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King Rama I and the Reconstruction of the Thai State
(1782-1809)
 The new king, Phraphutthayotfa Chulalok, or
Rama I, was like
King Taksin a great general. He was also an accomplished statesman, a
lawmaker, a poet, and a devout Buddhist. His reign has been called a
reconstruction" of the Thai state and Thai culture, using Ayutthaya as a
model but at the same time not slavishly imitating all things Ayutthaya. He
was the monarch who established Bangkok as the capital of Thailand and was
also the founder of the Royal House of Chakri, of which the ruling monarch,
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth king. The significance of his reign in
Thai history is therefore manifold.
King Rama I was intent on the firm reestablishment of the Buddhist
monkhood, allying church to state and purifying the doctrine. The Tripitaka,
or Buddhist scriptures, were re-edited in a definitive text by a grand
council of learned men convened by the king in1788-9. This concern with
codification and textual accuracy was also apparent in the collation and
editing of laws both old and new which resulted in one of the major
achievements of his reign: the "Three Seals Code" or Kotmai tra samduang.
This too was the work of a panel of experts assembled by the king. King Rama
I consistently explained all his reforms and actions in a rational way. This
aspect of his reign has been interpreted as a major change in the
intellectual outlook of the Thai elite, or a re-orientation of the Thai
world-view. The organization of Thai society during the early Bangkok period
was not fundamentally different from that of the late Ayutthaya period.
Emphasis was still placed on manpower and on an extensive system of
political and social patronage. The officials' main duty was still to
provide the crown with corvee labor and to provide patronage to the
commoners.
The Burmese remained a threat to the Thai kingdom during this reign and
launched several attacks on Thai territory. King Rama I was ably assisted by
his brother and other generals in defeating the Burmese in 1785 and 1786,
when the Burmese tried to invade Siam. King Rama I not only drove out these
invading armies but also launched a bold counter-attack as retaliation,
invading Tavoy in Lower Burma. During this reign,
Chiang Mai was added to
the Thai kingdom, and the Malay states of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, and
Trengganu all sent tribute to King Rama I. The recovery of the Thai state's
place and prestige in the region was one of King Rama l's major
achievements.
The most long-lasting creation of King Rama I was perhaps the city of
Bangkok (Rattanakosin). Before 1782, it was just a small trading community,
but the first king transformed it into a thriving, cosmopolitan city based
on Ayutthaya's example. He had a canal dug to make it an island-city and it
contained Mon, Lao, Chinese, and Thai communities similar to Ayutthaya. He
also had several Ayutthaya-style monasteries built in and around the city.
King Rama I was indeed, a great builder-king He endeavored to model his
new palace closely on the Royal Palace at Ayutthaya and in doing so helped
create one of Bangkok's enduring glories: the Grand Palace with its
resplendent royal chapel, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. King Rama I also
completely rebuilt an old monastery, Wat Photharam, and had it renamed Wat
Phra Chetuphon, which became not only an exemplar of classical Thai
architecture but also a famous place of learning. The cosmopolitan outlook
of the Thais during King Rama l's reign was also reflected in the arts of
the period. Both painting and literature during the early Bangkok period
showed a keen awareness of other cultures, though Thai traditional forms and
conventions were adhered to, King Rama I's reconstruction of the Thai State
and Thai culture was so comprehensive that it extended also to literature.
The king and his court poets composed new versions of the Ramakian (the Thai
version of the Indian Ramayana epic) and the Inao (based on the Javanese
Panji story). |
