In the 19th century, European powers colonised everything they could get their hands on. In Southeast Asia, only Siam was able to escape colonisation. Siam, present-day Thailand*, owes this to two diplomatic kings. Did their playing chess have anything to do with it?
Anna and the King
The film Anna and the King of Siam from 1946 (and its remake from 1999) shows the life of King Mongkut (1804-1868). This romanticised story is based on the life of British national Anna Leonowens. Just as in the film, she was a teacher at the royal court of Mongkut. In his younger years, the king himself had been taught by European missionaries, as one of the first Siamese people. Before his coronation, Mongkut had lived for nearly 30 years as a monk in a Buddhist monastery. The missionaries taught him English, Latin, natural sciences and maths. They also tried to convert him, but weren´t successful. The future king did understand the benefits of their knowledge about Europe though.
The leading countries of that time, with Great Britain in first place and France coming in second, colonised large parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The local population could not compete with the display of power of the much stronger armies, seeing as they were equipped with the most modern weapons. The divide-and-conquer tactics of the Europeans also played an important part, since they set up the local elite and rulers against each other. This approach failed in Siam where King Mongkut was in command. Also, European traders and diplomats respected the king who spoke their language, kept up with the latest technological developments and implemented reformations based on western ideas.
Modernisation saves Siam
King Mongkut brought the best Thai and European teachers to the court for his many children. Both the boys and the girls received education but crown prince Chulalongkorn (1853-1910) was specifically prepared for his future accession to the throne. This did the dynasty no harm at all. As the later King Rama V, he continued the progressive activities of his father and took them even further. He had the elite on his side: the conservative elders who had complicated his father´s life made way for their more modern sons. What is more, Rama V allotted his brothers important ministerial positions so they could support him in his politics.
King Mongkut and Prince Chulalongkorn
Rama V would travel to Europe twice, where he would learn a lot about the Occidental way of life and colonialism. Just like his father, he kept the French and the English at bay, although he had to sacrifice parts of his kingdom in order to do so. He would carry the burden of this choice between two evils for the rest of his life. But as an independent king, he could further modernise the remaining areas of his empire and raise his people. He abolished slavery, built schools to provide his people with the knowledge needed for modernisation and replaced vassal princes for cabinet ministers. He also had the railway constructed, payment systems modernised and the calendar changed to match the European one. These were measures that did not only benefit the population but also international trade.
Favourite king gets Memorial Day
More than a century after his death, Rama V (Rama the Great) is still considered the best king of Thailand and the Thai celebrate the anniversary of his death annually on October 23. Mongkut, who took the first steps towards a modern Thailand, is not forgotten either. Europeans mainly know about Mongkut because of Anna Leonowens´stories about his court. She described, among other things, how King Mongkut used to play chess. It is easy to imagine him using the game to remain on good terms with European traders and diplomats.
The Chessmen Museum owns a chess game from Thailand. It is the very first game of the G.M. Glotzbach collection, purchased in 1972. The chess pieces are made of buffalo horn and shaped according to Thai tradition: they are all abstract pieces, except for the knight. This design has nothing to do with European influences. These kinds of chess sets were made for the Thai themselves and not as merchandise for European trade. Chess was already known in Thailand before European merchants set foot on Thai soil. During all of these centuries the chess pieces would preserve their original abstract form…
* After a military coup in 1932, Siam changed into a constitutional monarchy. In 1939, the nationalist leaders changed the name of the country to Thailand, which means ´land of free people´.
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