Thread: Memory Lane (In my own language)

The first Post Office was materialized by King Rama V’s brother.




In 1883, the business started by using the old building built in 1871 located by the banks of the Chao Praya River near the future Memorial Bridge. The building once belonged to a ruler of Muang Pracheen Buri (now, Pracheen Buri Province).

The ruler was convicted of a serious crime, killing and torturing a lot of Siamese residing in Krabin Buri District. He was sentenced to be executed in 1879. All of his property including his big house was seized to be the government’s asset. It later was renovated and used as the first Post Office (Not sure of the right English term. I saw various).




In 1927, the part of the business focusing on post office was moved to the former location of the British Embassy on Charoen Krung Road (New Road).

Being merged with the telegraph business, it became the General Post Office.

This was a logical step to have Bangkok’s ‘all in one’ post and telegraph office in this area because the road had served for many decades as a settlement for farung traders, with goods being transported by boats on the river.








The office used this original building until 1939, then it including all other buildings around was demolished and the new building with new space and new name "Post & Telegraph Department", as we see at present, was constructed on the same area.




(A comparison between the British Embassy and the Post and Telegraph Department on the same area)


Today, the building remains functioning as one of Thailand’s post offices which provides postal services to the general public, and a portion of the building now houses the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC).

Back to the first Postal Office, after some part of the business was moved to the new place, the former British Embassy, the building was still used to serve as the network of the other telecommunications.

When the Siamese revolution of 1932 occurred, the first thing that Khana Ratsadon (The People's Party) had to manage was seizing this first Post Office for it was the main hub of various kinds the telecommunication systems.

The operation had to be done soonest before the outsiders knew it however, someone did and hurriedly went to inform Field Marshal Prince Boripat Sukhumpan who was the head member of the Supreme Council of the State of Siam which was responsible for state affairs though it was too late (see my previous article).

Through time, the importance of the building was dwindled before finally deserted until later was regretfully demolished to give way to the construction of Prapokklao Bridge, the Memorial Bridge’s sister in 1981.

In 2009, the new building was rebuilt on the original area with the same original design but a little bit changed including size to fit the recent area and used as a museum of Thailand Post.

Originally Posted by panama hat

Yup, they seem to be all there now

You probably visited me in the middle of the process..

I have learned that this website is like a skittish horse. Experience has taught me not to be unguarded otherwise you will get thrown off and have to ‘climb up’ all over again.

So, in order not to get ...



... I have to create a safe process of posting each article.

1. I post my draft then hit ‘save changes’

2. I hit ‘edit post’ then edit my draft. When done, I do double ‘save’; first with the web’s ‘save changes’ and second, with my mouse (right clicking). Because in the past, this is where I always got kicked out. Getting kicked out after editing a long text always made me want to hang myself so, right clicking my mouse to save is precaution.



(PS You might visit me while I was on this part of the process)

3. I hit ‘edit post’ for the second time. This time, I add photos. Then I hit ‘save changes’ on the web.

4. I hit ‘edit post’ for the third time. This time, I maximize the photos before hitting ‘save changes’ again on the web.

5. I hit ‘edit post’ for the fourth time, the last. This time, I check for completeness, though often, I still miss here and there.

Now that you know my secret, I will have to kill you. Ha.. ha..!

Just shortly after the WWII, a tragic race riot happened in the history of Thailand.

The “Yaowarat Incident” occurred on September 20^th , 1945, when ethnic Chinese in Bangkok’s Chinatown area, exuberant at China’s victorious emergence from years of war against Japan, rehearsed the upcoming celebration of the Republic of China’s National Day by displaying Republic of China flags.

When Thai police acted to remove the “foreign flags,” violence erupted. The police called in the military, and later that night shooting broke out between security forces and supposedly armed rioters.

The incident ended on September 23^rd with a number of casualties.








(That is an old styled movie theater named 'Nakorn Sanook' meaning 'fun city')




Amidst the objection from the government, King Rama VIII and his brother (the future King Rama IX) arranged the royal visit to Sumpeng on 3^rd June 1946 to help improving the relationship between Thai people and Chinese people to be tightened once again.

