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Chronik Thailands

กาลานุกรมสยามประเทศไทย

von

Alois Payer

Chronik 1822 (Rama II.)

Zitierweise / cite as:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Chronik Thailands = กาลานุกรมสยามประเทศไทย. -- Chronik 1822 (Rama II.). -- Fassung vom 2016-04-12. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/thailandchronik/chronik1822.htm  

Erstmals publiziert: 2013-06-29

Überarbeitungen: 2016-04-12 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-10-13 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-09-13 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-08-22 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-08-10 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-06-17 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-05-09 [Teilung des Kapitels] ; 2015-05-07 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-04-21 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-03-31 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-03-15 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-03-03 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-01-28 [Ergänzungen] ; 2015-01-13 [Ergänzungen] ; 2014-12-21 [Ergänzungen] ; 2014-11-11 [Ergänzungen] ; 2014-10-20 [Ergänzungen] ; 2014-08-27 [Ergänzungen] ; 2014-02-26 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-12-18 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-11-25 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-11-07 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-10-09 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-10-03 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-09-27 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-09-15 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-08-26 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-08-23 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-08-20 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-08-17 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-07-06 [Ergänzungen] ; 2013-06-30 [Ergänzungen]

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ช้างตายทั้งตัวเอาใบบัวปิดไม่มิด

1822 undatiert

1822 - 1842

สมเด็จพระอริยวงษญาณ สมเด็จพระสังฆราช (ด่อน) Somdet Phra Ariyavongsanana (Don) ist Sangharaja (สังฆราช)

1822

Der König verbietet den Adeligen, Dschungelbewohner zur Zwangsarbeit zu verpflichten.

1822/1823

Der Preis für 1 Wagenladung Reis steigt von 28 Baht im Vorjahr auf 44 Baht.

1822/1823

Pacht für Einnahme der Alkoholsteuer in Bangkok: 72.000 Baht.

1822/1823

Viele Menschen werden von tollwütigen Hunden gebissen und sterben.

Abb.: Hund mit aggressiver Tollwut im Spätstadium
[Bildquelle: Wellcome Images. -- Creative Commons Lizenz (Namensnennung, keine kommerzielle Nutzung)]

Abb.: Tollwut-Krampf / von Jane Jackson
[Bildquelle: Wellcome Images. -- Creative Commons Lizenz (Namensnennung, keine kommerzielle Nutzung)]
 

1822

Die Verteidigung von Samut Prakan (สมุทรปราการ) und Khuan Khan (= Phra Pradaeng - พระประแดง)

Abb.: Lage von Samut Prakan (สมุทรปราการ) und Khuan Khan (= Phra Pradaeng - พระประแดง)
[Bildquelle: OpenStreetMap. -- Creative Commons Lizenz (Namensnennung, share alike)]

1822

Selangor (سلاڠور) vertreibt Siam und Kedah (قدح) aus den von diesen besetzten Gebieten Perak's (ڨيرق). Perak anerkennt die Oberherrschaft Selangors an.

Abb:: Lage von Selangor (سلاڠور),  Perak (ڨيرق) und  Kedah (قدح)
[Bildquelle: Constables Hand Atlas of India, 1893. -- Pl. 59]

1822

Paris: Gründung der Société Asiatique.

Abb.: ®Logo

"La Société asiatique est une société savante fondée en 1822, dont l'objet est de promouvoir les langues orientales, publier les travaux et rapports des orientalistes et rassembler la communauté scientifique francophone autour de conférences mensuelles.  Historique « La Société Asiatique a été fondée en 1822 dans le mouvement d’enthousiasme suscité par les premières conquêtes de l’orientalisme scientifique : déchiffrement d’écritures, résurrection de monuments, comparaison des langues2. » Sa création fut confirmée par ordonnance royale le 15 avril 1829. La première présidence fut assurée par Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy (1758 - 1838), avec Abel Rémusat (1788 - 1832) comme secrétaire. Parmi les premiers membres, figurent Jean-François Champollion (1790 - 1832) et Eugène Burnouf (1801 - 1852). « Elle a traversé les XIXe et XXe siècles en assurant sa mission : *le développement et la diffusion des connaissances sur l’aire immense allant du Maghreb à l’Extrême-Orient ; *une approche scientifique et multidisciplinaire des cultures orales et écrites des sociétés concernées2. » Devenue association loi 1901 en 1910, elle a renouvelé ses statuts en 1965. Par ses activités et son histoire, elle entretient des liens étroits avec des institutions prestigieuses : notamment l'École nationale des langues orientales vivantes (où elle a eu son siège de 1924 à 19723), l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres et le Collège de France. La Société asiatique rassemble actuellement plus de 500 membres en France et dans le monde. Son organe, le Journal asiatique, est publié sans interruption depuis 1822. La diversification progressive des études, leur développement par la spécialisation toujours plus étroite, renforcent le rôle d’organisme fédérateur des spécialistes d’études orientales qu’elle assume depuis près de deux siècles. Elle possède en outre des collections patrimoniales de premier ordre dans le domaine de l'orientalisme : imprimés, manuscrits orientaux et archives scientifiques, conservés dans sa bibliothèque (52, rue du Cardinal-Lemoine - Paris Ve)." [Quelle: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_asiatique. -- Zugriff am 2015-08-22]

1822 datiert

1822-01

Der Indo-Brite George Gibson wird mit einem Gefolge von 45 Personen zum König von Burma nach Ava (အင်းဝမြို့) geschickt. Als Vorwand dient, dass er die Möglichkeit des Kaufs von Schwalbennestern erkundet, in Wirklichkeit soll er ausspionieren, ob Vietnam zusammen mit Burma gegen Siam vorgehen würde. Er verlässt Ava am 1822-07-21 und erreicht Saigon (西貢 / Sài Gòn) am 1823-06-08.

Abb.: Lage von Ava (အင်းဝမြို့) und Saigon (西貢 /Sài Gòn)
[Bildquelle: Bartholomew, J. G. <1860 - 1920>: A literary & historical atlas of Asia. -- London, o. J.]

1822-03-26

John Crawfurd (1783 – 1868) landet in Siam in diplomatischer Mission der britischen East India Company.

Abb.: John Crawfurd (1783 – 1868)
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia. -- Public domain]

"John Crawfurd (13 August 1783 – 11 May 1868), Scottish physician, and colonial administrator and author, was born in the island of Islay, Scotland. He followed his father's footsteps in the study of medicine and completed his medical course at Edinburgh in 1803, at the age of 20. He joined the East India Company, as a Company surgeon and was posted to India's Northwestern Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) from 1803–1808. Following that he was sent to Penang, where he first acquainted himself with Southeast Asia, and applied himself to the study of Malay language and culture. It was also in Penang where he met Stamford Raffles for the first time. In 1811, Crawfurd accompanied him on Lord Minto's military expedition of Java from the Dutch in 1811. When Raffles was appointed the Lieutenant-Governor by Lord Minto during the 45-day Java Expedition, Crawfurd was appointed the post of Resident at the Court of Yogyakarta( modern-day Jarkata) in November 1811. As Resident, he pursued in the study of the Javanese language, cultivated personal relationships with several Javanese aristocrats and literati, and was sent on diplomatic missions to Bali and the Celebes (now Sulawesi). This scholastic pursuits, and his knowledge of the local culture proved to be invaluable to Raffles' government in Java. However, tensions arise between Crawfurd and Raffles when he was asked to assist Raffles in introducing land reform in the Cheribon residency. Crawfurd, with his experience of India, was always a keen supporter of the Village System of revenue collection, and he vigorously opposed Raffles' attempts to introduce the individual (Ryotwari) settlement into Java.[1] Java was returned to the Dutch in 1816, and Crawfurd returned to England that year, turning to writing books. In 1820 he published his three-volume History of the Indian Archipelago. That following year in 1821, Crawfurd's expertise was recognised by Governor-General Lord Hastings, who sent him on a mission as an envoy to the courts of Siam (modern Thailand) and Cochin-China (modern Vietnam.) In between those two missions, Crawfurd was appointed British Resident of Singapore in March 1823. The mission to the court of King Rama II was virtually the first official visit to one of the most powerful nations in the region since the Siam–England war of 1687 with the previous Siamese Ayutthaya kingdom. Hastings was especially interested in learning more about Siamese policy with regard to the northern Malay states. The missions were of limited obvious success, though the one to Siam did pave the way for closer relations with Britain, leading King Rama II to ally his kingdom with the British in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826). This in turn helped Captain Henry Burney conclude the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Siam–UK) in June 1826 in the reign of King Rama III.[2] He was again sent on another envoy mission to Burma (Myanmar) in 1827, by Hastings' successor, Lord Amherst. It was to be his last political service for the Company – a difficult but nonetheless a historically significant one. These envoy experiences from envoy missions gave him material to write and publish his Journals in 1828 and 1829. This documentation proved to be useful guides to future missions, and resource materials for scholars – being reprinted nearly 140 years later by Oxford University Press. Crawfurd was a polygenist, he studied the geography of where different races were located, he believed that different races had been created separately by God in specific regional zones for climatic circumstance.[3] In his retirement years after the Burmese mission, he spent the remaining years of his long life devoted to writing books and papers on Eastern subjects. Though he made several unsuccessful attempts to enter the British Parliament in the 1830s, he was elected President of the Ethnological Society in 1861, and in 1868 as the first President of the Straits Settlements Association, which was formed to protect the Colony's interests. That was his last office before his death in South Kensington, London on 11 May 1868 at the age of 85.  Books written by Crawfurd History of the Indian Archipelago (1820) Journal of an Embassy to the Court of Ava in 1827 (1829) Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin-China, exhibiting a view of the actual State of these Kingdoms (1830) Inquiry into the System of Taxation in India, Letters on the Interior of India, an attack on the newspaper stamp-tax and the duty on paper entitled Taxes on Knowledge (1836) Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay Language (1852) Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries (1856)  Notes  Bastin, John. "Malayan Portraits: John Crawfurd", in Malaya, vol.3 (December 1954), pp.697–698.  Steam, Duncan (14 – 20 May 2004). "Dr. John Crawfurd and the Mission to Thailand, 1822" (Column). A Slice of Thai History. Pattaya Mail. Retrieved 11 August 2011. "This in turn helped Captain Henry Burney conclude a treaty of commerce with Thailand in June 1826."  David N. Livingstone, Adam's ancestors: race, religion, and the politics of human origins, 2008, p. 112  References Chew, Ernest C. T. (2002) 'Dr John Crawfurd (1783–1868): The Scotsman Who Made Singapore British', Raffles Town Club, vol. 8 (July–Sept). Singapore : Raffles Town Club. [Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Crawfurd. -- Zugriff am 2011-10-19]

