Katya & The Prince of Siam

It is said that, during his reign, no less than five thousand acts of law were passed ranging from grave affairs of state to an edict entitled ‘Advice against the inelegant practice of throwing dead animals in the waterways’. However, although alert to the benefit of contact with progressive Western ideas, Mongkut did not discard beliefs and traditions dear not only to his countrymen, but to himself. He was highly gratified, for instance, to be presented with four white elephants during his reign and in fact found time to write a book on these rare creatures. He lists as desirable ‘white hair and nails, and pink skin’ and also praised an animal with a beautiful snore, but added reflectively that ‘just as men have individual taste in women, this applies equally to elephants’.

According to some ancient writers, the swan, dove, monkey and elephant, when white, ‘are nobler, purer creatures, reserved for the souls of the good and great in one of the stages of their soul’s transmigration’. This reverence applies particularly to the white elephant, who was regarded as nothing less than a god. And King Mongkut’s panegyric written on the death of one of them runs: ‘ … his tusks like long pearls; his ears like silver shields; his trunk like a comet’s tail; his legs like the feet of the skies; his tread like the sound of thunder; his looks full of meditation; his expression full of tenderness; his voice the voice of a mighty warrior; and his bearing that of an illustrious monarch.’

From the foregoing, it is therefore clear that a particularly flattering compliment was intended when the Chief of the Siamese Embassy returned from England and, recounting the Embassy’s reception at Court, says of Queen Victoria ‘One cannot but be struck with the aspect of the august Queen of England, or fail to observe she must be of pure descent from a race of goodly and warlike kings and rulers of the earth, in that her eyes, complexion and, above all, her bearing are those of a beautiful and majestic white elephant.’

The embassy in England was only one of many diplomatic exchanges during Mongkut’s reign, and treaties were signed with so many nations that one of his sons, Prince Damrong, declared that his sagacious father had ensured in this manner that no one power could ever become of overweening importance. But at a time when all South-East Asia had fallen beneath the domination of the Western Powers, the value of Mongkut’s adroit diplomacy cannot be over estimated. A most important treaty was with the envoy of Queen Victoria, Sir John Bowring, who arrived in Bangkok in 1855, and was agreeably surprised not only by the King’s command of English, but by the fact that quite a number of Siamese officials spoke it as well.

Sir John, who brought gifts of a diamond watch and a travelling writing-case from his Sovereign, was well received by Mongkut, seated on a richly carved throne, robed in crimson and wearing a crown glittering with diamonds and precious stones. Yet despite this splendid formality – as Bowring recounts – ‘the King offered me cigars with his own hand, while liqueurs, tea and sweetmeats were brought in.’ The Englishman was also much impressed by Mongkut’s Prime Minister, Sri Suriyawongse, whom he described as ‘a most sagacious man, towering above every person we have met… of graceful gentlemanly manners and appropriate language.’

The treaty signed in April 1855 was, in most respects, similar to those which would be made with other nations later on. It provided for the nomination of a permanent British Consul in Bangkok. Siam agreed not to impose duties on British goods at more than three per cent ad valorem and accepted British extra-territorial rights in her own sovereign territory. In addition, Britons were to be allowed to buy land within four miles of the city walls.

 

King Mongkut processing to Wat Phra Chetuphon for the Katin ceremony.

 

King Mongkut during his period in the monkhood.

 

Once this treaty was signed others followed with France, Napoleon III sending not only a carriage, but a pair of horses to the King; and with America, the Hanseatic League, Denmark, Portugal, Holland, Prussia, Sweden and Norway. Europeans were engaged to overhaul and reorganise government services. Learning was encouraged by the printing of books in Siamese and in English, printing presses having been introduced into Thailand by American Baptist missionaries. The King also initiated the building of ships, bridges, canals and roads, spurred on in this last by petulant complaints from more than one newly- established foreign consul, that ‘their health was suffering as they were unable to take the air in their carriages of an evening, due to the bad roads in Bangkok.’