Vajiravudh

Vajiravudh was born on 1 January 1880 to Chulalongkorn and one of his four queens and half sister Saovabha Phongsri. In 1888, upon coming of age, Vajiravudh received the title Kromma Khun Debdvaravati (Prince of Ayutthaya). Also in 1888, Vajiravudh began suffering from a severe illness and was brought to Ko Sichang by his father to recover.

Prince Vajiravudh was first educated in the royal palace in Thai and English. His full siblings were Bahurada Manimaya, Tribejrutama Dhamrong, Chakrabongse Bhuvanath, Siriraj Kakudhabhand, Asdang Dejavudh, Chudadhuj Dharadilok and Prajadhipok, who succeeded him as King Rama VII. In late 1893, his father, Rama V, sent Vajiravudh and his half-brother Abhakara Kiartivongse to study military science in Britain. The king's decision was motivated by the recent 1893 Franco-Siamese crisis, and his consequent desire to modernise Siam's army and navy.

In January 1895, his half-brother Crown Prince Vajirunhis died, and Vajiravudh was appointed the new Crown Prince of Siam. Vajiravudh and Abhakara continued their studies in Ascot under the tutelage of Sir Basil Thomson. In 1895, Vajiravudh began his education in Britain at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and by 1898 was commissioned as a captain in the Durham Light Infantry, which he served with for three months of exercises in the south of England upon graduation. He studied law and history at Christ Church, Oxford in 1899, where, coming from a royal household, he was a member of the exclusive Bullingdon Club. However, he suffered from appendicitis, which barred him from graduating in 1901. He visited other European countries while he lived in England, including Belgium where he inspected Blegny fort. He went to Berlin in May 1902 and Copenhagen in September 1902. He attended the 15 May 1902 enthronement ceremonies for King Alfonso XIII of Spain in Madrid. On behalf of his father, King Chulalongkorn, he attended the coronation of King Edward VII on 9 August 1902.

Crown Prince Vajiravudh left England in October 1902 and returned to Siam in January 1903, traveling via US and Japan. In 1904, he became a temporary monk in accordance with Siamese tradition. In 1907, his father Chulalongkorn travelled to Europe to seek treatment for his kidney disease, and Chulalongkorn made Vajiravudh Regent of Siam. One of Crown Prince Vajiravudh's accomplishments during this regency was his supervision of the construction of the equestrian statue of King Chulalongkorn.

Chulalongkorn died on 23 October 1910, and Vajiravudh succeeded his father as king of Siam.

Vajiravudh as a writer

King Vajiravudh was one of Thailand's most highly renowned artists, writing modern novels, short stories, newspaper articles, poems, plays, and journals. He translated many works of English and French literature into Thai, Among his works were translations of three Shakespeare plays: The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Romeo and Juliet. He wrote many other pieces promoting Thai nationalism, one of his nationalistic works is "The Honour of Tiger Soldier" (Thai: เกียรติศักดิ์ทหารเสือ) based on ancient French chivalric rhyme "Mon âme à Dieu, Ma vie au Roi, Mon cœur aux Dames, L'honneur pour moi", and might also be influenced by Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers. King Vajiravudh also composed nonfiction such as “The War of Polish Succession”, which he wrote while he was Crown Prince (see also external links below).

The king introduced mysteries and detective stories to the Thai reading public. He translated Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels into Thai, and created the character "Nai Thong-In" (Thai: นักสืบนายทองอิน) as a Siamese consulting detective, using Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin as an archetypes. He translated Sax Rohmer's The Golden Scorpion.

The king was well-versed in Sanskrit and Hindu literature, including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics. He translated many stories from the two epics into Thai and also wrote plays inspired by Hindu literature. He was influenced by Rama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and hero of the Ramayana epic, to the extent that he systemized and promoted the use of the name Rama as the (English) reign names of all Thai kings of the Bangkok (Rattanakosin) era. His own reign was dubbed as "Rama VI". (See Rama (Kings of Thailand))

As a homage to his great, great, great-grandfather, Tao Sên-pom, King Vajiravudh published a fictional play in Thai, based on the Prince and designed for performance with musical accompaniment in 1913. Prince Sên-pom was the father of Chao Praya Chakri, Rama I. The drama centres on a tale of Siamese courtly romance. It is absorbing fun and well-written. A copy of the play was given as a present to the Armstrong family in Cragside House, Rothbury, where it remains in the library. On a trip to the English Lake District, Vajiravudh directed the performance of a play at the Stonehenge-like setting of Castlerigg Stone Circle, in the mountains near Keswick.

In 1914 King Vajiravudh published in a Thai newspaper an article titled "Jews of the Orient" (Thai: ยิวแห่งบูรพาทิศ). Vajiravudh explicitly adopted Western antisemitic tropes and applied them to Chinese in Siam. The essay was written in the context of a recent strike by Chinese merchants and workers which had paralyzed Bangkok, and may also have been the product of Vajiravudh's exposure to European anti-Semitism. The article described Chinese immigrants in Thailand as having excessive "racial loyalty and astuteness in financial matters." The king wrote, "Money is their God. Life itself is of little value compared with the leanest bank account."