In March 1782 a revolt broke out against King Taksin, who was thought to have become insane. He was replaced by a prominent military commander who, as King Rama I, founded the Chakri Dynasty and, for strategic reasons, moved the seat of government across the Chao Phraya River to a small trading port known as Bangkok. King Rama IV, or King Mongkut, is best known as the hero of The King and I.
King Mongkut
To the Thais, however, he is remembered as on of the most far-sighted Chakri rulers, who negotiated important treaties with European powers, introduced modern sciences, and set his kingdom on the part to reforms that undoubtedly helped save it from the colonial fate that befell all its immediate negighbors. During his reign from 1868 to 1910, King Rama V, or King Chulalongkorn as he is better know, carried his father’s reforms further. He abolished slavery, reorganized the governmental system, and built the first railways.
RAMA V Surrounded by his family, this portrait was painted by the Italian artist Gelli.
The first Thai king to visit European capitals, Rama V also sent most of his sons abroad for futher education Foreced by France to concede some of his territory to Cambodia, Rama V also had to relinquish sovereignty over Laos. Thus he was able to preserve his country’s independence.