King Chulalongkorn (Rama V)

Who is King Chulalongkorn (Rama V)?

Chulalongkorn, or King Rama V, reigned over Siam from 1868 to 1910 and is remembered as one of the country's most consequential modernising monarchs. Ascending the throne as a teenager, he undertook sweeping reforms of government, law, education, taxation and the military, restructuring the administration into modern ministries and building railways, telegraph lines and schools. He is celebrated above all for the gradual abolition of slavery and the corvée labour system in Siam, achieved through a series of decrees that avoided the violent upheavals seen elsewhere. Through skilful diplomacy and selective territorial concessions, he preserved Siam's independence during the height of European colonial expansion, keeping it the only Southeast Asian state never colonised. He travelled to Europe, corresponded with foreign leaders, and sent his sons abroad to study. His death in 1910 was widely mourned, and Chulalongkorn Day is still observed in Thailand every 23 October in his memory.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry 'Chulalongkorn, King of Siam' · David K. Wyatt, 'Thailand: A Short History' (Yale University Press, 1984; 2nd ed. 2003)