Siam through the eyes of the Western Press

[Happyman]

New York Times, February 28 1862

What a nice thought ! Herds of pachyderms roaming the range with cowboys circling the herd at night singing to them a la Gene Autrey. Mind you "get along little Pachyderms, you've had a hard day" does not seem to scan right !

They don't write diplomatic "piss off" notes like that last paragraph any more .
What a pity

Good stuff Dr. Bob , keep'em coming - please

[DrB0b]

New York Times, January 11 1869

[DrB0b]

New York Times, November 17 1868

[DrB0b]

New York Times, June 13 1869

[DrB0b]

New York Times, december 16 1872

[Rural Surin]

Nice little project you have Bob. Kudos.

[DrB0b]

November 7, 1872

[killerbees]

Yowza. Very interesting. Any follow-up on this last article?

[DrB0b]

February 24 1879

[Rural Surin]

Apologies for an old bump....Bob, do you intend to further this thread? Interested observers would appreciate as such.

[DrB0b]

Rama V - The New King of Siam
London Daily graphic - Saturday, February 10, 1872

King Rama V had been reigning for 4 years when this article was published.

[Butterfly]

it's incredible to see the first glimpse of globalization in such early stage

diplomats, intelligence report from the world leaders etc...

I am still waiting for the French history with the Siamese in the early 20th century,

[DrB0b]

The re-Coronation of Rama V

The Graphic (London, England), Saturday, January 17, 1874

[DrB0b]

it's incredible to see the first glimpse of globalization in such early stage

diplomats, intelligence report from the world leaders etc...

I am still waiting for the French history with the Siamese in the early 20th century,

That's about 10 years ahead of where we are now. But seeing as it's you asking I might just skip it altogether

I think these Rama V articles are fascinating. In just two posts we've seen the abolition of most of Thai slavery, the abolition of prostration (unabolished again now, of course), the beginnings (in Siam) of the modern idea that a king serves his country as well as the country being loyal to him, the beginning of city planning in Thailand (whatever happened to that?), and the radical statement that the poor should share equal justice with the rich. I really like the image of the Siamese Nobility lying face down on the floor in front of the King, under the rules of the old order, as he reads his speech and then simultaneously standing up, for the first time in front of a Rattanakosin King, at the end of the speech and the beginnings of a new order. That's a lot of major changes in a very short time, interesting times lie ahead for Siam.

[DrB0b]

Apologies for an old bump....Bob, do you intend to further this thread? Interested observers would appreciate as such.

I'll put some more up every so often but with just 750 views in a year it's obviously not of much interest to people. I guess I should have put the words gogo or anal in the thread title

[filch]

A great thread DrBob. Very interesting look retrospective, and as you mentioned can serve as a 'library' of sorts for Google searches.

I look forward to more.

Just a quick one, why do you keep highlighting Siam?

[DrB0b]

A great thread DrBob. Very interesting look retrospective, and as you mentioned can serve as a 'library' of sorts for Google searches.

I look forward to more.

Just a quick one, why do you keep highlighting Siam?

That's done by the online Newspaper Archives I copied some of the articles from. Some of the archives (those last two posts are from the British Library Archive) highlight the search keywords used. It's annoying but not much I can do about it, sadly.

[filch]

Ah understood...keep up the good work!

[DrB0b]

Special for you, Butterfly. I put links in this one because otherwise nobody would believe it was true.

London Gazette - December 11 - 1684




In the late 17th Century Narai the Great, King of Siam, sent an Embassy to the French court at Versailles requesting that King Louis XIV send an ambassador to the Siamese Court at Ayuthaya. The Siamese King sent this request following the recommendation of his First Counsellor, the Greek Constantine Phaukon (Amazon.com: The Falcon of Siam (9780413163400): Axel Aylwen: Books).

Louis sent several representatives of the French Court to Ayuthaya. The most interesting of these were;

The ambassador, the Chevalier de Chaumont mentioned in the clipping, attempted to convert the King of Siam to Catholicism and later wrote one of the first books on Siam by a resident westerner "Relations of an Embassy to the Court of Siam" (Amazon.com: Relation De L'Ambassade De M. Le Chevalier De Chaumont a La Cour Du Roi De Siam (Itineraria Asiatica: Thailand) (French Edition) (9789748299761): Alexandre Chaumont: Books).

The Catholic Priest and author François Timoléon, abbé de Choisy. Timoléon's mother had forced him to dress as a girl during his childhood and he continued to prefer this style of dress throughout his life. Upon his arrival in Ayuthaya he became the first of a long line of what became one of the West's greatest contributions to Thai culture, the Ladyboy.
François-Timoléon de Choisy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The French Naval Commander Count Claude de Forbin-Gardanne. Forbin-Gardanne remained with the Thai court after the French Embassy returned to France and eventually became, reluctantly, the Grand Admiral of the Siamese Navy, Commanding General of the Siamese Army, and Governor of Bangkok. First Counsellor Phaulkon was, however, jealous of de Forbin's power and after a couple of years of being the target of Phaukon's wrath de Forbin returned to France. He was replaced as Governor of Bangkok by another Frenchman, the Chevalier de Beuregard. De Beauregard, as well as being Governor Bangkok, also had the distinction of being the first person in Siam ever to have surgery performed on him using Western techniques.

