Thread: Memory Lane (In my own language)

According to page 26/650 concerning ‘A Documentary titled: The lottery’

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.

People see the government lottery as another rich channel because the rewards received are of high value. These awards cause people to strive for various lucky numbers whether in the world of superstition or else and that always cause a scandal.

During the reign of King Rama VI, there was a very interesting case concerning the corruption of lottery that was managed by the government officials who directly oversaw the issuance of lottery and prizes.

At that time, lottery in the reign of King Rama VI was the issue as "A Million Baht Scout Lottery". 1 million copies were printed and 1 baht for each was the cost.

The purpose of this type of lottery was to use for raising funds to provide weapons for the Wild Tiger Corps which he had established. This fundraising lottery was originally conceived and managed by top officers who worked for the King’s Wild Tiger Corps.

However, after the fundraising ended, the process smelled fishy and finally was caught by people and newspapers. They were curious if the names of the lottery buyers who won the first three prizes were reliable. There were three of them, Nai Chuen, Nai Seng and the third whose name was not mentioned in the history. While the prizes were paid but did those three persons exist?

The case was unfolded in a big way when the newspaper titled "Kroh Lek (iron shield)" dug the truth and suspiciously found that all the three awarded numbers started with the same set of three figures ‘183’.

The information spread to other newspapers and they joined heads to dig more and found that the scam was conducted by a group led by a high ranking noble who worked closely to King Rama VI. His name was Praya Nonthisane (for short).

The scandal was big enough that the Director-General of the Police Department at that time announced an investigation. All of the officials and committee, mostly were farung, who dealt with the procession of the lottery issuance were interrogated.

The results of the investigation revealed that the names of the three winners did not exist. The fact was according to the newspapers’ suspicion.

The final truth came out at the Supreme Court. All the major suspects were arrested. The first defendant, Praya Nonthisane, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The case of this big scandal was said to be the result of the press that helped spreading the information and doubts that finally pushed the police to investigate this fraud which led to a successful ending.


Praya Nonthisane originally was a commoner. His father was a German whose last name was Falck. Once his family was granted surname, it was ‘Sean-saewee’ (derived from the German meaning (falck = falcon), to Thai meaning using Sanskrit alphabets). So, the original name of him was ‘Max Sean-saewee’.

After being declared the first defendant of the scandal, he was considered a disgrace to his descendants who shared the same surname. The embarrassment was up to the point the they decided to drop the original surname and change to a new one. The new surname only just indicates that they are descendants of a German family.

The image of Praya Nonthisane has almost never been found (on the internet).

(The caricature of his was drawn by King Rama VI)

(The colorized B&W photo courtesy of ‘Page Siam Colorization by Noomrattana’)


Originally, the National Theater started in 1932 when the Fine Arts Department was assigned from the Bureau of the Royal Household to take care of Siamese traditional performances such as khon, la-korn (plays) and music. This caused the Fine Arts Department to bring those performances to be displayed in its Department's theater which was converted from the auditorium.

This theater is small comprising of a stage, theatrical scene, a space for a band to play background music and rows of chairs for the audience as seen in the photo above.

Until on 9^th November, 1960, this theater was completely destroyed by fire. After that, there was an idea to build the National Theater. The new theatre was built from 1960 to 1965 beginning under the supervision of Luang Wichit Wathakan, the prolific author and playwright who contributed much to the development of Thai nationalist discourse during the mid-20th century.

The building was designed in applied Thai style, with a modernist plan superimposed with a traditional-Thai-influenced gabled roof. It sits in the northern end of Sanam Luang. Currently, the National Theater is under the supervision of the Fine Arts Department. Ministry of Culture

According to the article above,

Thammathibet Chaiyachet Suriyawong, the Prince Senaphithak, also known as Prince Kung or Chao Fa Kung (? – 1746) was the eldest son of King Borommakot (1733 - 1758) and Princess Aphainuchit or Phra Phan Watsa Yai. The Prince was Viceroy of the front palace of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya from 1732 – 33 though he was much more known as one of Thailand's most important poets. He also created the music for the Royal Barge procession.