"These events [Die Unterjochung Kedahs und Peraks], so disturbing in their influence on the British settlements in the Straits, and so detrimental to trade, brought home to the Indian Government the imperative necessity of establishing diplomatic relations with Siam. An attempt had been made some years before to open up negotiations, but the Company's envoy, Colonel Symes, had been treated with marked discourtesy, and nothing had come of his mission. This experience was not encouraging, and only the pressure of the newly created situation in the Straits, coupled with the fear of the extension of Dutch influence, led to a resumption of the efforts to negotiate. The choice of a representative fell upon Mr. J. Crawfurd, one of the most experienced of the Company's officials in the Straits. Mr. Crawfurd was a ripe Malay scholar and a man of no mean literary ability. He served under Sir Stamford Raffles at a subsequent period at Singapore, and when the great administrator left he assumed charge of the new settlement. His personal qualities peculiarly recommended him for a mission such as that to Siam. He was gifted in a marked degree with tact, and his manner was conciliatory and sympathetic, though he could on occasion be firm enough. Above all, he thoroughly understood Orientals. The potentate to whom the mission was accredited was a ruler with a somewhat striking personality. He signalised his accession by making a clean sweep of all whom he considered to be inimical to him. Within thirty-six hours after his father's death no fewer than 117 personages of distinction had been executed. It is only just, however, to his memory to say that after this sanguinary act the king ruled with moderation and judgment. One of his acts entitles him to be regarded in the light of a reformer. Taking note of the immense number of talopins, or priests, who lived in idleness throughout the country, he issued an order that they should serve for a period as soldiers. The edict created an immense sensation, and led to the formation of a conspiracy against the king amongst the priests. The movement coming to light, the royal despot caused seven hundred priests to be arrested, but he dealt with them in mild fashion. The greater number were liberated almost immediately. In the few cases in which punishment was meted out the prisoners were merely stripped of their yellow robes and condemned to cut grass for the sacred white elephants. The king's rule was capricious, but not cruel when judged by Oriental standards. But nothing hardly could surpass in ruthlessness the spirit which dominated the external policy of Siam at this period. Our territory in Province Wellesley, opposite to Pinang, was crowded with thousands of refugees, who fled thither to escape the awful horrors of a Siamese invasion. The section of the population which did not thus escape was either butchered in cold blood or sold into slavery. The reception of the mission presaged ill for the success of the negotiations. On arrival at Paknam on March 26, 1822, "we could not," says Mr. Finlayson, the surgeon and naturalist of the mission, "fail to remark that the different personages who had as yet visited us were either of very low rank, or of none at all." One of the king's boats was sent down on March 27th to convey Mr. Crawfurd to Bangkok. The next day the John Adam, the ship which had brought the mission to Siam, was allowed to travel up the river. On the 29th the governor-general's letter was delivered to a person appointed by the Phra Klang to receive it. On the 30th a habitation was provided for the British envoy, a miserable place, an outhouse with four small, ill-ventilated rooms approached through a trapdoor from below, and on three sides almost entirely excluded from fresh air. A Malay of low rank was for some time the only channel of intercourse. He came and demanded the presents for the king. In the urgency to obtain and the frequency of the demands of the court for the gifts there was "a degree of meanness and avidity at once disgusting and disgraceful. For several successive days there was no end to their importunities." The treatment of the mission did not improve with the lapse of time. Mr. Crawfurd and his colleagues were kept under a rigid surveillance—were, in fact, practically prisoners until the ceremony of introduction was over. This was postponed from time to time in circumstances which seemed to indicate a desire to humiliate the mission. At length, after more than a week's delay, the reception took place. Mr. Finlayson thus describes it :— "In the evening a message was brought by the Malay to say that the minister would be glad to see Mr. Crawfurd. Accompanied by Captain Dangerfield, he accordingly paid him a visit. He received them in a large and lofty hall, open on one side, spread with carpets, and hung with glass lights and Chinese lanterns. They took their seats on carpets spread for the purpose and were entertained with tea, fruit, and Chinese preserves. It would appear that the conversation was of a general nature and rather formal. They were well pleased with the attention of the chief and spoke favourably of their reception. He offered to make what alterations were deemed necessary to fit the house for our convenience —an offer which he subsequently bore little in remembrance. The servility which the attendants of this man observed towards him appears to have been quite disgusting and altogether degrading to humanity. During the whole of the visit they lay prostrate on the earth before him, and at a distance. When addressed they did not dare to cast their eyes towards him, but, raising the head a little, and touching the forehead with both hands united in the manner by which we should express the most earnest supplication, their looks still directed to the ground, they whispered an answer in the most humiliating tone. The manner in which he was approached by the servants of his household was even still more revolting to nature. When  freshments were ordered they crawled forward on all-fours, supported on the elbows and toes, the body being dragged on the ground. In this manner they pushed the dishes before them from time to time, in the best manner that their constrained and beast-like attitude would admit, until they had put them into their place, when they retreated backwards in the same grovelling manner, but not turning round. How abominable, how revolting this assumption of despotic power ! . . . Yet this haughty chief was himself but a minister of the fifth order in importance, doomed to take his turn of beast-like grovelling, as was subsequently exhibited in visiting Chromachit, son to the king. Every man here is doomed to crawl on the earth before his superiors." Mr. Crawfurd himself in his narrative mentions  a curious circumstance connected with  this complimentary feast at Paknam. While they were enjoying the good things which were provided for them their attention was attracted by a curtain suspended across one end of the apartment. Their curiosity being aroused they sought information, and were told that the hanging concealed the body of the late chief of Paknam, who had died five months previously and whose remains were awaiting an auspicious day for burial. The next day more particular inquiries were made of the host relative to this gruesome experience, and some of the members of the mission were shown the corpse, which was "wrapped up in a great many folds of cloth like an Egyptian mummy, apparently quite dry, and covered with such a profusion of aromatics that there was nothing offensive about it." A few days after the interview with the governor of Paknam Mr. Crawfurd was received by Prince Kromchiat, the eldest son of the king. Accompanied by Lieut. Rutherford, Mr. Crawfurd proceeded at eight o'clock in the evening to the prince's palace. The visitors were ushered into a large hall "decorated with European lustres of cut glass, with European and Chinese mirrors, and with a profusion of Chinese lanterns." They discovered the prince, "a heavy and corpulent figure about thirty-eight years of age but having the appearance of fifty," sitting on a mat in the upper part of the chamber. The courtiers kept at a great distance, crouching to the very ground with their hands clasped before them." Mr. Crawfurd and his companion seated themselves on a carpet which was pointed out to them between the prince and his courtiers. It had been provided that the interpreters should be admitted, but when these individuals appeared they were jostled by the attendants and forced to withdraw. A somewhat long conversation was nevertheless carried on between the prince and the envoy. After some inquiries had been made relative to the Viceroy, the prince said, "I have heard of his reputation for justice and wisdom from the merchants of all nations who have of late years resorted to this country." Later, in reference to another matter, the prince observed, "When I speak of Europeans in general I do not mean the English, for their superiority over all other people, in this respect, is well known." The audience lasted two hours, and on arriving home after it the visitors found eight large tubs of sweetmeats which had been sent as a present to them by the prince. Ultimately the 8th of April was appointed by the king for an audience. The question of the nature of the obeisance to be made to his Majesty was settled with less difficulty than had been anticipated. "It was finally determined that upon appearing in the presence we should make a bow in the European fashion, seat ourselves in the place usually assigned to foreign missions, make an obeisance to his Majesty when seated, by raising two joined hands to the forehead, but above all things take care not to exhibit our feet or any portion of the lower part of the body to the sacred view of his Siamese Majesty." When the eventful day arrived the mission proceeded to the palace, passing through long lines of troops and officials to a great hall much frequented by pigeons, swallows, and sparrows. They were kept waiting for some twenty minutes, and were then summoned to the royal presence. Escorted by a number of officers with white wands, they arrived at the inner gate of the principal palace. Here they had to divest themselves of their shoes. This done, they entered the gateway, their appearance being a signal for a deafening discord from a large band placed hereabouts. Facing them in the hall of audience the visitors saw a large Chinese mirror, intended apparently as a screen to conceal the interior of the court. Advancing to this they were received with a great flourish of wind instruments and a discordant yell, which they subsequently discovered hailed the advent of the king. Mr. Crawfurd and the other members of the mission stepped forward, took off their hats, and bowed in the European manner. Meanwhile, the courtiers prostrated themselves in Siamese fashion, and in a twinkling the floor was so thickly covered with the forms of mandarins and attendants that it was difficult to move without stepping on some one. The view which was presented at the moment was more singular than impressive. The hall of audience was a well-proportioned and spacious apartment about thirty feet high. The walls and ceilings were painted a bright vermilion ; the cornices of the walls were gilded and the ceiling was thickly spangled with stars in very rich gilding. A number of English lustres of good quality were suspended from the ceiling, but the effect they produced was marred by the presence on the pillars supporting the roof of some miserable oil lamps. The throne was situated at the upper end of the hall. It was richly gilded all over, was about fifteen feet high, "and in shape and look very like a handsome pulpit." In front of the throne, and rising from the floor in sizes decreasing as they ascended, were numbers of gilded umbrellas. The king as he appeared seated on the throne struck the mission as looking more like a statue in a niche than a sentient being. He was short and rather fat, and wore a loose gown of gold tissue with very wide sleeves. His head was devoid of a crown or any other covering, but near him was a sceptre or baton of gold. On the left of the throne were exhibited the presents, which the envoy firmly believed were represented as tribute from the English Government. There was a few minutes of profound