De Beuregard later became Governor of Mergui (now in Burma) after the English occupiers there were defeated by a siamese revolt in 1688.

BTW, all these Farangsay were supposedly the original cause of the creation of the word Farang

[Butterfly]

The Catholic Priest and author François Timoléon, abbé de Choisy. Timoléon's mother had forced him to dress as a girl during his childhood and he continued to prefer this style of dress throughout his life. Upon his arrival in Ayuthaya he became the first of a long line of what became one of the West's greatest contributions to Thai culture, the Ladyboy.

no fucking way

fucking wiki doesn't count as reliable

[DrB0b]

The Catholic Priest and author François Timoléon, abbé de Choisy. Timoléon's mother had forced him to dress as a girl during his childhood and he continued to prefer this style of dress throughout his life. Upon his arrival in Ayuthaya he became the first of a long line of what became one of the West's greatest contributions to Thai culture, the Ladyboy.

no fucking way

fucking wiki doesn't count as reliable

Here you go then

Amazon.com: The Transvestite Memoirs & The Story of The: Marquise-Marquis de Banneville (9780720609158): Abbe de Choisy: Books
The Transvestite Memoirs & The Story of The: Marquise-Marquis de Banneville (Paperback)
~ Abbe de Choisy (Author)

Product Description
This remarkable document in the history of transvestism provides a first-hand account of manners and morals in late seventeenth century French society. In a light, intimate style praised by Sainte-Beuve, Choisy recounts his scandalous and entertaining escapades as a transvestite. Reared as a girl by his ambitious mother, the young Choisy dressed in girls' clothes, wore earrings, and was much admired by Louis XIV's homosexual transvestite brother. As the abbot of Saint Seine, Choisy continued to delight in extravagantly feminine attire and in the seduction of young girls, often with the unsuspecting assistance of their parents. A most fantastic and fascinating case; his erotic masquerade is the stuff of adult fairy tales."" - Marina Warner.

The transvestite memoirs of the abbé de Choisy and The story of the Marquise-Marquis de Banneville
by Abbé de Choisy
Published in 1994, Peter Owen, U.S. distributor, Dufour Editions (London, U.K., Chester Springs, Pa.)

CHANGE COVER
Contributions: Scott, R. H. F., Perrault, Charles, 1628-1703.
Other titles: Transvestite memoirs., Story of the Marquise-Marquis de Banneville.
works: Aventures de l'abbé de Choisy habillé en femme
By statement: translated from the French and with an introduction by R.H.F. Scott ; [with an afterword by Jeremy Reed].
Language: English
Format: paperback
Dimensions: 21.5 x 13.5 x 1 cm.
Pagination: 142 p. : ill.
Weight: 200 g.
ISBN 10: 0720609151
LCCN: 94218096
LC: DC130.C52 A2813 1994
Subject: Choisy, abbé de, 1644-1724.
Transvestites — France — Biography.
Nobility — France — Biography.
France — History — Louis XIV, 1643-1715.

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DESCRIPTION EDIT

Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 142).
Spine title: The transvestite memoirs.
Choisy's Transvestite memoirs first published in Paris in 1862. The story of the Marquise-Marquis de Banneville was originally published in the Mercure galant, Feb., 1695. Authorship is variously attributed to Charles Perrault and/or Choisy.
"Paperback original"--Cover.
Distributor statement from label on p. [4] of cover.

First sentence: Introduction: The abbé de Choisy (1644 to 1724), courtier, diarist, historian and transvestite, was an unusual if not bizarre character. Chapter I: You have ordered me, Madame, to write the story of my life; in truth, you cannot imagine it.

From back cover: These authentic memoirs constitute a remarkable document in the history of transvestism, and provide a first-hand account of manners and morals in late seventeenth-century French society.



TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Part One The Transvestite Memoirs
I The First Affairs of the abbé de Choisy under the name of Madame de Sancy
II The Loves of M. de Maulny and Mlle Dany
III The abbé's Intrigues With the Little Actresses Montfleury and Mondory
IV The Comtesse des Barres

Part Two Introduction
The story of the Marquise-Marquis de Banneville
Notes
Afterword by Jeremy Reed
Selected Bibliography

The transvestite memoirs of the abbe? de Choisy and The story of the Marquise-Marquis de Banneville (Open Library)

Bless me, Father

[Butterfly]

I might order that one, could be an interesting reading. Quite like reading stuff in old french.

[Butterfly]

found a downloadable function

Internet Archive: Free Download: L'abbé de Choisy

L'abbé de Choisy - Google Books

[zz fugazi]

I'd love to have a link to download your terabyte of historical Thailand clips! Can you put it on hotfile.com? Or, if you're in BKK, can I collect a DVD from you>

Thanks,

ZZ

[crazyswede]

My wife is impressed falang people care about things like this .. old stuff from Siam .. she also ask´s if it´s possible to read old history about her country in thai on internet , anyone know?