October 23 – Chulalongkorn Day in Thailand

nPostednon October 23, 2015

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nTodaynis a day of memorial, to commemorate “The Great Beloved King”n(PhranPiya Maharat),nChulalongkorn.

nYounmay think that Chulalongkorn is a long name, but I think that hisnproper name is PhranBat Somdet Phra Poraminthra Maha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom KlaonChao Yu Hua.nWhich is…even longer!

nEvennthough I rarely saw him referred to in this way, there is a shortcutnto referring to this great king: King Rama V.

nWhynwas this guy so great?

Chulalongkornnwas able to modernize Siam (which is the old name for Thailand); henwas able to make governmental and social reforms; he was able tonprevent Siam from being colonized. n

nActually,n“Western expansionism” – which is what we sometimes call thencolonizing efforts by European nations and the U.S. – did threatennSiam during Chulalongkorn’s reign, and Siam did lose territory –nchunk after chunk! – but Siam/Thailand is the only nation innSoutheast Asia that was not colonized.

nChulalongkornnwas born on September 20, 1853. He became king when his father diednof malaria. He was just 15 years old – and he seemed to be dying ofnmalaria, as well! However, Chulalongkorn managed to pull through, andnhe was tutored in public affairs while a powerful official acted asnregent. n

nFinally,nin 1873, when Chulalongkorn was 20 years old, he was crowned king innhis own right. (Which means that he no longer needed a regent.)

nOnenreason that Chulalongkorn was so reform-minded is that he was youngnand probably idealistic. Another reason is that he was able to travelnto visit Singapore and British India, learning how other places werengoverned and picking up some of the better ideas from Westernnculture.

nChulalongkornnsent his sons, the royal princes, to Europe to be educated. So thesenyoung people felt even more reform-minded! They learned about andnvisited republics such as France and constitutional monarchies suchnas the United Kingdom. Chulalongkorn himself was able to travel anlot. He visited Sweden for the World Fair, and during his reign henvisited many countries, including the U.S., Great Britain, France,nand Russia.

nHerenare some of the best things Chulalongkorn accomplished: n

nHen abolished Siamese slavery.

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nHen connected various parts of the nation with Bangkok by railways.

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nHen electrified the country and put electric lights along the roads.

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nHen established a plumbing system.

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nBynthe way, that abolishing slavery thing was no simple task! WhennChulalongkorn first became king, more than one-third of the Thainpopulation were slaves. Many people had sold themselves into slaverynwhen they had no money to pay their bills, and then all of thenchildren born into slavery were considered slaves, too. Chulalongkornnwas able to take several steps by which all the slaves were freed andnthen passed a bill stating that all workers should be paid. He endednslavery without needing to fight a war or shed blood!

nChulalongkornndied on this date in 1910. He was 57 years old.

nBynthe way…

Chulalongkorn’snfather, King Mongkut, was the fellow who had hired an Anglo-Indiannwoman named Anna Leonowens to be a teacher for his children, and shenhad worked with the royal family for six years before the king diednand Chulalongkorn became king. When that happened, Chulalongkornnwrote to Leonowens thanking her for her services. Although he didn’tnkeep her as governess, Chulalongkorn and Leonowens wrote friendlynletters to one another for many years.

nLeonowens’snexperiences as teacher to the Siamese king’s children were laternfictionalized in a best-selling novel, several movies, a TV series,nand a musical!