members.tripod.com/~longlate/