When this delightful news spread into Sumpeng, both Thai and Chinese had joined forces to clean up the messy garbage preparing the place to welcome the Royalties with highest reverence.

A documentary (photos not included) titled the Arrival of Western influence

In the third reign of Rattanakosin, King Rama III's, the Kingdom of Siam extended its influence as far as Indochina and the Malay Peninsula. Hostilities with Burma and Vietnam had ended, and trade with other countries, including China, proceeded very successfully.

“Thai culture” was widely viewed as a civilized one, yet even in an era of proud and ancient tradition, that historic culture was both at its peak and slipping into decline.

The winds of change from the West that arrived in Siam while King Rama III was on the throne shook Siamese society to its core. So great was the political and economic power of the Western powers that Siam knew it had to accept occidental influence just to maintain its freedom.

The King and his officials were of course the first to recognize the depth of this influence, and the way they reacted would set the standard for future generations. This was the beginning of what some academics have called the era of “neo-traditionalism”.




In “Journal of an Embassy from the Governor General of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin-China”, British envoy John Crawfurd observed that the Siamese in King Rama II’s day – both court officials and commoners – believed themselves to be civilized people. “To them,” he wrote, “China is the great country, followed by Siam, Burma, Vietnam and the other countries in Asia. The West is uncivilized.”

By the mid-19th century, though, a change of attitude had become essential. The Siamese were forced to pay more attention to the West after Great Britain’s victory over Burma in 1825 and its subsequent forays into China. There were also formidable new technologies being brought from the West.

To Siam’s leaders, China had been omnipotent, Burma undefeatable, so Britain’s successes struck them deeply, clearly necessitating detente with a Western power that had previously been ignored.




Captain Henry Burney, who in 1825 was the British Indian government’s emissary to Siam to deal with friendship and trading issues, wrote that Siam’s leaders were eager to know everything about Great Britain, especially its political institutions.




Historians now believe some Siamese leaders might have had a chance to read John Crawfurd’s earlier chronicle, with its suggestion that Britain might seize Bangkok, and they abruptly awakened to the danger.

The Kingdom’s focus on the West intensified quickly after Protestant missionaries from America arrived on its shores.
Christian proselytizers had been coming since the Ayutthaya period, but most were Catholic and interested only in spreading their faith. They had met with little success because they lacked the support of the country’s rulers, who based their power on Buddhism and Hinduism.

Hinduism’s Devaraja (“god-king”) doctrine and Buddhism’s Dhammaraja (“king-dhamma”) teaching asserted that the King is God, and that if he behaves well, his authority is both guaranteed and protected by Buddhist dhamma. There was no need to seek out a new “God”.

In any event, the King’s subjects were uninterested in Christianity and couldn’t understand these utterly different foreigners. The Siamese practiced Buddhism and animism, as their ancestors had, and were happy.

But then the first group of Protestant missionaries arrived from America in 1833, led by John Taylor Jones. The Americans were different from earlier Western clergymen. They brought technology and knowledge about such matters as natural science, medicine, astronomy, geography and printing.




With such a sea change evident in the way man looked at his universe, it was inevitable that Siam would soon yield to, and then embrace, the era of modernity.



(King Napoleon III of France sent his ambassadors to the court of Siam in the reign of King Rama IV in 1867(illustrator unknown))



(First appearance to the world outside of King Rama IV’s handwriting and his Royal Seal - THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, November 1^st, 1856)

Sapan (= bridge) Hun is located in the China Town area (Sumpeng), Bangkok. It is said to be built by a group of Chinese Thai in 1783 in the reign of King Praputtayodfa Chulalok (Rama I), the first King of the Chakri Dynasty.

Originally, it was just a small wooden bridge made across a klong named Oong Ang. At one end of the bridge was fixed on the ground while the other end could be moved in order to let the boats pass under. Hence came the name "hun" which means "to move sideways".

In the reign of King Rama II, the bridge was renovated. The structure was lifted higher from the ground so that boats could pass under without having to turn the bridge sideways like before.

Anyway, the name “Sapan Hun (a move-sideway bridge)” was still used as usual as it had already been struck on people’s lips.

