Siam has been in trade and
diplomatic contact with Europe for over 500
years. During the Ayudhya period, several European nations established
trading posts, missions and churches in the vicinity of the capital
city. Such settlements developed into distinct communities, which may
still be identified today. Many European figures have played prominent
roles in Thai history. For example, one of the most powerful
personages during the reign of King Narai (1656-1688) was Constantine
Phaulkon, an adventurer of Greek birth, who rose to become the Chief
Minister of the realm under the titular name of Chao Phraya Vichayen.
Another familiar name is Alabaster who founded the noble Thai family
name of Swetsila (lit. - white stone). As priests of the Jesuit Order
came to spread Christianity, Dutch and British merchants to seek
opportunities in commerce, contacts with the West inevitably
influenced the Thai culture to some greater or lessor degree. Through
the subsequent periods in history, the Thai attitude towards the
European presence gradually changed from one of a stand off situation
in which both sides observed each other with curiosity, to gradual
acceptance and finally assimilation.
THE STAND-OFF SITUATION
During the early days of cultural contacts, the European and Thai
cultures were so widely different that neither side really understood
what they were experiencing. Certainly the Europeans had no knowledge
at all about the Thai cultural concepts or how such concepts
translated into the physical manifestations which they were
witnessing. European documentation told of gilded finery pertaining to
the King and his court, of riches and contrasts between the royalty,
the nobility, the commoners and slaves. It is quite plain, however,
that the writers understood little of what they were writing about.
The Thai concept of kingship, during the Ayudhya period two centuries
or so after independence from the Khmer Empire, retained vestiges of
the ancient Khmer civilisation. This was the concept of devaraja (god
king) which the learned Indian Brahmins had introduced into Southeast
Asia. The potency of the Hindu trinity: Shiva’s destructive power,
Vishnu’s curative power, and Brahma’s creative power, were translated
into the omnipotent power of mortal kings through the concept of
avatar or the earthly incarnation of these gods. The Brahmins saw to
it that the Thai kings conceived of themselves as reincarnations of
the Hindu gods, thereby preserving their (the Brahmins) status quo in
the Thai society. The Brahmin lineage continues to exist today as
court advisors, astrologers and ceremonial masters, although that same
status quo has been relegated to become subservient to the kasatriya
(warrior king) caste.
The warrior king, however, also assumed the image of benevolence as
dhammaraja (righteous king). This was undoubtedly the result of the
adherence to Buddhism as the state religion. Buddhism well suited the
people who sought to create a society of peace and stability. And the
hybrid Hindu-Buddhist cosmology gave them a convincing and exciting
image of the physical world.
It is said that some 1,900 years after Buddha’s death, the fifth
Sukhothai King, Lithai, wrote the Tribhumikatha , more popularly known
as the Tribhumi Phra Ruang , an extensive treatise of the
Hindu-Buddhist cosmology. This work was the first Thai literary work
of the Sukhothai Period (1239-1377). It gave graphical descriptions of
a totally integrated physical and mythical world together with their
fantastic inhabitants. It told of the mighty mountain Meru which
existed in the centre of the cosmos, of lush tropical jungles,
crystalline lakes and wonderfully ornamented palaces where the gods
and celestial beings resided. Even since the writing of this treatise,
Thai artists have endeavoured to reproduce the wonderland on earth.
The Ayudhaya kings assumed the belief that they were earthly
incarnations of the Brahman Gods, primarily Indra and Vishnu. The
ancient Indian myths of the ten reincarnations of Lord Vishnu,
particularly the Ramavatar , influenced this concept. In this
reincarnation, Vishnu assumed the human form of Rama to quell evil on
earth. They built their palaces to befit the cosmology. The royal
palace of Ayudhaya epitomised the Thai vision of what the heavenly
abodes of the gods on Mount Meru must be. Such an environment is shown
time and again in mural paintings and in all other art forms. The
throne hall where the King granted audience to his princes and the
nobility was roofed with the lofty pointed spire. The palace
buildings, made of brick and masonry, were quite different from the
timber houses on stilts of commoners. They stood on solid bases, which
represented the mountain terrain. Highly ornate decorative elements
adorned the wall surfaces. The roof in particular had abstract
ornaments which derived from the body parts of the mythical animals.
Clearly identifiable were the feathered wings of the half-human,
half-bird Garuda on the roof gables and the heads of the Naga great
snakes, which protruded into the sky. Rings of walls said to represent
the mountainous rings which surrounded the great ocean in which Mount
Meru stood, surrounded the palace buildings.
The devaraja who inhabited this physical environment did not live the
life of a mortal. In state functions and ceremonies he was dressed in
the bejewelled costume of a god, with a pointed crown. He was borne
everywhere on richly gilded palanquin, chariot or barge. His feet did
not touch the ground of mortals. The mortals did not dare gaze on him
for fear of their lives, for the angry god welded almighty power. The
Europeans, however, did look. They wrote about this image with awe,
even if they understood nothing of the imagery. The European figure
must have seemed equally strange to the Thai. He was overdressed for
the tropical climatic conditions. His ungainly limbs did not allow for
sitting on the floor and therefore needed a lot of furniture. His
gestures seemed awkward and ungainly. And his conduct was overly
extroverted.