<font size="4"><a href="https://youtu.be/WR19ZJiXlSI" target="_blank">


In his poetic works praised for their lyrical language, Thammathibet describes the beauty of the Royal Barge procession, illustrating the work of the rowers, the individual boats, and the sight of the entire procession fleet. Nature, both plant and animal life, are also themes of his poetry. He often dealt with the beauty of women. This last topic finally jeopardized his life.

Little birds tell that...

Prince Thammathibet and his half-brother Chao Sakaeo (Prince Sunthon Thep) had an argument about an elephant, which had made this overly pompous. In April, 1746, it was reported that the Prince laid siege to the palace of his half-brother, forbidding any entrance or exit.

Nevertheless, Chao Sakaeo and his sons could escape to enter the Royal Palace and bring his complaints to their father, King Boromakot. The King was perplexed by the causes. Prince Thammathibet also hurried into the Royal Palace to defend himself but he was not allowed to enter, so he returned to his own palace.

Later, the Prince was summoned before his father who asked him about the reason for his large-minded behavior, and why he presumed such an authority. Prince Thammathibet remained silent, which gave the King even angrier so he sent his son to be chained in a single cell. No one was allowed to visit him.

Meanwhile, the accusations against the Prince increased. King Borommakot entrusted his people such as Chao Sakaeo along with Okya Chakri (Chancellor) and more with the prisoner's case. It was a choice that did not promise anything good to the Prince. However, Prince Thammathibet did not give a word and was punished with twenty blows including having his soles burnt by the fire.

More investigation was done and finally some interesting stories were revealed. Prince Thammathibet had the keys to the chambers of the King, the Queen, and the royal concubines. So he could get access to these places at night.

In addition, the Prince had hidden a stockpile of weapons presumably to be used at the right moment. Also, they got a confession that the Prince was responsible for the death of several monks and the mutilation of some of his subordinates. Thereupon the King ordered fifty blows to him.

During the further interrogations, Prince Thammathibet confessed that he had visited and consummated four of his father’s Royal Concubines including his plan to assassinate the King (his father) and his family and seize power in Ayutthaya.

This final confess made the King order to give Prince Thammathibet fifty more blows and burn his forehead, arms, and legs. Along with him, the four Concubines and plus some accomplices also got severe blows. The pain was insufferable so much that all of them died.

Prince Thammathibet was cremated in Wat Chai Watthanaram in Ayutthaya.

Originally Posted by CalEden

Enjoy your Holiday. Will miss your posts!

Hi… Nope! Didn’t travel anywhere. It was Dad (91) hanging in his balance in a hospital and finally has passed. Now, I'm in Bangkok staying with Mom (90). They lived alone together in the house where I grew up in. Here, there was no internet access and in the beginning, I didn't want to have it fixed for thinking that it was temporary, not worth the money.

I had packed for a few nights thinking that Dad would come back soon and I would go back home resuming my routine this and that but no, he was gone forever. One thing led to another, beyond expectation, I have to relocate (for Mom was left alone)! Being busy with his funeral, I had to borrow Dad’s clothes for casual time and mourning suit (black suit) from my cousin for the funeral ceremony. I had no time long enough to go get my stuff at mine in Rayong.

After his funeral, came the time for arranging his stuff and boy, what a hoarder he was. Being a handy man, he collected everything from sewing machine to hammers and imagining his accessories starting from tons of pieces of clothes, nails, screws and etc. On the bright side, everywhere in the house there were power sockets, faucets.

Now things have been less hectic, so, yesterday, I had the wi-fi fixed. Tomorrow I would go back home to collect stuff and bid farewell to my home for good. Unexpectedly, my home in Rayong has to be left abandoned for the being. I still have no idea what to with it. My beautiful garden would be ruined though a lot were saved by had them moved to Mom’s (which is now mine so, I now own 2 houses!).

About my work here, there are still more that I have already finished waiting in queue. Once I came back from Rayong and after arranging my stuff, I will post them until the last one. After that I will see if I have time enough to create more for you know how time consuming it is to finish one and I am not alone anymore.

Thank you everyone for following my work, really appreciate that.