In the reign of King Rama IV, the bridge was renovated again. This time, the structure was changed from wood to steel and the center could be hydraulically lifted up and expanded for bigger boats under to pass.


(Not this one but the same shape like this one)


In the reign of King Rama V, after coming back from Royal visit to Europe, he had a new idea and the bridge was extremely renovated to roughly resemble the Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence and/or Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy.




Sadly, the decorations on the bridge were demolished in the early 60s.


(Computer colored version of B&W photograph, another nice work, I say)


This rare photo (and I just found it! lucky me that I did not post this article earlier) shows what it looked like when you were heading toward Sapan Hun. The big gate was much derelict. It finally tumbled down one night in the early reign of King Rama VI. One dead and a few injured were reported.






And this is what Sapan Hun looks like today, sigh...

Suea Saming

Suea (= tiger) Saming is a shapeshifter (tiger=man) that preys on people in the remote countryside of Thailand. Local people believe that it is born from the work of black magic. Some also believe that it is caused by a vicious tiger that eats a lot of people for a long time. Too many that the spirits of those people haunt it and turn it into a Suea Saming.

At daytime, Suea Saming appears as normal people but it changes into a big tiger at night.

While out searching for preys which always at night, once seeing a victim, it will change form into a person who is close to the victim such as the victim's family member then tries to lure the victim to its lair. Some local people even told that they witnessed a Suea Saming as a monk on pilgrimage in disguise preying on a woman.

King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V) wrote in his memoir while visiting Chantaburi Province once that:

"Local people here seem to be afraid of Suea Saming so much. They told me that a Khmer necromancer had processed magic oil that could change people into Suea Saming. Three of his pupils stole it and tried applying it on their bodies and it worked.

Three Suea Saming went astray from Khmer crossing the borderline to Chantaburi. They preyed on people along the way. Their master followed them here and told the people what had happened and asked them to help finding those three Suea Saming.

The master said that if one was found just hit it with a wooden beam or used a coconut shell to cover its footprint. The magic will then be broken and that Suea Saming would turn back to be a man again. But those tricks would work only if those Suea Saming had not eaten anybody yet.

Anyway, it was so sad that those three Suea Saming had already eaten a lot of people so far so, these solutions didn't work. Those poor Suea Saming had to be on their own".

A tale from little birds

The first 3 wives of King Rama V were sisters who shared the same parents (King Rama IV and one of his Royal Concubines). Thus they were also half-sisters to the King.

The first one (#1) is Queen Sunanta Kumarirat. The second one (#2) is Queen Sawang Watana and the third one (#3) is Queen Saowapa Pongsri.




When #1 died in a boat accident along with her daughter and one stillborn baby which was said to be a son (page 5) thus, the future heir apparent to the throne, #2 was elevated to become the King's #1 because she had a son who was legitimated as an heir apparent to the throne after the loss.

Sadly her son died young (1^st Crown Prince Maha Vajirunhit – page 23) so, #3 who also had a son was elevated to become the King's #1. This son of hers or the 2^nd Crown Prince lived long enough to finally take the throne as King Rama VI.

In the end, the youngest or #3 was elevated to the Supreme Queen Consort of King Rama V. Her eldest (dead) and her elder sisters or #1 and #2 were Queen Consorts.




Since he produced no heir, when King Rama VI died, his younger brother took the throne as King Rama VII.

King Rama VII also produced no heir and he was the youngest among his siblings. So, when he died, according to the law of succession, the line moved from the sons of the Supreme Queen Consort to Queen Consort #1’s.

As having known that the Queen Consort #1 was no more (boat accident). The line moved on the Queen Consort #2’s.

Queen Consort #2 whose first son used to be the 1^st heir to the throne still had more sons but unfortunately they all died before time. The line of succession still worked on. It found that her 4^th son (or 9^th of 10) had children. Thus came King Rama VIII and then, King Rama IX.

Queen Consort #2 (or the middle one) whose name was Queen Sawang Wattana finally became Queen Grandmother.

Intermission – Get some air!

Now, Queen Sawang Wattana had lived a long life. Through those times, she had witnessed a lot of things. Things that went up and things that went down. Things that were good and things that were bad. But what that impacted her life was all bad.