silence, broken at length by the king addressing Mr. Crawfurd. He put a few insignificant questions, and concluded with these words : "I am glad to see here an envoy from the Governor-General of India. Whatever you have to say communicate to my chief minister. What we want from you is a good supply of firearms—firearms and good gunpowder." As soon as the last words were uttered a loud stroke was heard, as if given by a wand against a piece of wainscoting. It was a signal apparently for the closing of the ceremony, for immediately curtains were lowered and completely concealed the king and his throne from view. A great flourish of wind instruments heralded the disappearance of Majesty, and the courtiers, to further emphasise the action, stretched their faces along the ground six several times. The members of the mission, in accordance with their preconceived arrangement, contented themselves with bowing. While the audience was in progress a heavy shower of rain fell, and the king graciously sent to each of the strangers a small common umbrella as a protection from the elements. But as a counterpoise to this thoughtfulness they were prohibited from putting on their boots, so that they had to march through the miry courtyards in their stockinged feet. An inspection of the royal elephants, including the famous sacred white animals, brought the palace experiences to a close. In the afternoon of the same day that the members of the mission were received by the king, they were waited on at their residence by the chief minister. "This visit," says Mr. Crawfurd in his account of the mission, "afforded an opportunity of observing one of the most singular and whimsical prejudices of the Siamese. This people have an extreme horror of permitting anything to pass over the head, or having the head touched, or, in short, bringing themselves into any situation in which their persons are liable to be brought into a situation of physical inferiority to that of others, such as going under a bridge, or entering the lower apartment of a house when the upper one is inhabited. For this sufficient reason, their houses are all of one storey. The dwelling which we occupied, however, had been intended for a warehouse, and consisted, as already mentioned, of two storeys, while there was no access to the upper apartments except by an awkward stair and trap-door from the corresponding lower ones. This occasioned a serious dilemma to the minister. A man of his rank and condition, it was gravely insisted upon, could not subject himself to have strangers walk over his head without suffering seriously in public estimation. "To get over this weighty objection, a ladder was at last erected against the side of the house, by which his Excellency, although neither a light nor active figure suited for such enterprises, safely effected his ascent about three o'clock in the afternoon. The native Christians of Portuguese descent had prepared an abundant entertainment, after the European manner, which was now served up. The minister sat at table, but without eating. His son and nephew, the youths whom I have before mentioned, also sat down, and partook heartily of the good things which were placed before them. No Oriental antipathies were discoverable in the selection of the viands. Pork, beef, venison, and poultry were served up in profusion, and there was certainly nothing to indicate that we were in a country where the destruction of animal life is viewed with horror and punished as a crime. The fact is, that it is practice the Siamese eat whatever animal food is presented to them without scruple, and discreetly put no questions, being quite satisfied, as they openly avow, if the blood be not upon their heads." Before taking leave of the visitors the minister intimated to Mr. Crawfurd that in accordance with Siamese custom the expenses of the mission would from that day be disbursed by the Government. The envoy sought to explain that the members of the mission were all servants of the Government of India, and as they received adequate remuneration stood in no need of the assistance offered. But the minister resolutely declined to entertain the idea that any one but his Majesty of Siam could legitimately maintain the embassy on Siamese soil, and placed on the table a small sum in silver which was not adequate to keep even the servants of the mission for forty-eight hours. After this visit the visitors saw little of the minister until one day, more than a fortnight after the reception by the king, he appeared in a state of great excitement. It was surmised from his condition that he must have some matter of great political importance to impart, but when he had recovered his breath sufficiently to speak, it was found that his visit merely referred to some glass lamps which had been offered to the king by a person on board the John Adam and afterwards clandestinely sold by him to some private individual. His Majesty had set his heart on these lamps and was greatly angered at the notion that any one else should have dared to purchase them. Impelled to vigorous action by his threats of dire punishment for all if the error was not rectified, the officials had scattered in all directions in search of the missing lamps. Mr. Crawfurd told the minister that he could not help him, and added that with his countrymen it was the usual custom for an article to go to the person who was prepared to pay the best price for it. Two days after this the members of the mission were aroused from their slumbers by the cries of a wretched individual who was being castigated in the street below. On inquiry the next day they ascertained that the victim was their Portuguese interpreter, who was thus punished because he had omitted to report the sale of the lamps. The chastisement failed to secure a disclosure of the objects of the royal search, because the poor man really knew nothing as to their whereabouts. The king, however, was not to be diverted from his purpose by ordinary difficulties. The lamps he knew were in the capital somewhere, and he meant to have them. Dire were the threats held over the heads of his ministers in the event of their failure to accomplish his wishes. At length, after Bangkok had been kept for two days in a state of turmoil, the precious lamps were discovered in the house of an old Siamese woman, who with fear and trembling handed the articles over to the royal officials with a protest that all along she had intended them as a present to his Majesty. Before the echoes of this absorbing hunt had completely died away, the members of the mission were aroused one night by the arrival of a special messenger from the king. The man brought with him a great doll or puppet and conveyed an earnest wish of his Majesty that the visitors would give instructions for the dressing of the figure so as to represent Napoleon Buonaparte. Amongst the servants of the mission was a dirzee, or Indian tailor, and the man was promptly set to work to provide the desired  counterfeit. In the end, with the assistance of four court tailors and two shoemakers, the dirzee turned out a very fair presentment of the Man of Destiny, greatly to the gratification of the Lord of White Elephants. Meanwhile, the serious affairs of the mission were at a practical standstill. When the king discovered, as he speedily did, that the East India Company were not prepared to embroil themselves with the King of Burma by supplying him with arms and ammunition, he became indifferent to the mission. Outwardly the visitors were treated with courtesy, but the surveillance maintained over them was never relaxed. "Every day," says Mr. Crawfurd, "brought to light some new occurrence calculated to display the ceaseless jealousy and suspicious character of the Siamese Government. A Government so arbitrary and unjust can place no reasonable reliance upon its own subjects, and seems to be in perpetual dread that they are to be incited to insurrection or rebellion by the example of strangers. This is unquestionably the true explanation of the hectic alarm and distrust which it entertains of all foreigners. One of the interpreters of the mission reported today the circumstances of a conversation which he held the day before with one of the brothers of the Prah-klang, who was much in the minister's confidence. This person said, 'that the English were a dangerous people to have any connection with, for that they were not only the ablest but the most ambitious of the European nations who frequented the East.' The interpreter answered, that it was impossible the English could have any ambitious views on Siam ; 'for what,' he said, 'could they, who have so much already, and are accustomed to convenient countries, do with such a one as yours, in which there are neither roads nor bridges, and where you are ankle-deep in mire at every step ?' The reply, according to the interpreter's report, was, 'Do not speak so ; these people are clever and active, and the country would not be long in their possession before they made it such that you might sleep in the streets and rice-fields.' It may be necessary to mention that the person who made this communication was by birth a Siamese, and by disposition very talkative and communicative." In the conferences which took place between the British envoy and the chief minister, the main difficulty—an insuperable one as it proved—was the royal right of pre-emption. The minister resolutely declined to entertain any scheme by which this would be abrogated or even weakened. It had, he said, been a royal prerogative from time immemorial, and could not be surrendered or diminished. The position thus taken up was fatal to the success of the mission. What the East India Company sought was trade, and trade in the then circumstances was hopeless. How the peculiar Siamese commercial methods worked is explained by Mr. Crawfurd in his Journal, in these words : "When a ship arrives the officers of Government, under pretext of serving the king, select a large share of the most vendible part of the goods and put their own price upon them. No private merchant, under penalty of heavy fine or severe corporal punishment, is allowed to make an offer for the goods until the officers of the court are all satisfied. A large portion, and often the whole, of the export cargo is supplied to the foreign merchant on the same principle. The officers of Government purchase the native commodities at the lowest market rate and sell them to the exporter at their own arbitrary valuation. The resident Chinese alone, from their numbers and influence, have got over this difficulty, and of course are carrying on a very large and remunerative commerce. This pernicious and ruinous practice of preemption is the only real obstacle to European trade in Siam, for the duties on merchandise or on tonnage are not excessive, and the country is fertile, abounding in productions suited for foreign trade beyond any other with which I am acquainted." After remaining four months at Bangkok, the mission quitted Siam. They left behind them, anchored in the Menam, a British ship which had come for purposes of trade. The captain, thinking to propitiate the king, had brought as a present for his Majesty a white horse. The animal, which appears to have been something of a screw, did not meet with the royal approbation, and was returned to  the captain without thanks. The old tar, not caring to have his decks encumbered with a useless animal, had the beast destroyed and caused the carcase to be thrown into the river. The offence of killing a horse, and especially a white horse, was a heinous one, and the fact was soon brought home to the unfortunate captain. A body of mandarins and soldiers boarded his ship, seized him, and subjected him to a severe bambooing, with other ill-treatment. Such an episode in modern times would have been productive of very unpleasant consequences for the Siamese Government ; but the doctrine of Civis Romanus sum was then only struggling for recognition as a principle of British policy, and the outrage remained unavenged, just as the graver massacre of Mergui, of the previous century, was left without punishment." [Quelle: Arnold Wright in: Twentieth century impressions of Siam : its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources / ed. in chief: Arnold Wright. -- London [etc.] : Lloyds, 1908. -- S. 53 - 57]

