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The New York Times, January 5, 1878, p. 2:

LAND OF WHITE ELEPHANTS

OUT OF THE GLOBE-TROTTERS PATH.

AN AMERICAN TRAVELER IN SIAM—
FROM HONG KONG TO BANGKOK—THE MEINAM RIVER—
TROPICAL SCENERY—A SIAMESE FESTIVAL—
FOREIGN TRADE OF BANGKOK—AMERICAN GOODS IN USE—
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS IN 1876—A NOVEMBER SUMMER—
MORNING SIGHTS AND PECULIARITIES.


From Our Special Correspondent.

BANGKOK, Siam, Nov. 8, 1877.—   
    Siam is out of the way in a rapid voyage around the world, and the number of globe-trotters coming here is relatively few. For a person traveling westward there is steam communication about twice a month from Hong Kong to Bangkok; between this point and Singapore there are steamers each way weekly, but on both the routes mentioned the communications are somewhat irregular.
    European passengers are so few that they are of no consequence to the owners of steamers, and very little space is reserved for them; the steamer Danube, that brought me from Hong Kong, had cabin space for only two persons and the Captain told me that he did not average a dozen passengers a year. He had about 500 Chinese upon the deck and in the steerage quarters, and as the ship was small, there was very little room to spare.
    But the Danube was a good sea boat, and her Captain did so much to make the brace of us comfortable that we voted the voyage one of the pleasantest we had ever made. We ran down before the north-east monsoon, or as much of it as was blowing at the time, and crossed the bar of the River Meinam seven days after leaving Hong Kong.

    The coast of Siam at this point is low and monotonous, with a few hills in the background, and altogether the first view of this land of the white elephant is rather disappointing. But as we enter the river and pass between the forests of tropical trees and plants, the scene changes and we unhesitatingly pronounce the picture a beautiful one.
    The view is a strange one to Northern eyes. Palms and betel trees spread their long leaves, and at their feet are clusters of plants such as we associate only with the tropics. There is a profusion of parasites and climbing plants in general, some with flowers of bright red so abundantly scattered that they seem to form a scarlet or crimson curtain...

    We have arrived on the day of the Paknam races, when thousands of people visit the temple at the mouth of the river to offer up prayers and indulge in aquatic contests. The principal boats are rowed or paddled by girls, and some of them (the boats) have as many as 40 paddles, 20 on each side. The crews are gayly dressed, some in white, some in red, and some in yellow. The boats are very long and narrow, generally hollowed out from the trunk of a tree and rounded at the ends, and their appearance as unique as it is picturesque.
    The races were over when we entered the river, but the boats were there, some paddling about and making little spurts and trials of speed, and others lying by the bank or slowly ascending the stream on their return to Bangkok. There were, at a guess, more than 100 boats of different sizes and kinds, and then there were several steam-launches with barges in tow. Some of these barges contained the foreign Consuls and their families or friends, and others were occupied by Siamese noblemen and officials...

    We steam onward and onward through 30 miles of tropical scenery, and at the last drop anchor. I can see little change in the scene except that a few houses show their white sides among the trees, and close on the right side is a pile of lumber, and near it the prosaic sign of "Bangkok Sawmill." I ask the Captain where the city is, and am rather taken by surprise when he tells me that Bangkok is all about us. I had looked for a closely-built city, and was not prepared to find a place so embowered in trees that few traces of a city can be seen...
    In the vicinity of the King's palace it is otherwise, and there is quite a semblence of a city. Bangkok stretches about five miles along the Meinam, and I think that for at least half that distance one can see little more than a narrow fringe of houses along the edge of the forest, while in many places the fringe disappears and the forest takes full possession of the bank. I know of no other city of 500,000 inhabitants with such and so much embowering.