She had witnessed her life that used to be the Supreme Queen Consort but all of a sudden, she had to step down to become just Queen Consort.

She had witnessed the chaotic Siam Revolution that impacted the life of her niece, King Rama VII, and continued with the coup d’etat that made him finally exile from his home.

She had witnessed 2 horrific World Wars and the last one compelled her to move away to the countryside for her own safety.

She also had witnessed too many deaths. She attended the funerals of 5 Kings of Siam starting from her father’s, King Rama IV, her beloved husband’s, King Rama V, 2 of her nephews’, King Rama VI and VII (only witnessed for he died abroad) and her own grandson’s, King Rama VIII who died too soon.

Along the way, there were more such as her mother’s, her siblings’ (among them, her elder sister’s, Queen Consort #1 plus her niece’s (boat accident) and her youngest sister’s, the Supreme Queen Consort) to name but a few that were close to her life. There were still more and more as time went by.

But the most traumatic ones were she had had to attend all of her own children’s deaths, along with all (but one) of her adopted children’s (from King Rama V with other Royal Concubines) all of whom she had raised with her own hands.

In the end, she became an old woman who hardly smiled. Fate had been so cruel to her.

It was told among the little birds that in her final years, whenever she prayed, she always asked for the same thing “Let me be forgetful. I don’t want to remember anything anymore. I’ve had enough”.




Queen Sawang Wattana (born in 1862), Queen Great Grandmother to the nowadays King Rama X, died at the age of 93 (1955) in the reign of her grandson, King Rama IX. She had lived through 6 reigns.



(With her husband, King Rama V)



(With her last offspring (the last of 10), Prince Mahidol Adulyadej (1892-1929), father of 2 Kings, Rama VIII and IX)



(With her 2 grandsons, the future King Rama VIII and IX)



(Giving blessing to King Rama IX and his wife, Queen Sirikit on their wedding day (1950))


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The correspondence between King Mongkut (Rama IV) and Abraham Lincoln




During the reign of King Rama IV, there were a lot of letters sent from the King to the President (s) of America. Among those, there is one that was very renowned…

In his 1861 letter written in Thai language, King Rama IV addressed to President James Buchanan “or whoever would become the President” with elaborate paragraph-long salutations.






(Below: The translation of the letter, first page and last page)






The King offered the elephants after learning they were not native to America. He also sent along three gifts: a sword and scabbard, a photograph of himself, the King with one of his daughters, and an impressive pair of elephant tusks.

The offer of elephants did not neglect practical details. King Mongkut stated, “...On this account, we desire to procure and send elephants to be let loose to increase and multiply in the continent of America. But Siam did not have a large enough vessel to transport them..." part of the letter said.

It continued: “In reference to this opinion of ours if the President of the United States and Congress who conjointly with him rule the country see fit to approve, let them provide a large vessel loaded with hay and other food suitable for elephants on the voyage, with tanks holding a sufficiency of fresh water, and arranged with stalls so that the elephants can both stand and lie down in the ship — and send it to receive them. We on our part will procure young male and female elephants and forward them one or two pairs at a time.”

King Mongkut then, in his letter, directed that the elephants should be kept away from the cold and under the sun, and to also “let them with all haste be turned out to run wild in some jungle suitable for them not confining them at any length of time.”

“If these means can be done we trust that the elephants will propagate their species hereafter in the continent of America.”

By the time the letter arrived in America, a year later, Lincoln was already the President. He and the secretary of State, William Seward, replied with polite declination this offer from afar.

Lincoln penned a reply where he simply addressing the King as “Great and Good Friend.” with detail saying that the country “does not reach a latitude so low as to favor the multiplication of the elephant.” He also said in his 1862 letter that “steam on land, as well as on water, has been our best and most efficient agent of transportation in internal commerce. It had overtaken the need for heavy animal power of this kind”.





