Table Of ContentSomdetch Phra Paramendr Maha Mongkut, King of Siam from
1851 to 1868, asrepresentedinawoodcutdrawnfromaphoto-
graph of the King in full royal regalia. This woodcut appeared
during the King's lifetime in Le Royaume de Siam by Amedee
Grehan (2d ed.; Paris, 1868). Thepresent reproduction isfrom
thethirdedition (Paris, 1869). (PhotographfromtheLibraryof
MONGKUT,theKingofSiam
ABBOT LOW MOFFAT
CornellPaper&acfis
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
ITHACA, NEW YORK
1961 byCornellUniversity
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Firstpublished1961
Secondprinting1962
Thirdprinting1962
Firstprinting,CornellPaperbacks,1968
Preparedundertheauspices
oftheThailandProject
SoutheastAsia Program
Cornell University
LibraryofCongressCatalogCard Number: 61-16666
PRINTEDINTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
BYVALLEYOFFSET,INC.
TO MY FRIENDS
MomRajawongseSentPramoj
AND
MomRajawongseKukritPramoj
IN GRATITUDE
FOR PRESENTING ME TO
THEIR GREAT-UNCLE
KingMongkut
CITY (MO.)
Preface
THERE are several minions of Americans and Europeans
who feel almost personally acquainted with one of Asia's
great statesmen, yet they do not know that he was a great
statesman, and indeed few even know his name.
They know him as the King of Siam so whimsically
presented in The King and I by Yul Brynner. They know
him as the King of Siam so handsomely portrayed inAnna
and the King of Siam by Rex Harrison. They know him
as the King of Siam, the cruel and capricious despot of
MargaretLandon's AnnaandtheKing ofSiam. Theyknow
him as the King of Siam in Anna Leonowens' books The
English Governess at the Siamese Court and The Romance
of the Harem (recently reprinted under the title Siamese
Harem Life), fromwhichtheothers are derived.
Each new presentation has naturally moved farther
v
viii Preface
away from a likeness of the real king as it was designed to
appeal to a new and more distant audience. Even Anna
Leonowens' books are the beneficiaries of a gifted imagina-
tion especially as they related to the King and Ms personal
life. Butthen,itwasbyherlecturing andherbooks thatshe
supported herself and her family after she left Bangkok. It
obviously proved lucrative to thrill her Victorian audiences
with gruesome tales of eastern harem life.
Anna's books shocked the Siamese Court, and it is said
thatthegovernmenttried tobuy up all copies. When three-
quartersofacenturylaterMargaretLandonrewroteAnna's
two books and Anna and the King of Siam became a best
seller, many Siamese were highly indignant. Old tales told
by Anna, which they knew to be fictional, were being re-
peated to a new generation of admiring readers as appar-
entlytrue stories. The subsequentversions, in their opinion,
offeredevengreaterdistortionsinportrayingKingMongkut.
But deeper than any specific complaint was the feeling that
these books andplays havepresentedto theworld a carica-
ture of one of their country's great men, and no country,
bigorlittle, likes theworldtolaugh no matterhow gentle
and friendly the laughter at one of its great men.
King Mongkut, King of Siam from 1851 to 1868, was
in fact one of the great Asians of the nineteenth century.
For seventeenyears he steeredhis countrythrough the con-
flicting pressures and territorial ambitions of France and
England andsetthe coursethatpreservedtheindependence
ofhis country the only country in SoutheastAsia never to
havefallen underEuropean domination. Always therewere
evident in his life a deeply religious spirit that compre-
hended and believed in tolerance, an intellectual curiosity
that caused a never-ceasing search for knowledge, and an
unshakable determination to serve the Siamese In
people.
Preface ix
him surged the turmoil arising from the sudden impact of
western civilization on an eastern civilization. It was this
turmoil within him which caused those inconsistencies and
incongruities that made him so striking and fascinating a
personality.Yetthroughallhisactionsthereisclearlyvisible
the guidingpurpose of his reign: the independence of Siam
must be preserved. He realized that this required not only
careful diplomatic action abroad but also a modernizing of
thecountryathome.Evenasonesmilesathisfoiblesandhis
littleweaknesses especially athis English, ofwhichhewas
so proud the objectives underlying apparent trivia can be
understood, whetherin askingQueenVictoriafor a decora-
tion (as part of his campaign to emphasize the sovereignty
of Siam) or in admonishing his people on the "inelegance"
ofthrowing dead animals inthe canals ofBangkok (aspart
of his campaignto adjusthis people to the new and strange
western ideas). Judged against his background and his
times, he towers intellectually and morally over his con-
temporaries, not only in Siam but throughout Southeast
Asia.
