Tag: Thailand stamp

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Kelantan 1911, the British peal away Siam, for the benefit of Malaya

The British and their trading posts. Still today we work with the deals struck. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The script on todays stamp may be a little bit of a non sequitur. It is Arabic script but the Jawi language. The Jawi language is more common in Kelantan than elsewhere in Malaysia. The emblem on the stamp is no longer used but the area is still ruled by the same line of Sultans as when this stamp was new.

Todays stamp is issue A1, a 1 Sen stamp issued by the Sultanate of Kelantan in 1911. It shows the then symbol of the new status of the old government. The stamp was issued over many years in various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $1.25 in its used state.

Kelantan is on the coast of northeast Malaysia. It is ruled by the Pantani line of Sultans for the last 500 years. Over that time they have had to pledge loyalty to Malaya, Siam, Great Britain, Japan, Thailand, Great Britain again, Malaya again, and now Malaysia. This show a certain flexibility. It is a rural, agricultural area that is among the poorer in the region, although Malaysia today passes through a good deal of petroleum  revenue.

With the same government so long, it is understandable that the region is conservative and traditional. It is a bastion of the most traditional Muslim political party. It is one of the most strict areas for movies et al. This might explain some of the attitude of Thailand toward it.

The late and the first half of the 20th century  Siam gradually shrunk as Britain and France encroached. A treaty was signed between Siam and Britain  in 1910 that gave Kelantan and a few other provinces to Malaya. The British sent in an advisor to the Sultan and did not formally federate the area in the then colony of Malaya.

Kelantan Sultan Mohammad V

The King of Siam Rama V said at the time that he had no interest in these dominions. This may be bluster but the deal helped Siam in several ways. The debts due Siam from Sultanates like Kelantan were now to be paid by Britain. It also included a British guarantee of Siam independence. Siam has also faced a Muslim insurgency virtually continuously and an area with such traditional Muslims would have only strengthened it if it were part of Buddhist modern Thailand.

King Rama V. Now he is more celebrated for ending slavery in Siam

It was Kelantan where the Japanese landed in their Malayan invasion in 1941. They quickly transferred Kelantan to Thailand, an ally. It reverted back to Great Britain post war and was gradually integrated more fully into Malaya in preparation for independence as Malaysia.

As of now, the modern Malaysian state has not moved to remove the regional Sultans. In fact they serve on a commission from which is elected the ceremonial head of state of Malaysia, the Yang di Pertuan Agong. The current head of state Muhammad V is from Kelantan. While serving in this capacity, his younger brother serves Kelantan in a Regency.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Pantani line of Sultans and their longevity. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Thailand 1968, Remembering when the Burmese were running amok, but so were the Ramas

Two centuries and one year after the birth of Rama II. It seems to be a good time to remember the positive. Things had been off course but were coming together in a way familiar to modern Thailand. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

King Rama II was toward the end of the time that the Kingdom was not open to Europeans or Chinese. There is an understandable tendency to romanticize the Royal Court for their poetry and fine palaces. I will be talking more below about succession craziness and constant wars with Burma, but that doesn’t make what the Thais may prefer to remember wrong.

Todays stamp is issue A112, a 50 Satang stamp issued by Thailand on December 30th, 1968. It was a single stamp issue honoring a year and a half late the birth bicentury  of King Rama I. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

From 1350-1768 Siam was ruled by the Ayuthaya Kingdom based in the city of Ayuthaya and extending into modern Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. In the last days, Ayuthayra was conquered by Burma and Ayuthaya leadership absconded to Bangkok.

There was still Siamese fighting the Burmese including new self declared King Taksin and his military commander the future King Rama I. It is a blessing to this writer that the current Royal line all deem themselves Rama because their Thai names are unspellable and I am not much of a cut and paister. After 15 years on the Throne and the Burmese temporarily chased off, there was a coup and the military commander declared himself King Rama I.

The rules of succession in Siam called for his oldest legitimate son be the next King. The Royal Court however was a pretty wild place and in addition to the Crown Prince’s wife and her legitimate offspring, there was the future Rama IIs relationship with Princess Bunrod, a younger sister by another mother. Finding out that Princess Bunrod was 4 months pregnant, she has banished from the Palace by her and his father Rama I. The Crown Prince begged his father’s forgiveness and negotiated her return as an official concubine. The baby ended up dying shortly after birth.