(More detail's here: Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam's Offer of Elephants | American Battlefield Trust)

Wat Ratchanatdaram…

is a Buddhist wat located in the heart of Bangkok. The name means the Temple of the Royal Niece. It was built in 1846 to the order of King Nungklao (King Rama III; 1788-1851) for his granddaughter, Princess Soamanat Wattanawadee who later on became King Mongkut's (King Rama IV; 1804-1868) first queen consort for 9 months. She died of a mysterious (at that time) illness at the age of 17. 'Wat Soam' as we normally know it, the name was taken after hers.




The Loha Prasat seen high in the background of the ancient photo (taken in 1866 in the reign of King Mongkut) was modeled after the one in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is the only one of its kind that exists today. It was submitted to UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site in 2005. The place has been completely finished in the recent reign (King Rama X), the longest time of construction/renovation I might say.

[QUOTE=Klondyke;4228856]Not sure whether I haven't mixed the Queen/Consort ## - I hope Nong will not mind me adding what I heard from little birds, perhaps also interesting:

Brilliant information!

Those stories are what I have known very well. I just knew that they were translated into English version as well.

In fact, there are tons of fun and interesting royal trivia but, so pitiful that most of them are told in Thai language which, for me, quite a hard job and time consuming to get them done in English properly.

Prince Chakrapong was an ambitious man. He was heated up when his big brother, King Rama VI, being urged about setting a line of succession after being aware that he had produced no heir, held a committee to discuss this matter through and most of the members rejected his status because, though the first candidate, he had a foreign wife.

The Prince had always been a ‘mother boy’. That made him quite a … what is an English word to call ‘nuck laeng’?

His mother, the Supreme Queen Consort Saowapa Pongsri was also a type of ‘spoiled little sister’. She did not hesitate to get emotional and snapped once being displeased with something or someone especially those King’s Royal Concubines. No one dared to meet her eye contact.

Little birds told me that at her final age, she was so fat that she couldn’t walk without the help of a cane. Once in her private room, she always moved to here and there by crawling.

One day her own sister, Queen Consort Sawang Watana (just told you lately) along with Queen Consort Sukuman Malasri (her half-sister and the 4^th Queen) came to visit. Having been tamed by her old age and illness, she knelt down on the floor trying to crawl to her sisters and repented the wrongful deeds she had done to them (and to someone else) in the past.

Those two Queens knowing well about the royal status that they were ‘the 3^rd and 4^th (the 2^nd was the capsizing boat Queen, the eldest of all) tried to avoid but she was persistent. They finally yielded and at their feet, her little sister, the Supreme Queen, apologized and cried.

She also was the cause that made King Rama V changed the method of the line of succession otherwise after King Rama VI who produced no heir died, the throne would have jumped back to the 3^rd Queen (her biological elder sister whom King Rama V deemed they were equal in status)’s son.

If you have such kind of trivia in English, please bring them down here for our lovely readers. I really want them to read these fun stories.

You helped me a lot, thanks.

Originally Posted by strigils

NatNong, a great thread but where do you get your ideas for subjects you are going to cover, its vary varied and part of what makes it interesting.

One thing that's a little sad is the evident loss of old buildings and with them their history. No way should countries become time capsules, but retention of some Architectural history outside palaces and Wats would have been nice IMO.

Keep them coming.

The first time that I get an interview, very flattered!

I love history, just ‘history’ not history of this or that. That’s why the theme of each of my articles varies and that’s why I put my heading as ‘Memory lane’. Memory is supposed to contain anything at any time, starting from last moment back, we want to remember.

The first thing that inspires me to do an article is a photo. If that photo gets my inspiration, I think further if the readers who are ‘farung’ would care to read.

When I, kind of (for I can’t read minds), am quite certain, I dig for more and start an article.

I am aware of people today having short concentration due to too many medias to consume in a limited time such as instagram, facebook, line, boards and etc. so, each article has to be short (well, sometimes I get carried away) and simple (I always leave out those elaborate names and titles, for royal history. No farung cares to know them).

I believe that what attracts the readers most is the photos, the more the better. Sometimes I came up with the stories first, I had to find related photos. If I can’t find any, I will leave them on a shelf until I can find, at least, a photo.

I think photos are like water for a runner. If he gets enough he can make it through. Pure text hypnotizes people. I got that when I was studying in school.

Truthfully, I have never thought that I could go this far, almost a year now. And have never thought that our history was so abundant.