Crawford über die Brücken in Bangkok: sie bestehen aus einer einzigen Planke.

Crawford über den Seehandel Siams:

"I obtained the following details, respecting the trade of Siam, during my stay at Bangkok, or afterwards at Singapore, from the communications of Siamese and Chinese traders. The inland and coasting trade is very considerable: the principal part of this domestic traffic is carried on on the Menam [แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา] and its branches, and the produce is carried in flat boats, or on large rafts of bamboo. The upper part of the Menam where it begins to be navigable, is practicable in the months of August and September. Boats which quit Lao in these months, do not arrive at Bangkok until November and December, when the river is crowded with them. Grain, salt, cotton, sapan- wood [Caesalpinia sappan L.], oil, and timber, are brought to the capital by this mode of conveyance. Elephants generally constitute the land carriage, and are especially much employed in carrying goods in the mountainous and uncultivated parts of the country. The distant inland traffic of the Siamese is with Lao, Kamboja, the Chinese province of Yunnan [云南], and with the Malayan peninsula. From Lao there are imported stick-lac, benjamin [benzoin], some raw silk, ivory and bees-wax, with horns and hides; and the exportation to that country consists of salt, salt-fish, and Chinese, Indian, and European manufactures. Between the river Menam, and the great river of Kamboja, there is water-carriage all the way by the river Ban-pa-kung [บ้านป่ากุง], which in the season of the rains has generally a depth of five cubits, and in the dry season from a cubit to a cubit and a half, being therefore navigable during the former for boats of considerable burthen, and at all times for small boats. The importations from Kamboja into Siam consist of gamboge [Gummigutta], cardamums, stick- lac, varnish, raw hides, horns, and ivory. The inland intercourse between Siam and China is conducted through Lao and Yunnan. These countries are divided from each other by a strong natural barrier of mountains and forests, over which goods are transported with difficulty by small horses. The imports from China in this quarter, I am told, consist of coarse Chinese woollens, some English broad-cloths, pins, needles, and other descriptions of hardware, with some gold, copper, and lead. Abb.: Süd-Siam [Bildquelle: Bartholomew, J. G. <1860 - 1920>: A literary & historical atlas of Asia. -- London, o. J.] The traffic between the countries lying on the shores of the straits of Malacca and bay of Bengal, with the Siamese capital, is conducted by three different routes over the mountains of the peninsula. The first of these lies between Queda and Singora [Songkhla - สงขลา] ; the second, the most frequented, between Tratig and Ligor [Nakhon Si Thammarat - นครศรีธรรมราช] ; and the third, between Phunphin [พุนพิน], opposite to Junk-Ceylon [Phuket - ภูเก็ต] and Chaiya [ไชยา]. The land part of the journey is from five to seven days on elephants, the only description of carriage made use of. When the goods reach the shore of the gulf of Siam, they are shipped in boats for the capital. By these routes are brought to Bangkok tin and ivory from Junk-Ceylon [Phuket - ภูเก็ต], esculent swallows’ nests, opium, Indian and British cotton goods, with some miscellaneous British manufactures. In 1821, there were exported from Prince of Wales’s Island [Penang] to Siam opium and European and Indian piece goods to the value of 122,200 Spanish dollars, of which by far the largest part went by the channels now alluded to. Abb.: Süd-China [Bildquelle: Bartholomew, J. G. <1860 - 1920>: A literary & historical atlas of Asia. -- London, o. J.] Of the foreign trade of Siam, the most important branch is that with China. This is wholly carried on in vessels of Chinese form, navigated by Chinese, but the greater portion of them built in Siam. As far as Siam is concerned, the whole of the Chinese trade centres in Bangkok, with the exception of a few junks which trade to Singora [Songkhla - สงขลา] and Ligor [Nakhon Si Thammarat - นครศรีธรรมราช]. The ports of China which carry on trade with Siam, are Canton [廣州], Kiangmui, and Changlim, in the province of Quanton [廣州]; Amoy [Xiamen - 門市], or Emwi, in Fokien [Fujian - 福建省] ; Limpo, or Nimpo, in Chekiang [Zhejiang - 浙江] ; with Sianghai [Shanghai - 上海], and Sao-cheu [Suzhou - 苏州;], in Kiang-nan [Jiangsu - 江蘇] ; besides several ports of the great island of Hainan [海南]. These junks are expected in Siam in the following order. Those of the island of Hainan [海南] usually arrive in January, and those from the provinces of Canton [廣州], Fokien [Fujian - 福建省], and Che-kiang [Zhejiang - 浙江], in the latter end of February and down to the beginning of April. They all sail from the Menam [แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา]  in the months of June and July, when the south-west monsoon is at its strength, and of course there is but one voyage performed yearly. I am told, however, that the junks occasionally make short voyages on the coast of China in the intermediate time between their arrival there, and their proceeding on a new voyage to Siam. The imports from China are very numerous, consisting of what are called in commercial language "assorted cargoes". The following is a list of the principal commodities: coarse earthenware and porcelain, spelter [Zinklegierung], quicksilver, tea, lack-soy (vermicelli), dried fruits, raw silk, crapes, satins and other silk fabrics, nankeens [Nanking-Kattungewebe], shoes, fans, umbrellas, writing-paper, sacrificial paper, incense rods, and many other minor articles. Not the least valuable part of the importations are passengers. The exports from Siam are also very various, but the following list comprehends the most considerable: black pepper, sugar, tin, cardamums, eagle-wood, sapan-wood, red mangrove bark, rose wood for furniture and cabinet work, cotton, ivory, stick-lac, rice, areca-nuts, salt-fish, the hides and skins of oxen, buffaloes, elephants, rhinoceros, deer, tigers, leopards, otters, civet cats, the pangolin [Schuppentier]  ; of snakes, and rays, with the belly-shell of a species of land tortoise; the horns of the buffalo, ox, deer, and rhinoceros; the bones of the ox, buffalo, elephant, rhinoceros, and tiger; dried deers’ sinews, the feathers of the pelican, of several species of stork, of the peacock and kingfisher, &c. and finally esculent swallows' nests. The commercial intercourse between Siam and China has existed since the earliest acquaintance of Europeans with these countries, but it has become considerable only since the accession of the Prince who ascended or usurped the throne of Siam, on the expulsion of the Burmans in the year 1769, and who was himself of the half Chinese blood, as already stated. La Loubere, who visited Siam one hundred and thirty-five years before our own mission to it, estimated the whole Chinese in the country at only between three and four thousand, and from other authorities the Chinese trade does not appear to have exceeded a few junks annually. All foreign intercourse in Siam is viewed as coming under the head of commerce, and this applies even to that with China, although the King of Siam professes himself to be a vassal of that empire. This vassalage, however, is purely nominal, but under pretext of it the Siamese Court is enabled every year to send two large junks of fifteen thousand piculs [擔], or between nine hundred and one thousand tons each, to Canton, which, at the expense of a few trifling presents, are exempted from the payment of all duties. Ambassadors proceed on these annually to Canton [廣州], and there pay their respects to the Viceroy of that province, and every third year repair to Pekin [Beijing - 北京], after being rendered worthy of that honour by being invested with a Chinese title of nobility, and assuming the Chinese costume. When the embassy is to the Viceroy of Canton, the presents consist of the staple products of Siam,—such as tin, pepper, and sugar; but when to the Emperor, there is added to them a tree of gold and of silver, resembling the similar tributes paid to the King of Siam himself by his Malayan vassals. No adequate data exist for offering a correct account of the extent of the trade between Siam and China; but a probable estimate of it may be formed. The Siamese junks trading to the province of Canton are as follow :—three large junks, of from 10,000 to 15,000 piculs each, trade to the port of Canton; fifty, from 2000 to 5000, to the same place; and two of 7000 to Changlim. The Siamese junks trading to the province of Fokien [Fujian - 福建省], amount to two of 6000 piculs each; those proceeding to the port of Nimpo amount to eight, measuring from 5000 to 8000 piculs each. The junks proceeding to the province of Kiang-nan [Jiangsu - 江蘇], amount to one junk of 5000 piculs, for the port of Sao-cheu; and fifteen junks, from 5000 to 8000, for that of Siang-hai [Shanghai - 上海]. A fair average of this branch of the Chinese trade of Siam, will not give less for the whole than 393,000 piculs, or 24,562 tons. Besides this trade, conducted in what may be called Siamese bottoms, an inferior, but still a considerable one is carried on in similar vessels belonging to China. From the port of Kiang-mui in the province of Canton, there come five junks, measuring from 3000 to 5000 piculs; from Changlim, one junk of 5000 piculs; and from Amoy [Xiamen - 門市], two junks of 3000 each. With the ports of Canton, Nimpo, and Siang-hai [Shanghai - 上海], there is no trade to Siam under the Chinese flag. All the junks carrying on the trade between the island of Hainan [海南], which is a dependency of the province of Quantong, belong to China. They are small vessels measuring from 2000 to 3500 piculs, and seldom less than fifty come yearly. Taking the average of this branch of the trade, the whole will probably not be overrated at 168,500 piculs or 10,531 tons. The numerical account of the whole trade between Siam and, China will, according to this statement, be about 140 junks, and the tonnage employed will not be less than 561,500 piculs, or 35,093 tons. No accurate details can be furnished respecting the value of the trade which Siam carries on with China; but some interesting particulars may be stated, which will assist us in forming a general notion of it. The junks belonging to Siam are all built at Bangkok, and at that place commonly from six to eight of the largest description are launched annually. They are built under the direction of a Chinese head-carpenter, the ordinary workmen being usually Siamese. The frame-work is commonly of the wood called by the Malays marbao (metrosideros amboinensis), and the deck and planks of teak the tectona grandis). The cost of one of the larger description ready for sea, is estimated at twenty-five ticals per ton, or about 3l. 2s. 6d. Assuming this rate for the whole, the value of the Siamese shipping