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King Rama V (1868-1910)

Prince Chulalongkorn, the son of King Rama IV, became the fifth king of the Chakri Dynasty in 1868 when he was only 15 years old. King Chulalongkorn reigned during some of the region's most tumultuous history, leaving the stage in 1910 as one of the Kingdom's longest-reigning Monarchs. During his reign he initiated important social reforms. Under his father's direction, Chulalongkorn had received a thorough education by European tutors. Chulalongkorn, the chief recipient of Leonowens’s academic attentions, made reforms for which his former tutor claimed some credit, such as discontinuing the practice of prostration in front of royal personnages. During the regency that preceded his coming of age, the young king visited Java and India in order to witness European colonial administration. Thus he was the first Chakkri monarch to leave the country.

The king abolished serfdom and the conscription of commoners for slave labor, but implemented these reforms gradually so that society could adjust without having a civil war, as had happened in other places. Chulalongkorn began ending slavery in 1868 and abolished it completely in 1905. As a result of the abolishment of these two systems, a lot of independent labor entered the market, and consequently, the economy of Siam expanded enormously at this time. As a result of the introduction of a head tax paid in currency and a regular army manned by conscription, the corvee lost most of its function, and wage labor, often provided by Chinese immigrants, proved more efficient for public works projects. Likewise, the introduction of salaries for public officials eliminated the need for the sakdi na. These reforms wrought profound changes in Thai society.

At his coronation in 1873, he announced the abolition of the ancient practice of prostrating before the monarch, which he regarded as unsuitable for a modern nation. A number of reform decrees followed, designed to modernize the judiciary, state finances, and political structure. The reforms, however, provoked a revolt by conservatives under Prince Wichaichan in December 1874. Although the revolt was suppressed, it obliged Chulalongkorn to abandon "radicalism" and proceed more carefully with reforms. It was more than a decade before the king and his associates were in a position to enact more significant changes.

In addition, the king also reformed the government by applying the nation-state policy. The central purpose of creating a nation-state was to centralize power. The central government would have the power to govern and administer its policies and create unity among the people in the nation. In 1887 the king asked one of his princes, Devawongse, to initiate a study of European forms of government and how European institutions might be fruitfully adopted. The following year, the prince returned with a proposal for a cabinet government consisting of twelve functionally differentiated ministries. The king approved the plan, though several years passed before it could be fully implemented. Only in 1892 did he establish 14 Western-style ministries. In 1893 Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, acting as minister of interior, began an overhaul of Siam's antiquated provincial administration. The old semifeudal system in the outer provinces was gradually replaced by a centralized state administration. Under Damrong, the Ministry of Interior became immensely powerful and played a central role in national unification.

Like his father, Chulalongkorn fully appreciated the importance of education. He founded three schools on European lines for children of the royal family and government officials, including one for girls. Specialized schools were attached to government departments for the training of civil servants. Study abroad was encouraged, and promising civil servants and military officers were sent to Europe for further education. In 1891 Prince Damrong went to Europe to study modern systems of education. Upon his return he became head of the new Ministry of Public Instruction, though he was obliged to assume the Ministry of Interior post a year later.

The country's first railroads were built during Chulalongkorn's reign, and a line was completed between Bangkok and Ayutthaya in 1897. This was extended farther north to Lop Buri in 1901 and to Sawankhalok in 1909. A rail line built south to Phetchaburi by 1903 was eventually linked with British rail lines in peninsular Malaya.

At a time when the colonising zeal was taking over neighboring nations, he demonstrated to foreign governments that Thailand was not in need of civilising but was already a full-fledged member of the world community. Siam had to develop in all ways modern so that no Western power could claim the lack of civilization as an excuse to colonize the country. By the time of King Rama V's reign, Rattanakosin had been established for 100 years, and Bangkok was quite developed and much changed. Many houses and ministry buildings were built in the style of Western architecture. Modern telegraph, telephone, train, and tram systems were constructed. It was during King Chulalongkorn's Reign that Bangkok's city walls were dismantled, a symbol of a broader access to the world. Reaching out, he became Thailand's first King to travel extensively on State Visits.

Nevertheless, the pressure from the great powers such as France and England who had invaded Southeast Asia put Siam in a difficult situation. The disputes between Siam and France occurred very often and resulted in French warships closing the Gulf of Siam in 1893. As a result, Siam had to give the land to the north and east of the Mekong River, and some parts of Cambodia, to France. The southern territories of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, and Terengganu went to England. The loss of some territories enabled Siam to save the main part of the country. Besides, England and France made an agreement to keep Siam as a "buffer state" between the British and French colonies in this region. Thailand, therefore, has never been a colony of any Western country in all its long history.

King Chulalongkorn's influence is evident in his cosmopolitan style of Kingship. This forward-looking Monarch began the practice of educating his many sons in a dozen European capitals. His aim was to enhance Thailand's presence abroad, to gain new knowledge, and to absorb tenets of administration which could be usefully employed in Thailand . His sons later supervised foreign advisors engaged by the Crown to re-shape Thai government departments along international standards. In the process, he set another precedent-later emulated by Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother in providing funds to train doctors abroad-to finance the foreign education of worthy candidates among the nobility.

By these means he modernised and streamlined Thailand's bureaucracy to oversee administration more efficiently. He also brought all parts of the Kingdom under the central government and initiated far-reaching development projects. One such example is the inauguration of the Rangsit Canal project northwest of Bangkok, which crisscrossed more than 100 square km. of rice land with a grid of canals for irrigation and transportation contributing to Thailand's reputation as a rich rice bowl. [This interest in irrigation and development is also shared by his Grandson, King Bhumibol Adulyadej].

The reign of Rama V has been generally accepted as the transformative period from which modern Siam/Thailand emerged. Rama V is often depicted as a “Prometheus-like figure who bestowed the gift of modernity on Thai society,” heroically saved the country from being colonized through his various modernizing initiatives. This had been the master narrative of the royalist-nationalist, state-endorsed historiography and generations of Thai historical studies until revisionist historians began to seriously question its validity in the late 1970s. The transformation of Rama V’s Siam was more similar to those of the indirectly colonized states of Southeast Asia than, say, Meiji Japan.