I remember at the beginning I told my friends about it and they said it wouldn’t last long. ‘Our own kind never cares about our history. Why do you think they (= readers who are farung) will? Moreover, your English is not that good to keep them following’.

I said ‘Firstly, ‘our own kind’ don’t like to read but farung do and secondly, ar-goo (We call Google like this. It’s a pun among Thai people. Actually ‘ar-goo’ is a Chinese word to call mother’s sibling. I think for I’m not a Chinese) helps me a lot.

I met these friends of mine from time to time but lately they asked about my work. I told them that I am still on it and now I have got more than 10,000 followers and tons of compliments and no ‘sabotage’ just once.

They raised their voices ‘What? And compliments?’. They teased me that now that I would rather die than miss a day of not posting one.

I said absolutely, after posting one I would think right away ‘What story will I tell them next?’. Like I used to say that, readers/compliments are like fuel that keeps the engine going on.

Thank you so much for your interest in my work. It is extraordinary.

Oh, almost forgot. Yes, like you do. I feel sorry for the changes that happen in our land as time goes by. Due to our limitation in area, in the past our population was much less but through time, we multiply fast like crazy rabbits so these changes have to happen inevitably.

A tale from (our old) little birds

In the reign of King Rama IV, Siam made a huge step by opening the country to the world outside.

Foreign languages especially English is an important part to help communicating with people from foreign lands.

In 1862, a British travel writer, educator, and social activist named Anna Leonowens (1831-1915) accepted an offer made by the consul in Singapore to come to Siam to teach the King’s children essential subjects especially scientific secular lines, which earlier missionaries’ wives had not provided, in English language.

Anna taught several subjects but the most interesting ones were Geography and Astronomy which she deemed most important in order to keep her students up with the modern world.

In order to shape her students’ imagination about the world outside which at the time was still scattering around, she tried hard to convince them that the world was not flat but round.

She listened patiently the arguments from her students who had been taught that the world was supported by a gigantic fish named “A(r)-non” otherwise it would fall.




Seeing that verbal teaching would not be working, she approached the King and asked for more materials to help her teach. The King granted and ordered his men to bring a giant map of Siam in gilded frame and a globe into the classroom.

These two things pinned the children’s interest efficiently for they had never seen them before in their lives.

The teaching became fun and not boring. The students were enthusiastic to learn new things. They just knew that the world spins. How days and nights happened and etc.

Not only the students who were children were interested in learning, it drew the adults’ interest as well. Those were female royalties.


Wait... No male royalties? They were not interested?

“Not like that. The Royal Palace was divided into 2 major sections, the male section and the female and children section. Easier to govern, I might say”


There is a record mentioning about this topic saying:

“…Along those 9 days, Mame Anna had to explain more and more to those adult royalties who kept coming in in small groups and asked these and those. Though interested, they seemed to be displeased with one thing. Their big country of Siam was, in fact, so small on the map. Anyway, there was another thing that seemed to cheer them up and that was, their teacher’s country, England, was even smaller. It looked like a spot on the map…”

Actually, some of the adult royalties were interested in the education but they did not give much attention to it like young students. They just came in to make a peek for a while then went away.

The Geography and Astronomy class drew them in the most but once their curiosity was satisfied and their interest in those 2 strange looking things (map and globe) subsided. They were all disappeared for good.

Another tale from little birds (with computer colored version of a B&W photograph)

In the reign of King Rama V, when came the time that the elephant department escorted the royal elephants down to ‘Ta (= pier) Chang’ to get a bath, once in a while, there were some elephants in musth whose behavior were aggressive.

When such time came, the department would allow the locals to tease them for fun. It happened quite regularly that finally it became a kind of festival. It was enjoyable for both the audience who just wanted to witness and the reckless locals who were willing to risk their safety.

During the process, a female elephant [chang pung (= female)] would lead ahead then came people from the department banging a gong alerting that the festival was about to begin. This alert also warned people who did not want to get involved and the shops around the area to close and beware of the damage that those elephants in musth might cause.

Soon after, the elephants in the musth would be ushered out in the street heading for the pier. It was the time for risky people who wanted to pump their adrenaline to get in the game of luring.