When King Rama I died in 1809, Rama II was named King. It was now his choice and he promoted his sister/concubine Bunrod to be Queen. She then busied herself making new heirs. His ascension to the Throne caused some troubles. The son of former King Taksin also declared himself King and upon hearing of the death of Rama I, the Burmese again invaded and took what is now called Phuket Island.

Princess Bunrod, later Queen and after a gap, Queen mother

One thing Rama had a lot of was sons and he appointed his original heir Prince Tub to be military commander and deal with the challenges of Taksin II and the Burmese. Prince Tub was successful and gained great esteem but was now part of the wrong line.

Suddenly, he had been healthy, Rama II came down with a deadly case of strangury. Strangury is a very painful condition where a person can pass only frequent but very small streams of urine despite an urgent need. Some think the case was a result of poisoning. When he died it was decided to bypass Bunrod’s young heirs in the official line and name the former Prince Tub as King Rama III. Though Rama III had 51 children he had never raised any of his consorts to Queen. Therefore Bunrod’s young heir got his chance and was named Rama IV.

The craziness of the Royal Court, probably inevitable with self proclaimed Kings did not mean there was not an active Thai culture. Rama II supported  writer of epic poems on Thai history Sunthorn Phu. When he died, Sunthorn Phu left the Royal Court to become a monk but continued to write. A daughter of Rama IV later looked him up and his works were again officially promoted.

Epic poet Sunthorn Phu

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast big Thai families. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Trengganu 1910, No tribute is forthcoming, so sell it to the British

Malaya was divided into many small Sultanates like Trengganu, on the west coast. These Sultans required protection from bigger powers so paid the bigger power a tribute. Until they fell behind on their payments. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This was the first stamp issue from Trengganu. Before the same Sultan we see was sending his tributes to King Rama of Siam. Or at least, I owe yous. It was the British great innovation to pay the Sultans to shut up and stay out of the way. A system Malaysia has continued.

Todays stamp is issue A1, a 1 Cent stamp issued by the Malayan Sultanate in 1910. This was a 19 stamp issue in various denominations featuring Sultan Zenalabidin. They say his name differently now. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $2.10 unused.

Trengganu lies on the trade routes so the local Malayans had contact very early on with both Chinese and Arab traders. According  to the Sultan, the name comes from when rich hunters from Pahang found a strange fang who they could not identify the animal from which it belonged. So the place was called the land of the fang of something. Chinese traders were a little rougher with their name. They called it the place where children are born who will be slaves. It was the first area of Malaya to become Muslim. In the 19th Century the same line of Sultans as Zenalabidin paid tribute to the Kingdom of Besut Darul Iman. That Empire was not able to cope with the level of piracy that afflicted the neighboring trade routes. As a result, Trengganu transferred it’s allegiance to King Rama of Siam. Zenalabidin took Basut with him with their Kings going into exile.

Siam was in a phase where it was attempting a modernization. They mostly had left the quite foreign Trengganu alone with it’s different language and religion. The Sultan was not prompt however with his annual tribute due to Siam. So when the British approached Siam King Rama about Trengganu,  he was willing to make a deal. In return for the Straights Settlements paying the debt owed  Siam and an additional loan and expertise to build railways in Siam, Terengganu passed to Britain. Zenalabidin was left in place and the British got along well with him. However when he died his sons failed to impress despite having had British educations. The first son Muhammed Shah II was forced to abdicate in favor of his little brother and the British then felt the need to install an official advisor. This then angered local religious leaders who fomented frequent uprisings. The Japanese occupation saw them try to give Trengganu back to Siam which was by now called Thailand. As the area was not Thai the change did not hold after the war.

Sultan Mohammad Shah II when he was Rajah Muda. Nobody seems to have found him impressive

Trengganu, they have since changed the English spelling, has become one of the most un diverse areas of modern Malaysia and is still heavily rural. Malaysia has a rotational system where the local Sultans become a ceremonial Monarch. When it was the current Sultan of Trengganu’s turn, his wife became the first Malaysian Queen to always wear a hijab.