    We anchor in front of the buildings of the Borneo Company and not far from the American Consulate, whose flag waves me a welcome, and reminds me of home and friends and patriotic processions, together with many other pleasant things.
    There is not a large volume of foreign business in Bangkok, and the foreign merchants are so few that they can easily be far between. The Borneo Company is English and has agencies in Singapore, Java, Borneo, Hong Kong, and Siam, and there is another English house, a branch of a firm having large business with England. A German firm, Moller & Meisner, has the largest general trade, and sells everything from a box of pills to a marine engine; it has a line of American goods, some purchased in Hong Kong or San Francisco and some coming by way of London or Hamburg.

    There is no American house, unless we include a sailor who keeps a low drinking shop, and shows faith in his merchandise by a liberal use of it on his own account. There is no direct trade with America, and but little indirectly, but there is a chance a for a fair amount if properly managed. A good deal of rice from Siam goes to San Francisco, but it all goes by way of Hong Kong, and pays a profit to the Hong Kong merchant.
    I understand that the Occidental and Oriental Steam-ship Company talk of putting two steamers of light draft on the route between Hong Kong and Bangkok, so as to connect with their line to San Francisco, and thus capture a goodly share of the rice trade. I think they would find it not unprofitable. Siamese rice is considered the best in the East, and the direct shipments would doubtless be sufficient to support a line of small vessels.

    Then there is a fair business in the transport of Chinese, who come and go between Bangkok and Hong Kong every year. Most of the heavy and hard labor here is performed by Chinese, not only in the city but in the interior.
    The Siamese are not over-fond of hard work, and avoid it when they can conveniently. The hotel where I am stopping has Siamese boat coolies and water-carriers, but all its other employees are Chinese. In fact, boating is the principal and frequently sole manual labor which the Siamese will perform for foreigners.
    But John Chinaman, as you know, has no scruples of this sort. He is ready to perform any work within his ability, and will even undertake matters of which he is entirely ignorant on the mere chance of getting through them.

    American petroleum finds a market here, but it generally comes from Singapore, and only occasionally by direct importation. The demand is steadily increasing, I am told, but not so fast as in China and Japan, for the reason that the Siamese, as a rule, go to bed very early.
    About 70 percent of all import and export trade is with Singapore; the merchants send their rice there or to Hong Kong, and buy what they want, whether the goods be European or Asiatic. Thus nearly all European or American goods must pay a profit to the Singapore merchant, and the retail prices are high.
    The King is anxious to have direct trade between Siam and America, and so are others, but nobody seems to know how to bring it about, and it is certain that when it is established prices will not rule as high as at present.

    Gen. Partridge, the Consul who was so summarily removed last year, had broken down a great portion of the little trade we had, and discouraged American ships from coming here. In 1871 there were 11 American ships in the port of Bangkok taking cargoes for Hong Kong, Singapore, and Java. In 1876, under the policy of Partridge, the number decreased to four, and this year, under another policy, it has risen to nine.
    An account of the performances of the American Consul appeared in The Times about a year ago, but from what I learn since coming here the story was very mildly drawn, and the man deserved something far more severe than removal from office. He brought disgrace upon the American name and flag, drove our ships from the ports of Siam, and continually used his Consular power for purposes of oppression and gain...
    But we have changed all that, and our present Consul (Mr. David B. Sickels, of New-York,) is all that we could wish. He is constantly on the look-out for means of fostering American interests in Siam, and is highly popular with the King and Cabinet. The visit of the fleet last Winter went far toward restoring pleasant relations between Siam and the United States, and the new Consul completed the work by an honest and earnest effort to undo the wrong created by his predecessor.

    In 1876 the exports of Siam amounted to $8,350,000, and the imports to $7,070,000, an increase in the whole volume of trade over the previous year of $686,000. The chief export is rice. The export of this article last year was 4,101,000 piculs, (a picul is 133 pounds,) which was nearly double the export of 1874, and 270,000 piculs more than in 1875. The direct exportation to the United States was 8,800 piculs, but, as before stated, there is a considerable quantity going indirectly via Hong Kong.