Where the elephants chased them, the audience scattered screamingly funny. It was an exciting sight to witness.

There was a mahout that was quite famous to talk about. He was said to be very good at luring the beasts. The locals always expected him. Whenever he appeared in the show, it guaranteed the satisfactory but not always. It was said that it depended on the gift he got from people; liquor.

Once the gift was enough, it guaranteed the quality of the show, long and fun but when the gift was not much the show ended quite soon.

A documentary titled: Gambling in Siam

Gambling has long been a feature of Thai society. Local Siamese partook in more than 100 well known gambling games. Some gambling forms such as betting on cockfights, bullfights and boat races are native to Siamese culture.

The late 19^th century marked a significant increase in the level of gambling in Siam.

People started to gamble more frequently and a variety of games were introduced by foreign traders and immigrants, and gambling started to hit the mainstream.

It was during that period that the ‘huay’ was introduced and became popular in Siam until today.

Over the course of decades the Government of Siam allowed legal gambling dens. During the reign of King Rama III, the Government of Siam promoted legal gambling dens as a source of revenue. These legal dens were then closed down to dampen criminal activity and bankruptcy related to gambling.

During the reign of King Rama V (King Rama III's nephew), gambling was forbidden in the south and all the remaining gambling venues were closed on 1 April 1917.

A gambling act was first passed in 1930 and revised in 1935. During the premiership of Khuang Aphaiwong, the ministry of finance was assigned by the government to legalize gambling in Pran Buri District, Prachup Khiri Khan Province and became an official promoter of gambling.

However, this period of legalization of casinos did not last long. Under attack from the media and public, the government abandoned the attempt to earn additional revenue from casinos and prohibited gambling once again.






(Note: These photos above were set up for photograph taking)

A Documentary titled: The lottery

The first time ‘Bangkokians’ were ever able to have a flutter on something akin to a modern lottery was with the “huay”, which appeared in 1835, in King Rama III’s time.

The government set a group of officers led by a high noble ranking to take care of the new experiment.

This noble ranking officer knew that this kind of gamble was popular among the Chinese so he appointed a wealthy Chinese trader Jao Sua (Chinese word for ‘millionaire’) Hong to operate this business.




Jao Sua Hong borrowed the idea from China: 36 tickets under the same title, with 36 (out of 44, the rest were difficult to draw in the ticket) Thai letters, from kor kai (ก – Thai’s first letter) and khor khai (ข – Thai’s second letter) down to hor nok hook (ฮ – Thai’s last letter, 44^th). It was known as “huay kor (ก) khor (ข)”.


(Looks similar to this; I don't know what the first two mean)


The method of how to play was similar to that of any modern lottery. A designated banker would pluck the winning ticket at random from a large bag, and those with matching inscriptions won a prize.

The first ‘huay house’ was situated at the foot of what is now Damrong Sathit Bridge on Charoen Krung Road, and the whole area was jammed on ticket drawing days.




Gambling was enormously popular, and huay houses soon popped up all over the city, each one paying vast annual taxes to the government.

The reason King Rama III had agreed to the opening of the first huay house because the cost of living had skyrocketed due to widespread flooding in 1831 and a severe drought in 1832.

As well, he wanted an end to the opium trade, and to rid his people of the habit ordered stores of the drug burned, while at the same time sanctioning Jao Sua Hong's huay house as an alternative diversion.

The success of the huay business increased as time went on. In King Rama IV's day, it extended into the Provinces of Phetchaburi and Ayutthaya.

Finally, it was King Rama V who planned to proscribe the huay that caused his subjects to live in poverty. He improved the huay houses, giving them a more European flavor, and ultimately allowed the government to sell tickets which new named given as “lottery” tickets for the first time instead of “huay”.

The first government lottery, consulted by the King’s English personal adviser named Henry Alabaster, took place in 1874.




In 1916, King Rama VI formally banned the huay, and during the time of World War I, he suggested a government lottery to raise money.

The modern Government Lottery Office was established in 1939, in the reign of Rama VIII, but Thailand to this day has never managed to fully eradicate the illegal lottery aka huay.