The Rise and Decline of Thai Absolutism

This book examines the development of Thailand from the integration of Siam into the European world economy at the beginning of the nineteenth century, up to the emergence of Thailand as a modern nation state in the twentieth century. It concentrates in particular on the reign of King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910), during which period the state was modernised, the power of the great nobles was subordinated to the state, and a modern bureaucracy and education system were created. However, as the author demonstrates, the absolutist state contained the seeds of its own destruction: although it was modernising and progressive, it also worked to preserve the existing social structure, and was opposed by a newly emerging, modern, educated bureaucratic class, which looked for a change in the political structure to give them a more active political role.