    In 1857 six foreign ships visited this port; last year there were of British ships alone 182, and the whole amount of tonnage, native and foreign, entered and cleared at the Custom-house was 225,000 tons.
    In 1875 there were 204 British ships in the port of Bangkok. The decline from that year to the next is due partly to the increase in the German trade. Previous to 1875 no German steamers had been here, but in that year there were 12, while last year there were 18. The Germans are imitating the example they have set in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and elsewhere, as described in previous letters, and are fast taking the trade from their English competitors.
    Siamese shipping is also taking the place of the British, as the figures will show. In 1840 there was only one trading vessel flying the Siamese flag, while in 1874 there were 129 native ships entered and 177 cleared at the Custom-house. These ships are nearly all native built and manned, and go to Singapore, Hong Kong, and the ports of Java. They have not yet ventured upon voyages to America and Europe, and probably will not do so for a long time to come.

    Among the foreign articles used in Siam are white and gray long cloths, cambrics, and sarcanets, plain and figured velvets, American drills, cotton umbrellas, canvas, iron, steel, lead, and spelter, glassware in limited varieties, lamps, muskets, gun-locks and pistols, small machinery, and kitchen utensils, clocks and watches, assorted medicines, mosquito netting, musical instruments, cheap sewing and knitting machines, canned fruits, vegetables, fish and preserves, hams, flour, vinegar, and some other provisions, and powder, shot, fish-hooks, together with simple tools for carpenters and other trades.
    Heavy machinery for agricultural purposes is useless, as it would not be adapted to the Siamese fields, but any improvement in rice machinery would be acceptable.
    American weighing apparatus is popular here, and is the standard at the Siamese Custom-house, as well as in every other Customs department in the East, and I am told that there is a good demand for petroleum stoves for cooking purposes.

    The list cannot be extended very far for the reason that the wants of the Siamese are not great. Their country is fertile and warm. There is no need of thick clothing here, and I can prophesy disappointment to the man who sends blankets and heavy overcoats to this market.
    It is now November, and I expected to find some cool weather; but ever since my arrival I have dressed in the thinnest clothing, and at the same time have suffered from the heat. I am writing on an open veranda, and my garments are only two and of material little thicker than was quite nothing, yet I am perspiring like a dray horse, and a friend who came here with me vows that he perspires at least 30 hours out of every 24.

    The heat is rather severe upon strangers and greatly interferes with their comfort. The residents don't mind it at all, and continually inform us that we ought to be here in Summer if we would know what warm weather is.
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    Kingdom of Thailand: Two unified Thai kingdoms emerged in the mid-13th century. The Sukhothai, located in the south-central plains, gained its independence from the Khmer Empire to the east. By the late 13th century, Sukhothai’s territory extended into present-day Burma and Laos. Sukhothai lasted until the mid-15th century. The Thai Lan Na Kingdom was established in the north with its capital at Chang Mai. Lan Na was conquered by the Burmese in the 16th century. The Ayutthaya Kingdom (14th-18th centuries) succeeded the Sukhothai and would become known as the Siamese Kingdom. During the Ayutthaya period, the Thai/Siamese peoples consolidated their hold on what is present-day central and north-central Thailand.

    Following a military defeat at the hands of the Burmese in 1767, the Siamese Kingdom rose to new heights under the military ruler TAKSIN, who defeated the Burmese occupiers and expanded the kingdom’s territory into modern-day northern Thailand (formerly the Lan Na Kingdom), Cambodia, Laos, and the Malay Peninsula. The kingdom fought off additional Burmese invasions and raids in the late 1700s and early 1800s. In the mid-1800s, Western pressure led to Siam signing trade treaties that reduced the country’s sovereignty and independence. In the 1890s and 1900s, the British and French forced the kingdom to cede Cambodian, Laotian, and Malay territories that had been under Siamese control.

    A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. After the Japanese invaded Thailand in 1941, the government split into a pro-Japan faction and a pro-Ally faction backed by the king.

    Thailand became a US treaty ally in 1954 after sending troops to Korea and later fighting alongside the US in Vietnam. Thailand since 2005 has experienced several rounds of political turmoil including a military coup in 2006 that ousted then Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat, followed by large-scale street protests by competing political factions in 2008, 2009, and 2010. THAKSIN's youngest sister, YINGLAK Chinnawat, in 2011 led the Puea Thai Party to an electoral win and assumed control of the government.

