Thread: Memory Lane (In my own language)

Drum Tower, originally built in 1782 in the reign of King Rama I, it is a three-story tower featuring a wooden structure with red paint of which, the design replicated the style of the tower in Ayutthaya period.




Each story houses a big drum (with given name that rhymes with one another in either forward or backward reading) which gives different sound to convey a different message.

The first drum is to signal dawn and dusk.

The second drum is to signal a fire alarm and

The third drum is to signal warning when invaders attack the city which, according to the record, was never used for, around that time, peaceful era had started to seep into Siam.

In the reign of King Rama III, the tower rooftop was modified from Thai style of ‘mondop’ to Chinese style. Later, it was changed back to its original form in the reign of King Rama IV.

King Rama V had the tower demolished to give way for the construction of Chao Chet Park.

A new tower of the same style was rebuilt in 1982 in the occasion of 200th Anniversary of Bangkok.

At present, this Drum Tower is sited on Sanum Chai Road in Pra Borom Maha Ratchawung District close to Wat Poh and the Territorial Defense Command.

Pig Memorial and Pee Koon Bridge

Pig Memorial is a memorial located in the inner city or Rattanakosin Island which is a historic area of Bangkok.

The Memorial was built in 1913, the year of King Rama V’s Supreme Queen Consort, Saowapa Pongsri’s 50^th Birthday Anniversary.

Its official name is "Sahachart Memorial" which refers to "The Memorial of Those Who Were Born in The Same Year". Three important persons; one Prince and two high ranking nobles had jointly built the memorial as a gesture of gratitude to the Queen.

The pig sculpture of the memorial is made of gilded cast metal. Initially, the sculpture was resting on large stone pillars, which have since been replaced by a higher, mountain-shaped concrete base.

Its purpose is to honor the year of the pig which was the Queen's year of birth, as well as the three donors.




The Pee Koon Bridge locally known as "Sapan (= bridge) Moo (= pig)” was built on the same occasion.

Its name refers to "The Bridge of Year of The Pig (= pee koon)".

Its structure is cemented adjacent to the memorial, which is located in the west of the bridge. The Pee Koon Bridge is a pedestrian overpass across the old city moat or better known as Khong (= canal) Lord (= tube).

At present, these two have been registered as ancient monument in Bangkok.

Got a question to ask if anyone can suggest me...

Sometimes when I wanted to search for a particular word/term (or else) from my last articles, I had to turn page by page until I found it. Now that there are quite many pages, 27, the old method is kind of a drag, time consuming.

Does anyone know any faster and more convenient method?

PS The 'Find' engine cannot give the specific answer.

K. Edmond and K. Iom

Thank you so... so... much. That's a big help!

A documentary titled: Opium addiction in Siam

Opium (called in Thai as ‘fin’) was brought into Siam along with the Chinese immigrants who came and settled in Siam since the King Rama III period (1824 ---). The Chinese were addicted to opium after it was introduced by the British who brought it in from India to sell it to the Chinese.

The Siam government was against opium and had long since tried to eliminate and wipe out the opium dealers and addicts. One attempt was made by King Rama IV who restricted the trade and smoking. Only the Chinese were allowed to smoke opium. Thais were forbidden to sell or smoke it.

During the 1920’s the government reduced the number of stores that sold opium and limited the amount of opium the government sold to the smokers.

A large number of Chinese in Chang Mai, mostly the ones who moved in from Bangkok, were opium addicts. The local government allowed them to smoke only in the registered opium dens.

The three legalized dens were Tong Heng on Thapae road (opposite to Lao Chow alley), the one behind the San Pa Khoi Market near Kawila Camp and the one at San Sai Noi.

In 1959, the revolutionary Council Announcement of December 9^th, 1951 stipulated the ban on the smoking and sales opium in the Kingdom of Thailand to be effective on January 1^st, 1959. The announcement made all opium trading and smoking illegal.

The government officials arrested all dealers and smokers, closed down all dens and burned all opium smoking equipment throughout the country.

As opium became popular not only in Thailand but also worldwide, smuggling all illegal trade spread everywhere. Chiang Mai was one of the opium transporting routines to different places because the major opium production plants were located in the Golden Triangle.

The trade brought in a huge amount of profit to the dealers. It became an organized crime with backup powers from some mafia groups and some corrupted government officials. Thus, in many cases of drug arrests, government officials were found to be involved.

However, opium was not as popular after the end of WWII for newer kinds of drugs such as heroin, amphetamines and else has taken its place.

^^ no worries.