trading to China will be 614,050 ticals, or 76,756l. The shipping belonging to China carrying on the Siamese trade, are built at the respective ports of that country from which they sail, and cost differently at each. They are built of inferior woods to the Siamese junks,—I think, generally of fir,—their rudder, anchor, and masts being commonly of suitable wood procured in Kamboja, Siam, or the Malayan islands. At Amoy [Xiamen - 廈門] in Fokien [Fujian - 福建省], the cost of ship-building is at the rate of above forty-two Spanish dollars per ton ; but at Changlim in Canton, only thirty-two Spanish dollars. These Chinese junks undergo a thorough repair every four years, and such repairs are indefinitely carried on until the junk be finally lost by shipwreck, for it appears not to be the practice in any case to condemn a vessel and break her up. The great majority of the mariners navigating these junks of both classes are Chinese; for Siamese are found only on board those which trade to the port of Canton,—this nation being, it appears, like Europeans, strictly excluded from all other parts of China. A Chinese junk is manned with an extraordinary proportion of hands, if compared to European vessels—a circumstance which chiefly arises from the awkwardness of the rudder, the cable and anchor, and the weight and clumsiness of the enormous square-sails which are made use of. A junk of 8000 piculs, or about five hundred tons, requires a crew of ninety men, and the proportion of hands is still greater for vessels of smaller size. The officers and crew, in the larger junks at least, are commonly paid in the following manner. The commander, or Chinchu gets no fixed salary, but receives a hundred piculs of tonnage in both the outward and homeward voyage, has the cabin accommodation for passengers at his disposal, worth from 150 to 200 dollars, and gets a commission commonly of ten per cent, on the net profits of the voyage. The pilot receives 200 dollars for the voyage, with 50 piculs of tonnage; the accountant, 100 dollars and 50 piculs; the captains of the steerage, 15 piculs of freight; and the captains of the anchor and the hold, 9 piculs each. Each seaman receives 7 piculs of freight, and no wages. These proportions apply to a junk of 6000 piculs, but vary a little as the vessel is larger or smaller. The rates of freight which are charged will show the profits which are expected from these adventures. From Bangkok to Changlim in the province of Canton, the freight paid for tin is two and a half-dollars per picul; for esculent swallows' nests, ten dollars per picul; and for such commodities as trepang or bêche-de-mer, three dollars. All gruff commodities, such as dye-woods, barks, &c., are constantly taken on speculation by the owners of the junk. The return freights are,—for earthenware, tea, and other bulky articles, one Spanish dollar per picul; and for such fine articles as wrought and unwrought silks, five Spanish dollars. The freights to and from Amoy are a good deal higher. Passengers form the most valuable importation from China into Siam. The rate of passage-money between Bangkok and Amoy is eight Spanish dollars, and between Bangkok and Changlim six Spanish dollars,—ready money in both cases. The commander furnishes provisions. A single junk has been known to bring 1200 passengers to Bangkok; and I am told that the annual immigrations into that place may be moderately estimated at seven thousand. The staple articles of import are coarse chinaware, coarse teas, and raw and wrought silks; but the imports do not equal the exports without including a quantity of Chinese silver in ingots. The staple articles of exportation are black pepper, sugar, stick-lac, sapan-wood, cardamums, cotton wool, eagle-wood, rice, hides, and wood for furniture. I give the quantities of some of these as they were stated to me, without however venturing to vouch for their accuracy. The produce of Siam in pepper is 60,000 piculs, and nearly the whole of this goes to China. The production of sugar equals that of pepper, of which about one half is said to be sent thither. The export of stick-lac is given at 16,000 piculs, and the sapan-wood at 30,000; the ivory at 1000 piculs ; and the fine cardamums at 500. The Phraklang [พระคลัง] informed me that the most profitable part of the trade was that carried on with the ports of Siang-hai [Shanghai], Nimpo, and Sao-cheu; and the least so that with the ports of Canton and Amoy, but especially the latter. It is indeed a fact generally understood, that at the two ports in question the duties are heavier, and the conduct of the public officers more vexatious, than in any other part of China. Abb.: Golf von Siam [Bildquelle: Bartholomew, J. G. <1860 - 1920>: A literary & historical atlas of Asia. -- London, o. J.] The remaining branches of the external trade of Siam are all conducted nearly in the same manner and with the same class of vessels, and may be comprehended under one head. These branches consist of the coasting trade, which Bangkok, the capital, carries on with the Siamese ports on the eastern and western side of the Gulf —the trade with Kamboja and Cochin China, and the trade with the different countries of the Malayan Archipelago. Bangkok carries on a coasting trade with the ports of Champon [Chumphon - ชุมพร], Chaiya [ไชยา], Bandon [บ้านดอน], Ligor [Nakhon Si Thammarat - นครศรีธรรมราช], Singora [Songkhla - สงขลา], and Talung [Phatthalung - พัทลุง], on the western coast of the Gulf, and with Ban-pa-soi, Ban-pa-kung, Bang-prah, Ban-pomung, Rayong [ระยอง], Passeh, Chantabun [Chanthaburi - จันทบุรี], Tung-yai, and Ko-kong [កោះកុង] on the eastern coast. The great object of this trade is to collect produce for the Chinese market,— such as pepper, cardamums, gamboge, ivory, eagle- wood, dye-woods, and barks. A considerable number of the junks employed in this traffic belong to the King, and are engaged in carrying from Chantabun and Tung-yai the royal tributes in pepper and other commodities. It may here be remarked, that the intercourse between Bangkok and the eastern coast of the Gulf, which is sheltered by a long chain of islands, may be carried on without interruption nearly throughout the year, the monsoons opposing no serious obstacle. Abb.: Kambodscha und Cochin-China [Bildquelle: Bartholomew, J. G. <1860 - 1920>: A literary & historical atlas of Asia. -- London, o. J.] The Siamese trade with Kamboja is conducted with the ports of Pongsom, Kang-kao, Tek-sia, and Kamao; here the exports from Siam consist of Chinese, European, and Indian manufactures» with iron; and the imports of gamboge, cardamums, ivory, hides, and horns, with dried deers’ flesh, and salt-fish, chiefly for the Chinese market. The Siamese trade with Cochin China is carried on with the ports of Sai-gun [Saigon] or Long-nai, Sincheu or Fai-fo, and the capital Hué [Huế], but by far to the greatest extent with the first-named place. The number of junks conducting this trade is from forty to fifty, all small. The exports from Siam consist of unwrought iron, iron pans, tobacco, opium, and some European Chinese goods. They take back mats for bags and sails, wrought and unwrought silks, &c. Abb.: Malaiischer Archipel [Bildquelle: Bartholomew, J. G. <1860 - 1920>: A literary & historical atlas of Asia. -- London, o. J.] The trade with the different countries of the Malayan Archipelago has within the last few years been greatly extended, and become indeed of very considerable consequence. It is conducted with the following ports:—Patani [ڤتاني], Kalantan [كلنتن], Tringano [Terengganu] [ترڠڬانو], Pahang [ڤهڠ‎], Rhio, Singapore, Malacca [‏ملاك‎], Penang [بينانج], Batavia [heute: Jakarta], Samarang [Semarang], Cheribon [Cirebon], Palembang, and Pontianak. In this intercourse the staple exports of Siam are sugar, salt, oil, and rice; to which may be added the minor articles of stick-lac, iron pans, coarse earthenware, hogs, lard, &c. The returns are British and Indian piece goods, opium, with a little glass-ware, and some British woollens from the European settlements, with commodities suited for the Chinese market, —such as pepper, tin, dragons' blood, rattans, bêche-de-mer, esculent swallows’ nests, and Malayan camphor from the native ports. In 1824, the Siamese junks which visited the ports in the straits of Malacca, and all of which finally cleared from Singapore, amounted to forty-four. This is undoubtedly at present the most extensive branch of the foreign trade of Siam, after that with China. The junks carrying on the different branches of the trade just described, are all built and owned in Siam, and are formed and equipped in a manner considerably different from the junks intended for the Chinese trade, and such as to make them more manageable, and more cheaply navigated. Their ordinary size runs from 1000 to 3000 piculs, although there be a few which are as large as between 6000 and 7000. The proportion of the crew to the tonnage is smaller than in the junks of Chinese construction, and may be estimated at about sixteen hands to the hundred tons. In the coasting-trade, these crews are partly Chinese and partly Siamese; but in the more distant and difficult navigation, almost exclusively Chinese. The whole number of junks carrying on the branches of trade now referred to, were estimated to me at about two hundred; which, from what I had an opportunity of observing personally, I am not inclined to consider as an exaggerated statement, since nearly a fourth part of the amount is made up by the trade of the Straits of Malacca alone. Taking the average of each junk at 2250 piculs, the whole of this trade will amount to 450,000 piculs, or 28,125 tons. After the data now given, a conjecture may be hazarded respecting the number of mariners engaged in the whole external trade of Siam. The Chinese trade of Siam conducted in Siamese bottoms has been estimated at 24,562 tons, which, at the moderate estimate of twenty hands to every hundred tons, will give 4912 manners. The coasting-trade with that of Kamboja, Cochin China, and the Malayan countries, at sixteen men to each hundred tons, will give 4500; so that the whole mariners belonging to Siam will in this manner amount to 9412. If to these be added the mariners' navigating vessels belonging to China, of which the tonnage was estimated at 10,581, and whose numbers will amount to 2106 hands, the whole mariners carrying on the external trade of Siam will amount to 11,518. This statement, as far as it can be relied upon, is calculated to convey a respectable impression of the foreign trade of Bangkok; which indeed, I have every reason to believe, far exceeds that of any other Asiatic port not settled by Europeans, with the single exception of the port of Canton in China." [Quelle: Crawfurd, John <1783-1868>: Journal of an embassy from the Governor-General of India to the courts of Siam and Cochin-China; exhibiting a view of the actual state of those kingdoms. -- London : Colburn. -- Vol. II. --  S. 152 - 167]