Well my drink is empty and Trengganu would perhaps not approve of me having another. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Thailand 1989 King Rama IX manages to outlast them all, military and civilian

Talking about a Thai King is difficult. It is illegal to criticize a Royal in Thailand. It is the Thais who know him best so it makes an outsider piecing together his story iffy. Yet Rama IX was one of the worlds longest serving monarchs and appears on many stamps. Sounds like a job for The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The King looks a little out of sorts on this stamp. He is short and bespectacled and so a tall old style Army had looks a little out of place. It does reflect the relationship with the Army from whom the King demands deference. Since the Army is not shy about sticking it’s nose into politics, there have been more than 10 coups during the King’s long reign, it is probably useful to remind them who is in charge.

Todays stamp is issue A372, a 10 Baht stamp issued by the Kingdom of Thailand on July 1st, 1989. It was part of a twelve stamp issue over several years in ever higher denominations as Thailand was experiencing inflation. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

By the 1920s when the King was born, it was the tradition of a young male Royal to spend an extended period overseas studying. A cadre of appropriate and attractive young Thai ladies were dispatched in the hope of the Royal finding an appropriate match. It was considered a Royal duty to host weekly meals for local Thai students. This happened and future King Rama IX was born just off campus of Harvard University in the USA in 1928. Upon return to then Siam, the young King died of a pendesites and the still young Queen Mother and the children departed for Switzerland, where Rama was raised. An uncle Regent represented Royal interest in Siam but it was a time of much debate as to the future of the Royalty as  the conservative military clashed with a left wing urban elite and always lefty students.

After World War II, Rama IX’s older brother reached majority and was scheduled to return to now Thailand after 15 years in Switzerland and rule. In 1946 he was fatally shot. There are three theories of this, that he was killed by accidental discharge, that he was shot by members of his court(two members were hung for it), or that Rama IX accidently shot Rama VIII while the two played with their pistols. There is little evidence that Rama IX was anxious for the Throne, he spent another 3 years in Switzerland. The Queen Mother indeed lived in Switzerland for the rest of her life.

Rama IX eventually made it back to Thailand in the early 1950s with his new bride Sirkit a Thai student studying in Switzerland. At the time there was a military dictatorship and his only role was ceremonial. He did host a radio show and play the saxophone. In 1957 there was a counter coup with a new field marshal that gave him a lot more to do around the country. Military rule was not popular among students and the foreign educated middle class. This old rivalry flared up in the early seventies with large student protests, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/15/thailand-an-elite-demand-power-from-the-king-and-call-it-democracy/   . The King ordered the protestors to disperse and when they didn’t the military harshly cleared Freedom Square. This type of thing had been going on forever in Siam see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/11/01/siam-1917-a-young-king-modernizes-the-royal-court-and-adds-gay-drama-and-a-wild-tiger-corps/  . In the early 1990s the King took a new tack to the old rivalry. There was a televised audience with the King with the military leader and the leftist leader made their cases to him and the King questioned each of them harshly. As with formal Thai protocol, the King was seated on the Throne and the two politicians were on their knees. At the end, The King told the General to resign. The country had never seen anything like that and Rama’s popularity increased, especially among peasants who were not being represented much by either side of the haves.

King Rama IX’s image projected onto the Thai Military Bank building in 2006

The King worked hard on countryside projects especially involving irrigation. As his rule extended into the 21st century, he was revered as a link to the past where Kings of Siam avoided the colonial domination faced by most neighbors. In his last years his health declined and Rama IX died at age 88 in 2016 have ruled as an adult for 70 years, a record that has not yet been surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Sirkit had a stroke during the King’s last days and hasn’t been seen in public as her son Rama X took over. Thai Kings are often refered to by their given names instead of their ceremonial name Rama, but it is too much to ask of this simple philatelist to spell them. Rama IX is Bhumibol Adulyadej. Easy for them to say?

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast long serving King Rama IX. It must have been a leap of faith to go back to Thailand to serve from the comfortable safety of Switzerland. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Siam 1917, a young King modernizes the royal court and adds gay drama and a wild tiger corps

Young Kings are fun to read about and terrible to be ruled by. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp shows a portrait of a King. It sounds simple. What if the King is young, and effeminate. Do you hide that, or show or even celebrate it. Then add the complication that the stamp is being printed abroad and so the printer has less knowledge of how to proceed. This stamp was first printed in Vienna in 1912 and attempted to play down the King’s youth and flamboyance. This apparently was not correct and the stamp was later redrawn in London with the same portrait modified to show more personality. My stamp is the later London printing.

