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| 2. Thailand (Siam) |
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(See 1782)| |
| 1782–1809 |
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| RAMA I (Phra Buddha Yod Fa Chulalok), first of the new line. He finally brought to an end the long conflict with Burma (1793), reestablished control over the local potentates throughout the country, and secured part of Cambodia through division of that state with Annam. | 1 |
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| 1809–24 |
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| RAMA II (Phra Buddha Loes Fa Nobhalai). | 2 |
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| 1824–51 |
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| RAMA III (Phra Nang Klao), whose reign was distinguished by the reopening of contact with the Western nations. | 3 |
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| 1826, June 20 |
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| Conclusion of a treaty of commerce with Great Britain. This was followed (March 20, 1833) by a similar treaty with the United States. Although the Western powers felt the treaties did not satisfactorily meet their needs (the treaties did not even provide for the establishment of consular positions), the Siamese felt they had been forced into granting more concessions than they had wanted to make. | 4 |
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| 1844 |
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| Cambodia passed under the protection of Siam. | 5 |
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| 1851–68 |
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| RAMA IV (Phra Chom Klao Mongkut). As a monk he had made a study of Western governments, and he began the work of modernizing Siam. | 6 |
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| 1855, April 18 |
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| A NEW TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN was modeled on the Anglo-Chinese treaty. Consuls were to be established; extraterritorial system was introduced: right to trade throughout the kingdom was established. Similar treaties were concluded with the United States (May 29, 1856) and with France (Aug. 15, 1856), and thereafter with many other powers. | 7 |
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| 1863 |
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| The French established a protectorate over Cambodia. After long negotiations, the Siamese gave up their claims (1867). | 8 |
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| 1868–1910 |
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| RAMA V (Phra Maha Chulalongkorn) was the real founder of modern Siam. After attaining his majority (1873) he devoted himself almost entirely to the reform of his government and the improvement of his country. The feudal system was abolished; slavery was reduced and then stamped out; administrative (central bureaucracy), taxation, and finance reform was effected; postal service was introduced; the army was modernized; the telegraph was introduced (1883); the first railway began service (1893). | 9 |
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| 1880s Ff |
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| Dhammayut, a brotherhood of monks initially established in the 1830s, gained formal status as a separate sect under Chulalongkorn. The movement, which preceded stimulus from the West, had long been interested in a Buddhist modernism, expounding modern religious and social ideas based on a Buddhist rationalism, universalism, and textual study of Buddhist scriptures. This provided a framework for incorporating Western science and the broader world with which Siam began to interact. | 10 |
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| 1885 |
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| Failure of a French proposal to neutralize Siam resulted in ever-increasing friction and continuous border disputes. | 11 |
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