If you use Chrome browser, you can open the search link.

https://teakdoor.com/search.php?search_type=1

And bookmark it, like this:



Press the star on the right of the URL bar, then give it a name - such as TDS (teakdoor search), then press done.

Then anytime you type TDS in the URL bar and press Enter, it will open up that teakdoor search page.



I accept opium as payment.


Edit: Yes Mary-Jane is fine.

[QUOTE=Edmond;4230793]^^ no worries.

If you use Chrome browser, you can open the search link.....

Great tip!

Thanks again...

I am short of opium right now (little birds took it). Marijuana??

Typical lads (wai rune) in Bangkok in the early 1900s (Note: Various types of hairdo / the right one’s style is called ‘manchu’ so he was supposed to be a Chinese)




A portrait of a rich Chinese family in Bangkok in the reign of King Rama V

Originally Posted by Edmond

^ Very interesting, I previously lived near Victory Monument/Soi Rang Nam, as did an old poster 'StrontiumDog', and never noticed or even thought of that. Will take a look next time I'm going round the roundabout. Cheers.

That would be wonderful. I remember it stood on Paholyothin pavement (heading to the monument). Wait... Just remember I might have a photo in my archive....

Yeah, found it. Not it but them. Not obviously shown though.

Wonder if it still stands there today.

You lived in Soi Rang Nam. Have you ever eaten at 'Jakkee restaurant' sited around there? Great Chinese food especially 'ba-mee (egg noodle). Also 'Pong Lee restaurant', another superb food shop especially 'hae-kuen'

Kanung was a Maniq boy living with his tribe in the deep forest in Pattalung Province.

On his visit to Nakorn Sritummarad Province, King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V) was shown Maniq tribe that the people brought in to take photos. The King was interested and wanted to study more about his particular kind of subject so he decided to adopt one. The people chose for him a boy named Kanung.

The boy was sent off to live in the royal court in Bangkok where he was taught everything a civilized person should know and in exchange, the court could learn the boy's life.

Not for long, Kanung became a special person. He was clever, eager to learn new things. He loved bananas and red color.

Anyway, growing up as a jungle boy, he could not shred his old familiars. He liked being naked and could never get used to formal lifestyle.

King Chulalongkorn was so kind to Kanung. He appointed the boy to be his close page. Kanung also inspired the King to pen a play about his life. The play was titled "Ngoh Pa (Thai term for calling Maniq tribe)" and Kanung was cast as the leading character on which he was very good at it.

Though Kanung was adorable in King Chulalongkorn's eyes, he was not to the King’s heir (the future King Wachirawut (King Rama VI)). He deemed Kanung impudent so when succeeded the throne after his father, King Wachirawut removed Kanung from his position as the royal page and appointed him an entertainment job in the Wild Tiger Corps.

When Kanung was sent far away from the center of interest, news about him was less and less. No one knew what happened to him later on except a short note by one of the royalties who lived in the royal court around that time said that

"Later on, Kanung grew up to become a young man and like normal young men, he liked ladies but since his appearance was not like us, no ladies set an eye on him. So, his sex drive led him to brothels and finally got diseases and met his tragic death."

The Royal Regalia of Siam/Thailand monarch is a set of objects accumulated by the kings for use during their coronation ceremonies. Most were assembled around 1785 for the coronation ceremony of King Rama I.

The combination of these regal and practical objects, and their symbolism, traces back to the ancient Indian subcontinent.

The Royal Regalia, at present, consists of 5 items but long before it started with this one first:

Nine-Tiered Umbrella

In the old days, the Nine-Tiered Umbrella was considered the most sacred and ancient of the royal regalia. The Umbrella (here, called in Thai as a ‘chat’) consists of many tiers, five for the crown prince (or the viceroy), seven for an unconsecrated king, and nine for a fully sovereign king.

The shades are made of white silk trimmed with gold, attached to a gilded golden stem. Each Umbrella is usually displayed above an important throne in the royal palace. The Umbrella itself is considered sacred objects and receives offerings from the king on the anniversary of his coronation day.

There are currently seven such Umbrellas, with six distributed at the various throne halls in the Grand Palace, and one in the Dusit Palace.

Derived from ancient Hindu beliefs, the Umbrella symbolizes the spiritual and physical protection the king can give to his subjects. The multiple tiers symbolize the accumulation of honors and merit the king may possess.




Great Crown of Victory

The Great Crown of Victory is Thai style crown (called in Thai as ‘mongkut’). It was made in 1782 by the royal command of King Rama I.