Crawfurd über die Chinesen Siams:

"The Chinese resort to Siam unaccompanied by their families. They soon intermarry with the Siamese, there being no scruples against this on either side. They even adopt the Buddhist religion." [Zitiert in: Mackay, Colin <1936 - >: A history of Phuket and the surrounding region. -- Bangkok : White Lotus, 2013. -- 438 S. : Ill. ; 25 cm. -- ISBN 978-974-480-195-1. -- S. 301]

Crawfurd über die Regierung Siams und seine Verhandlungen:

"The character of the government of Siam was discovered to be unusually sordid, insincere and rapacious ... one of the finest and most favoured countries in the world is oppressed by one of the most mischievous forms of government. To their character of venality and corruption we found superadded a remarkable degree of national vanity, yet with an extraordinary jealousy and distrust of all strangers and especially of Europeans ... Intercourse was courted, but merely as affording an object of extortion to those in power, for whether with regard to foreigners or to their own people, a more reckless undisguised disregard for equity and the public interests cannot well be conceived. With a government thus at once vain, jealous, insincere and corrupt ... it was no easy matter to conduct negotiation at all." [Zitiert in: Mackay, Colin <1936 - >: A history of Phuket and the surrounding region. -- Bangkok : White Lotus, 2013. -- 438 S. : Ill. ; 25 cm. -- ISBN 978-974-480-195-1. -- S. 255]

Crawfurds Empfehlung der militärischen Unterjochung Siams:

"Should the arrogance of the Siamese embarrass us in the manner I have pointed out as probable, it appears to me that it will unquestionable be the best policy to meet the difficulty at once. The military preparations for this purpose may be made on the most moderate and economical scale. A simultaneous attack by a few companies of sepoys from Penang and the blockade of the Menam [แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา] by 2 or 3 cruizers of the smallest class, it appears to me, will be adequate to every object.... The blockade of the Menam will be the easiest, safest and most effectual measure that can well be contemplated. The squadron will be secure in the fine harbour of the Sichang [Ko Sichang - เกาะสีชัง] group of Islands of which a survey is in the possession of Government, and nearly from this station it will have in its power to intercept, not only the whole foreign trade of the kingdom, which centres in the Menam and can pass by no other route, but the valuable tributes and forced deliveries which are conveyed to the capital from every part of the Gulf." [The Crawfurd Papers. -- Zitiert in: Terwiel, Barend Jan <1941 - >: Through travellers' eyes : an approach to early nineteenth century Thai history. -- Bangkok : Duang Kamol, 1989. -- S. 21.]