The stamp today is issue A21, a 15 Satang stamp issued by the Kingdom of Siam on January 1st 1917. It was an 11 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.20 used. A version overprinted to celebrate victory in World War I is worth $6.75, if the overprint is not counterfeit.

King Rama VI was born in 1880 and was a member of the Chakri dynasty. He was the first crown prince to study abroad and did short courses at Sandhurst and Christchurch, Oxford. He came away from this education with much knowledge of languages and literature and came home determined to replicate the elite, all male, environments in Siam. He spent much of his time translating foreign literature into Thai and putting on plays with his young male companions.

Rama dressed as Nai Thong-in, a character modeled on Sherlock Holmes that Rama created

When his father died there was an attempted coup by the army who was suspicious of the young King. He stayed in charge and formed a personal “wild tiger corps” of ceremonial guards separate from the army. The country faced many problems and the King did work on railway construction and occasional purges to battle corruption. The cities had a big problem that took on a racial dimension. Merchants of the Chinese minority realized that Thai money contained much silver and that Thai rice could be bought locally and sold for much profit in Singapore. This created a shortage of money and food. The King then penned an article calling the Chinese the East’s Jews and saying that they had no loyalty to Siam and their God was money. A lot of Siamese shared that view but is that any way for a King to describe 14 percent of his subjects. Rice exports were banned and paper money issued. Another big loan from the UK was secured. WWI was better handled, with neutrality until it was obvious Germany was going to lose and then a declaration of war. The Siam expeditionary force arrived in Europe too late to fight but in time to march in the victory parades.

Rama’s lifestyle was creating problems  for the succession. For the first 10 years, he was unmarried although there were four failed engagements. Then he attempted to get more serious and he married 4 times in quick succession. Each time, the girl was named Queen but the quickly demoted to Princess Consort and put under house (palace) arrest. Finally his fourth Queen became pregnant as Rama became ill. If a Prince was born before he died, the baby would become King and if not, the title would pass to his brother, but not the one married to a Russian girl. A baby was born 2 hours before Rama died in 1925 but it was a girl. The Wild Tiger Corps was quietly disbanded after his death.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast His Majesty King Rama VI. The sense shown during World War I makes up for a lot. Besides, I would not want the Wild Tiger Corps coming for me. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Thailand, An elite demand power from the King and call it Democracy

An independent Asian Kingdom tries to modernize, but too fast, or is it too slow. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is a great stamp. The printing and colors are exceptional. It is a monument to democracy designed locally and commissioned by a military that ruled undemocratically. Two years before this stamp in 1975 there were deadly protests at the monument to protest another military government. I think that this history on makes the monument more poignant. While falling short, whether the military or the student protesters, the two groups shared the ideal of democracy.

The stamp today is issue A183, a 75 Satangs stamp issued by the Kingdom of Thailand on January 26th, 1975. It was part of a four stamp issue showing different views of the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. The stamp celebrates the reforms enacted after the 1973 protests. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

The monarchy in Siam had struggled to keep the country independent in the face of French and British territorial ambitions. The colonial powers often cloaked their desires in moral duties to civilize the natives. The monarchy in Siam tried to play off this by stating as an aim the modernization of Siam. They opened up trade and the noble classes began to be western educated. The result was a large class of westernized elites who began to resent the absolute power of the King. The crash of 1929 caused a revenue shortfall and failing to secure a widely based income tax, the King slashed military and civil service pay. This further angered the elites.

In 1932, a military coup occurred while the King was out of Bangkok. They promoted themselves as democratic and enacted a new constitution that took power from the King. One of the coup generals commissioned the monument on the stamp which was completed in 1939. Not visible on the stamp are four wing like structures representing the army, navy, air force, and police. The four protectors of democracy as they saw it. Notice the lack of reference to the King, who was still Head of State. It was designed by a Siamese architect and carved by an Italian who took on local citizenship and even a Thai name. Ironically by the time the monument was done in 1939, the military had fallen out with the civilians and was ruling as a de facto military dictatorship.

Despite the monument’s iffy beginnings, the 75 years since have seen the monument being a center of anti government protests. Notable among these were the 1973 troubles and the 2012 troubles. The fact that it is still around, shows the government and the demonstrators recognize democracy as the ideal. An ideal that often is fallen short of, but isn’t that what a monument is for. To remind us of our best selves.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the discussion in the below comment section. Some have compared the monument to the Arc de Triumph in Paris. I agree that it is a triumph. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.