The Rise and Fall of Thai Absolutism
I. Intro
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Ian Morson stated that when King Chulalongkorn came to the throne in what was then Siam as Rama V, he was only 15 years old and the country was ruled by a regent who ensured that the young king would travel, during which time the king became impressed by many European ideas. King Chulalongkorn, when he assumed full power, was determined to create a modern state in order to reap the advantages of modernity for his country, leading him to create a modern army, a central government bureaucracy, a modernized Western style judiciary, and the rule of law as observed in the West. Simultaneously, however, the king also was determined upon maintaining absolutism and the traditional social order of the country driven by privilege that was based on birth. It is the purpose of this report to examine the fall of Thai absolutism. It will be argued that absolutism came to an end in what was Siam and is now modern Thailand because of a fundamental internal contradiction. Simply put, the modernization of the state undertaken first, by King Chulalongkorn, created a situation in which a centralized bureaucracy, a growing middle and bureaucratic class and new social and economic mobility worked to diminish the authority of the royal family. Many of the basic aspects of Siamese culture and society were impacted by this transition as well, including the patrimonial economy of the country. The research method to be employed is narrative and historical, tracing the period
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also noted that "as the king did not delegate many of his decision-making powers, a great deal ultimately depended on the dedication, and even the stamina, of the king himself."
Wyatt also stated that if Chulalongkorn constructed the modern Kingdom of Siam, his two sons who followed him on the throne made the country into a nation. In 1910, when Chulalongkorn died, he was succeeded by Vajiravudh, who studied in England and who inherited a government and a society that was dominated by his uncles and his brothers. King Vajiravudh changed the bureaucratic structure, recruiting members widely from the civil service and conferring power upon these individuals who would become loyal to him. In 1912, however, while conducting Wild Tiger military maneuvers, King Vajiravudh was informed that a group of junior military officers was plotting a coup against him.
At least partially responsible for the growing dissent which troubled this reign was the emergence of new capitalist business entities and new modes of agricultural production. The emergence of new classes within a country that once had two broad classes of peasants and elites or nobles was also instrumental in fostering unrest.
The Wild Tiger Corps created by Vaj
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Some common words found in the essay are:
King Chulalongkorn, Rama VII, Rama VI, Tiger Corps, King Vajiravudh, Ultimately Chulalongkorn, Foot Guard, Norman Jacobs, Siam Thailand, Siam Thai, king chulalongkorn, absolute monarchy, civil service, absolute monarch, wild tiger, rama vii, wild tiger corps, rama vi, royal family, create modern, thai society, rama rama vi, bangkok white lotus, anna king siam, failed 1912 coup,
Approximate Word count = 2549
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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