In the earlier days, the crown was considered the next most important item in the whole set of Royal Regalia, following the Nine-tiered Umbrella.

But later, when Siam had more contact with European countries, the royal procedures were reviewed and the status of the crown was changed to replace the Nine-tiered Umbrella in importance.

In Europe, the status of Kingship is bestowed when the King puts on the crown. Therefore, at the Royal Coronation day, when King Rama IV was presented with the crown, His Majesty placed the crown upon his head and gave an audience to the foreign diplomatic corps while wearing it.

From then on, the Great Crown of Victory has been reconsidered as the most important article of all the Royal Regalia and every king will wear this crown at his Royal Coronation Ceremony.

The Great Crown of Victory is made of plain gold and diamonds with a pointed end.

Because of the weight of almost 8 kg, the crown is so heavy once being placed on the head. So, on the Royal Coronations of King Rama I – III, the Kings placed it on the pedestal beside instead.

However, on his coronation, King Rama IV sent a court official to look for a worthy diamond in India. The large diamond, purchased in Calcutta, India and subsequently given the name Maha Vichien Manee, was then placed at the top of the crown.




Then, as said earlier, the King started a new tradition onward, wearing it on his head, for having been aware of the importance of wearing the ‘Mongkut’ through the whole ceremony as he had heard and seen from those European Monarchies on their coronations.




(to be continued)

The rest of the 5 items of The Royal Regalia...




Sword of Victory

The blade of the Sword of Victory was supposedly found by a fisherman in the water of the Tonle Sap, Cambodia in 1784 and presented to King Rama I. He had a scabbard and hilt of gold made to house the blade. Both are inlaid with diamonds and precious stones.

The sword's blade measures 64.5 cm. (25 in.) long while the hilt measures 25.4 cm. (10 in.) long. When placed in its scabbard, the sword is 101 cm. (40 in.) long and weighs 1.9 kg (4 lb.).

The sword is an ancient symbol of sovereignty and military power. The king's sword thus symbolizes his role as a warrior with a duty to defend his kingdom. This harkens back to ancient times when the king was not merely a titular, but the actual warrior-in-chief of his subjects.




Royal Staff

The Royal Staff is made of cassia wood covered with gold gilt. The staff is 118 cm. (46 in.) long and has a knob at one end and three prongs at the other. The staff or also called a scepter is a symbol of regal authority in many cultures.




Royal Slippers

The Royal Slippers take the form of an open-heeled slipper with the front curling upwards into a point. The exterior is decorated with diamonds and jewels, the insoles are lined with red velvet, and the soles are made of pure sheet gold.

Wearing footwear was rare in ancient Southeast Asia and was probably reserved only for royalty.




Fan and Fly-whisk

The Fan and Fly-whisk are items used to provide comfort and cool, an important accessory for a divine king especially in a tropical country.

The Royal Fan was created by order of King Rama I. The fan is gilded with gold, the handle enameled in green and red. Traditionally, a fan was made by bending a talipot palm's frond at a right angle. The royal fan mimics this traditional form.

The Royal Fly-whisk of the yak's tail was made in the reign of King Rama IV to augment the five items of the regalia. Evidently associated with the same idea of divine comfort as the fan, it is actually derived from the ancient chamara (tools that used to swat flies) of India.

According to tradition, the fly-whisk was used by the king to repel any maleficent forces that might bring discomfort to his subjects. The hair on the royal fly-whisk has since been replaced by those of a white elephant.






There still are more of the Royal Regalia but in a less significant category.

Royal Utensils

The Royal Utensils consist of four items. All are made of gold and they are: the Betel Nut Set, the Water Urn, the Libation vessel and the Spittoon.

By possessing common household uses, which are all made from precious materials, the king can show off his wealth and status to his subjects.

The utensils are always placed at either side of the king's throne during royal ceremonies. These items are of a personal nature, and are regarded as insignia of rank, not just for the king, but for his officials as well.

Once an individual is given high rank by the king, a replica set of these items would be given to him on the occasion of his promotion.




Weapons of sovereignty

The eight weapons of sovereignty are: the Long spear, the Long-handled sword, the Trident, the Chakra, the Short sword with Buckler, the Bow, the Elephant goad spear, and the Gun of Satong.

Some of the oldest items of regalia in ancient India are weapons, the main four being the bow, the spear, the trident, and the chakra.

The weapons are symbolic of the divine weapons of Shiva and Vishnu, mentioned in the Brahman epic. The current set of weapons was all created during the reign of King Rama I, as reproductions of lost originals.