    In early May 2014, after months of large-scale anti-government protests in Bangkok beginning in November 2013, YINGLAK was removed from office by the Constitutional Court and in late May 2014 the Royal Thai Army, led by Gen. PRAYUT Chan-ocha, staged a coup against the caretaker government. The military-affiliated National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), led by PRAYUT as the appointed minister, ruled the country for more than four years, during which time the NCPO drafted a new constitution guaranteeing military sway over Thai politics in future elections by allowing the military to appoint the entire 250-member Senate and requiring a joint meeting of the House and Senate to select the prime minister, effectively giving the military a veto over the choice for the top executive.

    King PHUMIPHON Adunyadet passed away in October 2016 after 70 years on the throne; his only son, WACHIRALONGKON (aka King RAMA X), formally ascended the throne in December 2019. He signed the new constitution in April 2017. A long-delayed election in March 2019, disputed and widely viewed as skewed in favor of the party aligned with the military, allowed PRAYUT to continue his premiership. The country experienced large-scale anti-government protests in 2020.

    CIA World Factbook: Thailand


Area of Thailand: 514,000 sq km
slightly more than 2x the size of Wyoming

Population of Thailand: 65,068,149
July 2007 estimate

Languages of Thailand:
Thai, English
plus ethnic and regional dialects

Thailand Capital: Bangkok or Krung Thep Mahanakhon

The full ceremonial name of Bangkok in Thai is:

กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลก ภพนพรัตน์ ราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์ มหาสถาน อมรพิมาน อวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะ วิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์

which pronounced in English is:

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

or Krung Thep Mahanakhon for short.


BANGKOK WEATHER

  Free Books on Thailand (.pdfs)

Half Century Among the Siamese McGilvary 1912
Siam: Country and People Thompson 1910
History of the Kingdom of Siam Turpin 1908
Lotus Land: Southern Siam Thompson 1906
The Kingdom of Siam Carter 1904
Siam in the 20th Century Campbell 1904
Journal of the Siam Society 1904
Surveying & Exploring in Siam McCarthy 1900
Siam, Land of the White Elephant Bacon 1900
Kingdom of the Yellow Robe Young 1900
Five Years in Siam Smyth 1898
The Pearl of Asia Child 1892
Siam: Heart of Farther India Cort 1886
Romance of the Harem Leonowens 1873
Governess at the Siamese Court Leonowens 1873
Kingdom & People of Siam Bowring 1857

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ABYZ: Thailand News Links
    Then they bake bread by placing it in the sun, and perform other culinary labor in the same way. They cut slices of middling-done roast beef from the rump of the cows, and their hens lay hard-boiled eggs, unless kept in a coop with a refrigerating compartment. The thermometer, too, goes to 130° Fahrenheit, the earth cracks, and the river sizzles and steams. I don't want any Bangkok Summer in mine.

    The mornings at this time generally bring relief in the shape of a light breeze, and sometimes you have the same in the evening. The nights are still and their temperature is quite comfortable, but unfortunately mosquitoes are abundant and sociable, and you must sleep under a netting, which somehow manages to retain a great deal of heat.
    Everybody is up early, and the livliest part of the day is at sunrise. Hundreds of boats are on the river and thousands of people are in the streets; conspicuous in the crowds, both on land and water, at this hour are the Buddhist priests, who are then on their begging rounds.

    They go from house to house to ask for food in the form of cooked rice; the contributions are so liberal that 20,000 priests are thus supported in Bangkok, and a great many poor people are fed at the temples from what is left when the priests have had their fill. Nobody need starve in Siam; if he is hungry and hard up, he can go to the nearest temple and lodge and eat there as long as he likes. The privilege extends to everybody, whatever his religious belief, and the thought is consoling to a wanderer who considers the possibility of losing his letter of credit or failing to receive his remittances.
    The comforts of a Siamese temple are not great, as the floor is hard and furniture scarce; boiled rice becomes monotonous after a time, but then it is far better than no food at all.
T. W. K.

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