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Vajiravudh
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Vajiravudh
Rama VI of Siam
King of Siam
Reign
23 October 1910–25 November 1925
Born
Died
November 25, 1925 (aged 44)
Predecessor
King Chulalongkorn
Successor
King Prajadhipok
Consort
Four queens and princesses consort
Issue
Dynasty
Father
Mother
Queen Saovabha
Vajiravudh (January 1, 1881 – November 25, 1925) (Rama VI, reigning title Phra Mongkut Klao Chaoyuhua; Thai: พระบาทสมเด็จพระมงกุฎเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว) was King of Siam (now Thailand) from 1910 until his death. He succeeded his father, King Chulalongkorn. His mother was Queen Sripatcharinthara or Queen Saovabha.
Education and accession
When Vajiravudh was only eleven years old, he was sent to study at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Later he studied history and law at Christ Church, Oxford. He was greatly influenced by English culture. When his brother Crown Prince Vajirunhis unexpectedly died at age 16, Vajiravudh was named crown prince. After his father's death, he became the sixth monarch of the Chakri Dynasty on October 23, 1910.
King of Thailand
King Vajiravudh reigned during the transition from an old-fashioned to a modernized Thailand. He continued the modernizations introduced by his father, whose achievements were difficult to follow. At the end of the reign of Rama VI, Siam suffered from many serious problems, some of which were setbacks resulting from modernization. Siam had spent much money on western technology, while receiving little from the export of its mainly agricultural products. The King considered political reform or democratization of the system of absolute monarchy, but ultimately decided the people were not ready for it.
When King Vajiravudh ascended to the throne, he was the only hope for the people of the famine and plague stricken country. However, some were disappointed to see that the new king could barely manage the tasks that were essential for the country.
1911 Coup
Frustration with the King was most strikingly visible when a military coup d'état against him took place on November 11, 1911. The coup leaders planned to seize the king and force him to peacefully abdicate, after which they would urge other princes to take his place as the first President of a Siamese republic. The coup failed, and all the accomplices were arrested. The coup leaders accused the King of devoting his time to writing plays and acting in them with his companions. They also accused the king of living a luxurious life in western style; building Sanam Chan Palace and Lumphini Park, and owning expensive horses from Australia, while preaching to his subjects to be austere and nationalistic. The most important factor in the coup was the king's introduction of senior companions to the nobility and the military. The coup leaders thought that this disrupted the military order and unduly increased the power of the throne. This coup became the inspiration for the revolution in 1932.
Key contributions
Literary works
King Vajiravudh was one of Thailand's highly renowned artists, writing modern novels, short stories, plays and even journals. Among his works were translations of three Shakespeare plays - The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet and many other writing pieces to promote the ideology of Thai nationalism. In several writings, he criticised the ethnic Chinese in Thailand as being "Jews of the East", particularly the immigrant traders, due in part to the their economic affluence in Thailand.
Portrait of Vajiravudh
Administrative reform and nationalism
Among King Vajiravudh's most notable accomplishments were the reform of the country's administration, the establishment of a school and a university, the abolition of polygamy (although the royal family was immune), the surname system as used in western countries, and a flag. He also established the 1924 Palace Law of Succession, which governs succession to the Thai throne to this day. However his most notable contribution was the focus on nationalism. King Vajiravudh is considered the father of Thai nationalism, which was later built upon by Field Marshall Phibunsongkhram and Sarit Dhanarajata. He introduced the practice of using the name Rama for the Chakri kings in deference to foreign practice.
Education
King Vajiravudh established the Kingdom's first school and university. Upon his accession to the throne, he founded Royal Pages School in 1910. The school was modelled on the traditional English public school, which the King had appreciated while he was spending his education in England. After his death in 1925, the school was renamed Vajiravudh College in his honor. Vajiravudh also established Chulalongkorn University in 1917. The University, which was named in honour of his father, was the first western-style university in the country.
Other
Vajiravudh was also the first king to see Siam fight in a foreign war. Siam took part in World War I on the side of the Allied Powers. Though the Siamese did not do much fighting, they were the only Southeast Asians in the European theatre (except for 140,000 Vietnamese troops and workers drafted by the French).
Many of his works were inherited by his only daughter, HRH Princess Bejaratana.
Through most of his reign there was a good deal of criticism of the king. Some argued that the real power in the state lay with the king's favourites, the young men of his inner entourage for whom he had written plays and with whom he played games and organised clubs and societies. It was commonly known, but never spoken of, that the King was in fact an "erratic homosexual" . He would in fact usually have been passed over had his father not introduced succession-by-legal-primogeniture.
Some, like King Chulalongkorn before his death and Queen Saowapha, his mother, frowned on the king's personal life and his almost total lack of interest in the opposite sex.
Marriage and succession
On 10 August 1924, King Vajiravudh married Chao Chom Suvadhana (เจ้าจอมสุวัทนา). She was granted the title Princess Consort Suvadhana or HRH Phra Nang Chao Suvadhana (พระนางเจ้าสุวัทนา พระวรราชเทวี) on 10 October 1925.
With Her Royal Highness Princess Suvadhana, King Vajiravudh had one daughter named Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana (สมเด็จพระเจ้าภคินีเธอ เจ้าฟ้าเพชรรัตนราชสุดา สิริโสภาพัณณวดี). The daughter was born on 24 November 1925, just 2 hours before the king's demise.
Without a direct male heir, King Vajiravudh's brother Prajadhipok became the new monarch.