Apart from the sacred weapons, the others are symbolic of the martial exploits of King Naresuan the Great of the Ayuthaya Kingdom.




Appendix: This is really good. It contains English subtitle.

Among their many novel gifts to the people of Siam, Christian missionaries also introduced photography.

It was Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix, vicar apostolic of Eastern Siam (L - With a Thai boy named “Kaew” (L) and a Yuan boy named “Chom” (R) shot in 1854) with the help of L' Abbé Larnaudie (R),displayed a camera to the Royal Court of King Rama III. It provoked more fright than interest.




Most Siamese were afraid that the camera would steal their souls until the always-prepared King Rama IV allowed his photograph to be taken. He even established a royal photography department within his court.

According to a 1905 edition of the Sayam Prathet newspaper, the country’s first native photographer was Pallegoix and Larnaudie’s student named Nai Mode Amatayakul and soon followed by Phra Preechakolkarn and Chit Chitrakanee.


(From left; Prince Chutamanee aka King Pinklao who shared the throne with King Rama IV, his elder brother. The others were a Prince (King Rama IV’s cousin) and a highest ranking noble)


Sayam Prathet reported that the first photograph any Siamese had seen was sent to the court of King Rama III by the ruler of Saiburi (Malaysia’s present-day Kedah state). It was a picture of Britain’s Queen Victoria at age 18.

King Rama III assumed, like everyone else, that it was a painting, but Bishop Pallegoix soon demonstrated the difference.

In 1856, King Rama IV allowed to snap his photo alongside Queen Dhepsirindhara Boromrajini, although the process was so time-consuming that there was no “snapping” involved. The royal image was sent to the US President Franklin Pierce on June 10^th, and is now kept at Washington’s Smithsonian Institute.




In 1875, to Queen Victoria of England






Photography became quite popular here by the late Fourth Reign. In 1863, Chit Chitrakanee became the first Siamese to open a photography studio, which was called “Francis Chit & Sons”.




Chit who later was granted a noble title as ‘Luang’ was born in 1830, son of a soldier. His Thai name was Chit, but later adopted the Western name of Francis when he adopted the Christian faith.

He welcomed clients and the curious to the shop at his Bangkok home on the Chao Praya River in front of Santa Cruz Church.




Chit was also the first professional photographer to advertise his skills and wares in newspapers, including the Bangkok Recorder and the Siam Mercantile Gazette.

He also was later appointed royal photographer to King Rama IV and continued working in the court, serving King Rama V as well, until his death.

The Sayam Prathet reported on January 20, 1899 that Chit was ordered to accompany King Rama IV to Prachuap Khiri Khan Province to photograph the solar eclipse of August 18, 1868.

Chit photographed thousands places and people, from high personages to ordinary folk, and sold them widely.

Chit died of cholera on 23 May 1891 at the age of 61. His descendants use the surname of Chitrakani.

Photographs taken inside the Royal Palace by an Austrian photographer Wilhelm J. Burger during 1860s (the reigns of King Rama IV – V).

Note: An interesting controversy…

A fairly recent discovery has been made of photographs of Siam (Thailand) that were originally attributed to Wilhelm Burger (published in book form by Mr. Pipat Pongrapeeporn, 2001).

These photographs (found in Europe as part of a private collection) were compared to photographs of the same era taken by the Thai court photographer named Francis Chit (aka Chit Chitrakanee, last article). When these photos were lined up side-by-side, it was discovered that what many had considered individual photographs (taken by two different photographers) were actually part of a set meant to be combined to form a panoramic view.

The complete set of photographs (now correctly attributed to Francis Chit) are now back in Thailand and are illuminating a new generation of Thai and Western students, historians, and everyday people as to what Bangkok of the 1860s really looked like.

In a recent book on Austrian naval visits in Siam ("Auf den Spuren von Österreichs Marine in Siam"), published in June 2012, the author W. Donko concludes that not only these pictures, but a substantial part of the 1869 Siam photo collection attributed to Wilhelm Burger was in fact taken by the court photographer of the King of Siam, Mr. Francis Chit.

Already 2011 Mr. T. Akiyoshi and P. Pantzer showed in an article published in the magazine "Photo Researcher Nr. 15/201” that Burger had also bought most of his 1869 photographs of Japan from local photo studios there.

A double decker boat on the Supanburi River, Supanburi Province in 1936




Shot in the reign of King Rama V showing an example of a war elephant in full form.




(An inspiration, perhaps? [a scene from 'The Lord of The Rings'])


Also shot in the reign of King Rama V showing people in Khon Kan Province drying betel nuts.