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The Reign and Reforms of King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910)
 The reforms and foreign policy of King Mongkut were carried on
by his son and successor, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who came to the
throne a frail youth of 16 and died one of Siam's most loved and revered
kings, after a remarkable reign of 42 years. Indeed, modern Thailand may be
said to be a product of the comprehensive and progressive reforms of his
reign, for these touched almost every aspect of Thai life.
King Chulalongkorn faced the Western world with a positive, eager
attitude: eager to learn about Western ideas and inventions, positively
working towards Western-style "progress" while at the same time resisting
Western rule. He was the first Thai king to travel abroad; he went to the
Dutch and British colonial territories in Java, Malaya, Burma, and India,
and also made two extended trips to Europe towards the end of his reign. He
did not just travel as an observer or tourist but worked hard during his
trips to further Thai interests. For instance, during one of his European
sojourns he obtained support from Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and the German
Kaiser Wilhelm II to put Siam in a stronger international position, no
longer dominated by Britain and France.
The King also traveled within his own country. He was passionately
interested in his subjects' welfare and was intent on the monarchy assuming
a more visible role in society. He wanted to see at first-hand how his
subjects lived and went outside his palace often, sometimes incognito. His
progressive outlook led him, in what was his first official act, to forbid
prostration in the royal presence. He considered that such prostration was
humiliating to the subject and apt to engender arrogance in the ruler.
Influenced by Buddhist morality and Western examples, he gradually abolished
both the corvee system and the institution of slavery, a momentous and
positive change for Thai society.
During this reign, Siam's communications system was revolutionized. Post
and telegraph services were introduced and a railway network was built. Such
advances enabled the central government to improve its control over outlying
provinces. One of the central issues inaugurated in 1892 of King
Chulalongkorn's reign was the imposition of central authority over the more
distant parts of the kingdom. The King initiated extensive reforms of the
administration, both in the provinces and in Bangkok. Western-style
ministries were set up, replacing older, traditional administrative bodies.
The old units, which were remodeled according to the Western pattern, were
those of the Interior, of War, of Foreign Affairs, of Finance, of
Agriculture, of the Palace, and of Local Administration. Completely new
ministries were also created, such as the ministries of Justice, of Public
Instruction, and of Public Works. This new ministerial system of government
was
King Chulalongkorn's contribution to education was also to prove of great
significance to modern Thailand. During this reign "public instruction" or
education became more secular than ever before in Thai history. Secular
schools were established in the 1880's aimed at producing the educated men
necessary for the smooth functioning of a centralized administration. One of
the pressing issues of the reign was the necessity to prove to the Western
colonial powers that Siam had become a "modern" and "progressive" country:
the problem, however, was that the King and his advisers had very little
time in which to do so.
The King was eager to send Thais abroad for their education partly
because the country needed skills and knowledge from the West and partly
because Thai students abroad could come into direct contact with Europe's
elite. Conversely, the King also hired several westerners to act as advisers
to the Thai government in various fields, among them the Belgian
Rolin-Jacquemyns (a "General Adviser" whose special knowledge was in
jurisprudence) and the British Financial Advisers H. Rivett-Carnac and W.J.F.
Williamson. Such policies were deemed to be essential for Siam's survival as
a sovereign state and its progress to modernity.
Thai foreign policy during King Chulalongkorn's long reign was a series
of precarious balancing acts, playing off one Western power against another,
and trying to maintain both sovereignty and territorial integrity. Siam's
heartland had to be preserved at all costs, even to the extent of conceding
to Britain and France some peripheral territories whenever the pressure
became too intense.
Even Siam's subtle and supple foreign policy was not always enough to
offset the appetite for territory. In 1893, Siam ceded all territories on
the east ("left") bank of the Mekong River to France, then building up its
Indochinese Empire. In 1904, the Thais had to cede all territories on the
west bank of the Mekong to France.
The Thai government wanted to put an end to the clauses concerning
extra-territoriality, land tax, and trade duties in the treaties concluded
with Western countries during King Mongkut's reign. In return for the
mitigation of treaty disabilities, the Thais had to cede several
territories. For example, in 1907 the Khmer provinces of Siem Reap,
Battambang, and Sisophon were ceded to France in return for French
withdrawal from the eastern Thai province of Chanthaburi and the abandonment
of French extraterritorial claims over their "protected persons" (mostly
Asian and therefore not properly French at all). In 1909, Siam gave up its
claims to the Malay states of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, and Trengganu, all of
which became British protectorates. This cession of territory was again
agreed to by Siam in return for a lessening of certain treaty disabilities.
It was fortunate indeed for the Thai kingdom that Britain and France had
agreed in 1896 to keep Siam as a "buffer zone" between British and French
territorial possessions in Southeast Asia.
King Chulalongkorn kept Siam an independent sovereign state in spite of
all these crises, and all the while he strove to uphold Thai cultural,
artistic, and religious values. The Thammayut order of monks founded by King
Mongkut thrived during this reign, extending its influence from Bangkok to
the provinces.
When King Chulalongkorn died in 1910 a new Siam had come into being. The
Thai kingdom was now a more centralized, bureaucratic state partly modeled
on Western example. It was also a society without slaves, with a ruling
class that was partly westernized in outlook and much more aware of what was
going on in Europe and America. Technologically, too, there had been many
advances: there were now railroads and trams, postage stamps and telegraphs.
With so many achievements to his credit, and a charisma that was enhanced
by his longevity, it was no wonder that the Thai people grieved long and
genuinely for King Chulalongkorn when he died. October 23, the date of his
death, is still a national holiday, in honour of one of Siam's greatest and
most beloved kings. |