This little book is not intended as a refutation of any of
Anna's stories.* As the Baltimore Evening Sun recently
philosophized about them, "When truth gives fiction as
much as one day's start, oftentimes, it isnever able to catch
up." * Moreover, most people do not consider whether
those tales are literal history; nor, for that matter, do they
care. They have enjoyed the books or the pictures or the
play as light and charming anecdotes or delightful theater.
That pleasure, however, need not preclude one from enjoy-
ing the remarkable true story of King Mongkut and know-
ingwhattheKingofSiamwaslikeinreallife.
I have not tried to prepare a conventional biography of
*For comments on Anna as historian, see Appendix IV.
x Preface
King Mongkut or a history of Ms reign. I have, rather,
tried to sketch the man in his many facets, furnishing a
factual outline but applying the color from his own writ-
ings, through which his personality and character shine so
clearly, and from other contemporary sources. Some of
his letters written in English have been published in the
Journal of the Siam Society or have been quoted in books.
In 1948 two of his gifted great-nephews, who felt that the
western world should know something of the real King
Mongkut, gathered together a substantial number of his
letters, decrees, judgments, and state papers in the original
English or in charming translations which they made from
the original Siamese. M. R. Seni Pramoj was the Free Thai
minister in Washington during the war and first post-
war prime minister of Siam. He is today a leading lawyer
in Bangkok. His brother, M. R. Kukrit Pramoj, a former
member of Parliament, is a well-known newspaper editor
andauthor. Withthe^se writings they included a brief sketch
of King Mongkufs life in a manuscript entitled "The King
of Siam Speaks." Most of the translations I have used are
taken, with their permission, for which I am very grateful,
from that manuscript. They appear here for the first time
in English, except for a few of the decrees which were
reproduced in an article by M. R. Seni Pramoj, "King
Mongkut as a Legislator," in the Journal of the Siam So-
ciety in January, 1950.
I haveinserted additional paragraphing and punctuation
marks where these will make reading the translations from
the- Siamese easier, and I have corrected obvious misprints
or errors, whether in manuscript or in print. I have not,
however, made changes especially not in King Mongkut's
spelling or grammar in letters written originally in Eng-
lish; nor have I changed the spelling of names as they ap-
Preface xi
pearindifferentplaces. Thetransliteration ofSiamesewords
and names has always presented difficulties. As a result,
the same names appear in the quotations in this book with
varying spellings, but I am sure that readers will realize
that those that look alike are in fact the same, as, Chau,
Chao; Phya, Phraya; Suriwongse, Suriyawongse; Luang,
Hluang. Etiquette requires that a man's title or rank al-
ways precedehis name in Siamese. As this book is designed
for western readers, I trust that any Thai who may read
it will recognize that no disrespect is intended by my fol-
lowingwesterncustom andreferringto theSiameseKingby
hiswestern name asMongkut (heis scarcely knownbythat
name in Thailand), just as I make reference to the British
QueenasVictoriaandtotheAmericanPresidentasLincoln.
I make no apology for quoting so copiously from King
Mongkut's writings. Like the Pramojs, I have become con-
vinced that no one could depict King Mongkut so well
andIthinktherightwordis "endearingly" asKingMong-
kut himself.
The King was photographed a number of times, and he
often sent pictures of himself as presents to other heads
of state. The daguerreotype he sent President Pierce was at
one time in the Smithsonian Institution but cannot now
be found. The Smithsonian has, however, a photograph,
made many years ago in Philadelphia, which it believes
to be of that daguerreotype. It is reproduced in this book.
The daguerreotype which King Mongkut had taken with
his beloved daughter and forwarded to Washington for
President Buchanan arrived when Lincoln was president.
Lincoln had it placed in the National Archives, where it
now reposes. Unfortunately, over the years the picture has
deteriorated and is not now suitable for reproduction.
Efforts to locate the daguerreotype, sent to Queen Vic-
