Until 1939, Thailand was known as the Kingdom of Siam.
The Kingdom of Siam became Thailand under Plaek Phibunsongkhram, who was prime minister from 1938 to 1944.
After the Second World War, Phibunsongkhram and some of his acolytes were accused of war crimes, but were acquitted.
Since 1973, the history of Thailand has been marked by alternating shifts in power between military and civil authorities.
The Thai Rak Thai Party, led by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra governed the country from 2001 to 2006, before being removed from power by a military coup.
First referendum:
In 2007, the Thai people approved the New Constitution following the first referendum in the country’s history.
The People’s Power Party won the elections that took place that year, but Thailand remained highly unstable and significant protests broke out in 2010.
In 2011, Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister became prime minister.
Two years later, she was accused of being a political puppet of her brother.
She held planned parliamentary elections in February, 2014, but these were invalidated the following month.
The 1850s
In 1855, the Kingdom of Siam was opened to trade with England, followed by France in 1858, Germany in 1862, and Austria in 1868.
King Mongkut implemented a number of social and economic reforms.
His son, Chulalongkorn abolished slavery and built relations with England: he had been brought up by an English governess, and the Thai ruler established personal relationships with foreign diplomats, even going as far as having his children raised in England.
The Franco-Siamese treaty of October 3rd, 1893, forced the Siamese to cede all its territory on the eastern bank of the Mekong, with France becoming the colonial power there.
The French and the English then divided the territories of the Menam Basin amongst themselves.
The land to the west, particularly the Malay Peninsula, was acknowledged to be English territory, and the land to the east, i.e., the Mekong Basin fell under French control. Ultimately only a small part of Siam remained independent.
Ancient Origin
People speaking one of the Tai group of languages settled in what is now Thailand around 1,000 years ago.
The name Siam came from a Sanskrit word, syam.
It was adopted by the Portuguese from the 16th century and became the accepted geographical term.
Kingdoms rose and fell, but from the 1780s the Chakri dynasty ruled the whole of Siam from their capital at Bangkok.
They extended their domain into parts of modern Laos, Cambodia and Malaya, but in the late 19th and early 20th centuries they were forced to surrender their territories there to the French.
Thailand consists of two broad geographic areas: a larger, main section in the north and a smaller, peninsular extension in the south.
Thai-Land
The Thai are descended from a much larger group of Tai-speaking peoples.
The latter are found from extreme northeastern India in the west to northern Vietnam in the east and from southern China in the north to as far south as the central Malay Peninsula.
In the past, scholars held that a parent group called the Proto-Tai originated in southern China and pushed southward and westward from the China landmass into northern mainland Southeast Asia.
Most scholars now believe that the Tai came from northern Vietnam around the Dien Bien Phu area and that about 1,000 years ago they spread from there northward into southern China; westward into southwestern China, northern Myanmar (Burma), and northeastern India; and southward into what are now Laos and Thailand.
Early Tai culture
Tai-speaking peoples historically settled along river valleys, where they formed small settlements and engaged in subsistence rice agriculture, fishing, and gathering of forest products.
Early in their history the Tai domesticated animals: they used water buffalo for plowing and ritual purposes, and they raised pigs and fowl for food.
Women were accorded relatively high social status and could inherit property.
The Tai followed local religions that involved propitiation of both malevolent and benevolent spirits through offerings and special ceremonies.
The basic unit of Tai political organization was the müang, or group of villages, ruled by a chao, or hereditary chief or lord.
During the 1st millennium CE the political strengths of the müang system enabled the Tai to move out of their original homeland until, by the 8th century, they had expanded across much of southeastern China and northern mainland Southeast Asia.
By the 11th century they had begun to filter down into the area of what is now Thailand, and by the middle of the following century they had formed petty principalities there.
As the Tai moved into mainland Southeast Asia, they came into contact with peoples speaking Mon-Khmer languages who had long inhabited the region.
Indian traders traveling to China during the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE had carried Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and practices to some of those peoples, including the Mon, who lived in what is now Myanmar.
The Mon were the first people in mainland Southeast Asia to adopt Buddhism.
Between the 6th and 9th centuries the Mon established several small Buddhist kingdoms within the area encompassed by what is now southern Myanmar and central Thailand.
From what are now the towns of Nakhon Pathom and Lop Buri in central Thailand, they extended their power eastward across the Khorat Plateau, northward as far as Chiang Mai, and northeastward into what is now Laos.
Those Mon kingdoms are collectively called Dvaravati. The Dvaravati period is noted for its artwork, particularly its Buddhist sculptures and votive images made of terra-cotta or stucco.
Queen consort of Siam (modern-day Thailand), Sunandha Kumariratana (1880s).
Before I begin let’s know the difference between a Queen and Queen Consort.
A reigning monarch’s wife is traditionally known as the Queen Consort, while the Queen (technically the “Queen Regnant”) refers to a woman who has ascended the throne through the pre-established familial line of succession and has sovereign power.
She was the first of the three wives of Siamese King Chulalongkorn, who is known for introducing some progressive reforms within his kingdom, like abolishing slavery.
At the time of her death, Sunandha Kumariratana already had one daughter and was expecting another child.
In May 1880, when Sunandha was just 19 years old, she was on a trip to the royal family’s bountiful Bang Pa-In summer residence, outside of Bangkok.
She was accompanied by Princess Karnabhorn Bejraratana, who was not even two years old, and a group of guards and servants.
But reaching the palace required crossing Chao Phraya River, Thailand’s biggest river.
The queen consort and the princess were escorted to a separate boat which was dragged by a bigger boat to carry them over the river.
However, the royal vessel capsized in strong currents and both were plunged into the water.
None of the royal entourage proceeded to help them!
Why?!!
Supposedly everyone followed the lead of the main guard, who did not assist them or urge anyone else to help the drowning royals–all three lives were lost while their attendants just stood sheepishly and watched!
What Exactly was Happening?
The guards, and everyone on the scene, were adhering to an old and rigid Siamese law that did not allow ordinary persons (slaves ) to touch a member of the royal family!
Breaking this law was punishable by death!
According to Siamese oral tradition, besides the law, any desire to help save the life of the queen could have been diminished by a superstitious belief as well.
Allegedly, saving a person who was drowning in the river was associated with misfortune.
If someone offered help to the person that meant meddling with the spirits who lived in the water.
After this unbelievable incident, where three lives could have been easily spared with a little help, King Chulalongkorn proceeded to imprison the attendant who did not give any orders to attempt a rescue.
The king greatly grieved the death of his spouse, who is said to be the one he loved among all his wives.
The funerary procession that was accordingly arranged for the queen was possibly the most expensive funeral in the history of this Asian kingdom!
The king also carried out a great deal of work to complete the royal summer residence, which his revered wife was due to visit on the day of her unfortunate demise.
In the backyard of the palace, he placed a memorial to Sunandha Kumariratana and the children, a reminder of the unthinkable circumstances that ended their lives all too soon.
