Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FRIENDS OF THE KING
In the 1680s many foreign emissaries were invited to Ayuthaya by King Narai, who was keen to acquire and con-
sume foreign material, culture and ideas. His court placed orders for spyglasses, hourglasses, paper, walnut trees,
cheese, wine and marble fountains. He joined the French Jesuits to observe the eclipse at his palace in Lopburi
and received a gift of a globe from France's King Louis XIV.
In the 1680s, Narai recruited the services of the Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulkon, who was later ac-
cused of conspiring to overthrow the ailing king. Instead, the accusers led a coup and executed Constantine.
The Bangkok Era
With Ayuthaya in ruins, the line of succession of the kings was broken and chaos ensued.
A former general, Taksin, claimed his right to rule, defeated potential rivals and estab-
lished his new capital in Thonburi, a settlement downriver from Ayuthaya with better ac-
cess to trade. King Taksin, the son of a Chinese father and Thai mother, strongly promoted
trade with China. After 15 years, the king was deposed in 1782 by the military.
One of the coup organisers, Chao Phraya Chakri, assumed the throne as King Yot Fa
(Rama I) and established the Chakri dynasty, which still rules today. The new monarch
moved the capital across the Chao Phraya River to modern-day Bangkok. The first cen-
tury of Bangkok rule focused on rebuilding the cultural, political and military might of
Ayuthaya. The new rulers extended their influence in every direction. Destroying the cap-
ital cities of both Laos and Cambodia, Siam contained Burmese aggression and made a
vassal of Chiang Mai. Defeated populations were resettled and played an important role in
increasing the rice production of Siam, much of which was exported to China.
Unlike the Ayuthaya rulers who identified with the Hindu god Vishnu, the Chakri kings
positioned themselves as defenders of Buddhism. They undertook compilations and Thai
translations of essential Buddhist texts and constructed many royal temples.
In the meantime, a new social order and market economy was taking shape in the
mid-19th century. Siam turned to the West for modern scientific and technological ideas
and reforms in education, infrastructure and legal systems. One of the great modernisers,
King Mongkut (Rama IV; r 1851-68) never expected to be king. Before his ascension he
had spent 27 years in the monastery, founding the Thammayut sect based on the strict dis-
ciplines of the Mon monks.
During Mongkut's reign, Siam concluded treaties with Western powers that integrated
the kingdom into the world market system, ceded royal monopolies and granted extrater-
ritorial rights to British subjects.