Abb.: Lage von Ko Sichang (เกาะสีชัง)
[Bildquelle: OpenStreetMap. -- Creative Commons Lizenz (Namensnennung, share alike)]

"Since 1822, when the thirty Sepoys who had accompanied the mission of Doctor John Crawfurd impressed the Siamese with their form-fitting uniforms (some of which were left in Siam as gifts), their fine posture and their neat drills, the Sepoy infantry regiment and artillery battery had been the model for a few new formations of militia whose likeness to the original was for a long time more apparent than real. Until the reign of Mongkut, it has been said, they "merely played at games"." [Quelle: Battye, Noel Alfred <1935 - >: The military, government, and society in Siam, 1868-1910 : politics and military reform during the reign of King Chulalongkorn. -- 1974. -- 575 S. -- Diss., Cornell Univ. -- S. 87]

Abb.: Sepoy's, 182x
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia. -- Public domain]

Abb.: Crawfurds Karte von Zentral-Siam
[Bildquelle: Terwiel, Barend Jan <1941 - >: Through travellers' eyes : an approach to early nineteenth century Thai history. -- Bangkok : Duang Kamol, 1989. -- S. 75.]

Crawfurd über Siam als Vasallenstaat Chinas:

"The King of Siam acknowledged himself a tributary of the Emperor of China. His doing so does not arise from any particular necessity or consideration, or out of any actual dependence of Siam upon China, but altogether from this mercenary motive, that the vessels which carry the ambassadors may, under pretext of doing so, be exempted from the payment of all imposts. In this view two of the largest descriptions of junks, amounting to nearly one thousand tons each, sail annually from Bangkok to Canton loaded with merchandizes." [Zitiert in: Sng, Jeffery ; Pimphraphai Bisalputra [พิมพ์ประไพ พิศาลบุตร] <1945 - >: A history of the Thai-Chinese. -- Singapore : Didier Millet, 2015. -- 447 S. : Ill. ; 26 cm. -- ISBN 978-981-4385-77-0. -- S. 122]

1822-03

Zum Beispiel: Handel mit China

"When Crawfurd arrived in Bangkok in early 1822 the annual fleet from China had already arrived. This fleet comprised approximately 140 boats. Products carried from China to Bangkok included massive amounts of crockery, such as cups, dishes and bowls,36 tea, brassware, copperware, silk, sugar candy, playing cards, dice, paper, and dried vegetables. Apart from these goods, the vessels would often carry large numbers of people. Crawfurd mentions in his Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China how one junk had been known to bring twelve hundred passengers to Bangkok, and he was told that the annual immigration of Chinese to Bangkok was a least seven thousand. For the return journey, the fleet would carry rice, black pepper, sugar, cotton, tin, cardamom, hides, feathers, ivory, various woods for furniture making, sapan wood, mangrove bark, stic-lac, esculent swallows’nests, and beche-de-mer. The goods exported to China were much more valuable than those brought from China to Bangkok, and the Chinese had to make up the difference in money. Boat-building also continued steadily, and every year between six or eight junks of the largest size were manufactured in Bangkok." [Quelle: Terwiel, Barend Jan <1941 - >: A history of modern Thailand 1767 - 1942. -- St. Lucia [u. a.] : Univ. of Queensland Press, 1983. -- 379 S. ; 22 cm. -- S. 114.]

1822-03

Zum Beispiel: Küstenhandel mit Südostasien

Abb.: Der Golf von Siam
[Bildquelle: Bartholomew, J. G. <1860 - 1920>: A literary & historical atlas of Asia. -- London, o. J.]

"Apart from the annual Chinese fleet, there was an extensive coastal trade with ports controlled by Cambodia, with the region later known as Cochin-China, especially with the harbour of Saigon, and with places far to the south, including Patani, Kelantan, Trengganu, Pahang, Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Batavia, Semarang, Cheribon, Palembang, and Pontianak. This trade around the Gulf of Siam and further south into the Indonesian archipelago was conducted with vessels smaller than those used in the trade to China. From the Siamese point of view, most of the coastal trade and that into the archipelago was a corollary of the trade with China: some of the goods obtained from the annual fleet were exported to these smaller ports, and goods China wanted were brought back to Bangkok. Through this secondary trade network Siam also became linked up with other markets and obtained goods from India and Europe. A large number of the coastal trade junks belonged to the king. Crawfurd reports that the Siamese trade with many parts of the Malayan archipelago had greatly increased, Siam exporting mainly rice, sugar, salt, and oil, and importing products for the Chinese market as well as European goods. Singapore was rapidly gaining importance for this trade, not only because of its strategic position, but also because just then the relations between the Siamese and the Dutch were not very cordial." [Quelle: Terwiel, Barend Jan <1941 - >: A history of modern Thailand 1767 - 1942. -- St. Lucia [u. a.] : Univ. of Queensland Press, 1983. -- 379 S. ; 22 cm. -- S. 114f..]

1822-03

Zum Beispiel: Chinesen müssen keine Fronarbeit leisten sondern eine Kopfsteuer von 1 Baht (บาท) + 1½ Fuang (เฟื้อง, 1 Fuang = ⅛ Baht) zahlen. 1822 zahlen 31.500 Chinesen eine solche Kopfsteuer.

1821/1822

Staatliche Einnahmen aus der Alkoholsteuer in Städten:

Abb.: Einnahmen aus der Alkoholsteuer in Städten 1821/22
[Datenquelle: George Finlayson 1826, zitiert in: Terwiel, Barend Jan <1941 - >: A history of modern Thailand 1767 - 1942. -- St. Lucia [u. a.] : Univ. of Queensland Press, 1983. -- 379 S. ; 22 cm. -- S. 119.]

1822-04

Großbritannien: Stapellauf des ersten völlig aus Eisen gebauten Dampfschiffs, des Flussdampfers Aaron Manby. Das Schiff ist 30 m lang und hat 30 PS.

Abb.: Aaron Manby, ca. 1825
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia. -- Public domain]

1822-04-27

Königliche Pflügezeremonie:

"This was a day of some celebrity in the Siamese calendar, being that on which the kings of Siam, in former times, were wont to hold the plough, like the Emperors of China wither as a religious ceremony, or as an example of agricultural industry to their subjects. This rite has long fallen into disuse, and given place to one which, to say the least of it, is of less dignity…. A Siamese … who had often witnessed it, gave me the following description:—A person is chosen for this occasion to represent the King. This monarch of a day is known by the name of Piya-Pun-li-teb, or King of the Husbandmen. He stands in the midst of a rice-field, on one foot only, it being incumbent on him to continue in this uneasy attitude during the time that a common peasant takes in ploughing once around him in a circle. Dropping the other foot, until the circle is completed, is looked upon as a most unlucky omen; and the penalty to the " King of the Husbandmen" is said to be not only the loss of his ephemeral dignity, but also of his permanent rank, what ever that may be, with what is more serious—the confiscation of his property. The nominal authority of this person lasts from morning to night. During the whole of this day the shops are shut; nothing is allowed to be bought or sold; and whatever is disposed of, in contravention of the interdict, is forfeited, and becomes the perquisite of the King of the Husbandmen following the ploughing. Specimens of all the principal fruits of the earth are collected together in a field, and an ox is turned loose amongst them, and the particular product which he selects to feed upon, is, on the authority of this experiment, to be considered as the scarcest fruit of the ensuing season, and therefore entitled to the especial care of the husbandman." [Quelle: John Crawfurd <1783 - 1868>: Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-general of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China.  -- Vol. 1. -- 2. ed. - 1830. -- S. 207–209]

1822-04-28/29

In Bangkok trifft die Gesandtschaft des Kaisers von Vietnam, Minh Mạng (明命, 1791 - 1841) ein. John Crawfurd berichtet darüber:

"May 9.—On the 28th or 29th of April, the arrival, at the mouth of the Menam, of an Embassy from the new King of Cochin China was announced. The Siamese Court received this mission with much respect and attention. Great preparations were made all the way from Paknam [ปากน้ำ] to the capital for its accommodation and reception, which were in all respects as magnificent as the Court could contrive. The Ambassadors were feasted on the way, serenaded with Siamese music, and amused with gymnastic and theatrical exhibitions, wherever they rested. The preparations took so long a time that it was only last night that the Mission arrived at Bangkok. About five o’clock in the afternoon, the procession passed, and we had a full and near view of it from our windows. It had certainly a very gay and imposing appearance. There were not less than twelve or thirteen gilded barges, each rowed, or rather paddied, by from twenty-five to fifty boatmen, who were uniformly dressed in scarlet, and who pulled with great animation, keeping time to a Siamese song. This equipage was entirely furnished by the Siamese Government; for the three small junks in which the Embassy had arrived, were still at the entrance of the river. The Cochin Chinese Ambassadors took up their residence on the opposite side of the Menam to us, and within the enclosure of the Palace. [...] May 12.—The Cochin Chinese Ambassadors were yesterday presented to the King. They were received, I am told, without much ceremony,—the intercourse being considered of so friendly and familiar a nature, as not to call for extraordinary formalities." [Quelle: Crawfurd, John <1783-1868>: Journal of an embassy from the Governor-General of India to the courts of Siam and Cochin-China; exhibiting a view of the actual state of those kingdoms. -- London : Colburn. -- Vol. I. --  S. 223f.]

1822-05-03

Lyon (Frankreich): Pauline Marie Jaricot (1799 - 1862) gründet L’Oeuvre de la Propagation de la Foi. Diese unterstützt u.a. auch die französischen Missionare in Siam.

Abb.: Pauline Marie Jaricot
[Bildquelel: Wikimedia. -- Public domain]

1822-05-06

John Crawfurd (1783 – 1868):

"Every day brought to light some new occurrence calculated to display the ceaseless jealousy ' and suspicious character of the Siamese Government. A government so arbitrary and unjust, can place no reasonable reliance upon its own subjects, and seems to be in perpetual dread that they are to be excited to insurrection or rebellion by the example of strangers. This is unquestionably the true explanation of the hectic alarm and distrust which it entertains of all foreigners. One of the interpreters of the Mission reported to-day the circumstances of a conversation which he held the day before with one of the brothers of the Prah-klang [พระคลัง, Außenminister], who was much in the minister’s confidence. This person said, that "the English were a dangerous people to have any connexion with, for that they were not only the ablest; but the most ambitious of the European nations who frequented the East." The Interpreter answered, that it was impossible the English could have any ambitious views on Siam, " for what," said he, " could they, who have so much already, and are accustomed to convenient countries, do with such a one as yours, in which there are neither roads nor bridges, and where you are ankle-deep in mire at every step. The reply, according to the Interpreter’s report was, "Do not speak so; these people are clever and active, and the country would not be long in their possession, before they made it such that you might sleep in the streets and rice-fields." It may be necessary to mention that the person who made this communication was by birth a Siamese, and by disposition very talkative and communicative." [Quelle: Crawfurd, John <1783-1868>: Journal of an embassy from the Governor-General of India to the courts of Siam and Cochin-China; exhibiting a view of the actual state of those kingdoms. -- London : Colburn. -- Vol. I. --  S. 216f.]

1822-06-10

Der Superintendent of Customs Siams an John Crawfurd (1783 – 1868), Gesandten der British East India Company:

Abb.: Lage von Paknam [ปากน้ำ; heute: Samut Prakan - สมุทรปรากา]
[Bildquelle: Baedeker, 1914]

" If English merchant-ships come to the port of the capital, upon their arrival at the mouth of the river they shall be searched by the Governor of Paknam [ปากน้ำ; heute: Samut Prakan - สมุทรปรากา], and their small arms and cannons landed, according to former custom, and then the ships conducted to the capital. As soon as they are anchored, the Superintendent of Customs shall afford all assistance in buying and selling with the merchants of Siam, and the duties and charges shall not be more than heretofore, nor afterwards be raised." [Zitiert in: Manich Jumsai [มานิจ ชุมสาย] <1908 - 2009>: Popular history of Thailand. -- Bangkok : Chalermnit, 1972. -- S. 456f.]

1822-07-12

John Crawfurd (1783 – 1868):

"Should the Siamese nation become our neighbors, I may safely venture to assert from what I have seen of it that its power is just as little dangerous as that of the Malays. Sharing a border may even result in some advantages for us, which we could not derive from the poverty of the Malays. . . . The Siamese, by being brought into closer relations with us, will become better acquainted with our character and power—will be rendered more dependent upon our friendship and good offices, and by being finally brought to appreciate our forbearance and moderation, will learn to place a more implicit confidence in us than their jealousy and ignorance will at present admit of. Such a state of things will improve and tend to lay open, the commercial resources which their fertile and extensive territory is undoubtedly capable of affording." [Zitiert in: Mayoury Ngaosyvathn [ມະຍຸຣີ ເຫງົ້າສຼີວັດທະນາ] ; Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn [ເຜີຍພັນ ເຫງົ້າສຼີວັດທະນາ] <1946 - >: Paths to conflagration : fifty years of diplomacy and warfare in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, 1778-1828. -- Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell Univ., 1998. -- 270 S. ; 26 cm. -- (Studies on Southeast Asia ; 24). -- ISBN 0-87727-723-0. -- S. 117f.]

"This barbarous and unorganized [armed] force, independent of the perpetual fear of the Government of insurrection, is utterly incapable of offensive operations against the smallest regular force. The Kingdom at the same time in its most vital part is the most defenceless that can be imagined. By far the most valuable branch of the revenue of the kingdom and the principal perquisites of the Officers of the Government arise out of the foreign trade which is conducted in the river Me-nam. A single gun-brig, by blockading the river, would put a total stop to the whole of this trade, and two of them would destroy the capital, without possibility of resistance from this vain but weak people; for the Me-nam is accessible to vessels of this description at all seasons, the navigation is obstructed by no danger, and perhaps for fear of domestic treason, there is not a cannon mounted to defend the capital or the approach to it." [Zitiert in: Mayoury Ngaosyvathn [ມະຍຸຣີ ເຫງົ້າສຼີວັດທະນາ] ; Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn [ເຜີຍພັນ ເຫງົ້າສຼີວັດທະນາ] <1946 - >: Paths to conflagration : fifty years of diplomacy and warfare in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, 1778-1828. -- Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell Univ., 1998. -- 270 S. ; 26 cm. -- (Studies on Southeast Asia ; 24). -- ISBN 0-87727-723-0. -- S. 123f.]

1822-07-22

Erstes Tierschutzgesetz Großbritanniens: Act to prevent cruelty to animals. Das Gesetz geht zurück auf die unermüdliche Initiative von Colonel Richard Martin ("Humanity Dick", 1754 – 1834),

Abb.: "Painting by P. Mathews in or just after August 1838 of the Trial of Bill Burns, the first prosecution under the 1822 Martin's Act for cruelty to animals, after Burns was found beating his donkey. The prosecution was brought by Richard Martin, MP for Galway, also known as Humanity Dick, and the case became memorable because he brought the donkey into court"
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia. -- Public domain]

Abb.: In Thailand sind auch 2012 (illegale) Tierquälereien an der Tagesordnung: Misshandelter Schimpanse, Samutprakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo (ฟาร์มจระเข้และสวนสัตว์สมุทรปราการ), 2012
[Bildquelle: Robert Schrader. -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/29009208@N06/8134911957. -- Zugriff am 2013-10-02. -- Creative Commons Lizenz (Namensnennung, keine kommerzielle Nutzung, keine Bearbeitung)]

1822-08-04

Aus einem Brief von James Madison (1751 - 1836, 4. Präsident der USA) an William Taylor Barry (1784 - 1835):

"The liberal appropriations made by the Legislature of Kentucky for a general system of Education cannot be too much applauded. A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." [Quelle: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch18s35.html. -- Zugriff am 2015-08-10

1822-09-07

*

Brasilien wird unabhängig von Portugal. Ende der Großmachtstellung Portugals.

Abb.: Portugal ist nach dem Wegfall Brasiliens keine Weltmacht mehr: das Portugiesische Kolonialreich vor und nach 1822
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia. -- Public domain]

Verwendete Ressourcen

ausführlich: http://www.payer.de/thailandchronik/ressourcen.htm

Zu Chronik 1823 (Rama II.)