THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUAL PROPRIETY IN SIXTH REIGN SIAM (1910 1925)

Chapter
 One
 

 Introduction:
 Reexamining
 Vajiravudh’s
 Literary
 Works
 and
 Hopes
 

 
At
 the
 turn
 of
 the
 twentieth
 century,
 the
 question
 of
 sexual
 propriety
 and
 roles
 of
 
modern

 woman-­‐modern
 man
 were
 debated
 in
 the
 West
 and
 the
 rest
 of
 the
 world.
 The
 
discussion
  ranged
  from
  British
  women’s
  role
  in
  the
  domestic
  and
  public
  spheres
  and
 
their

  interaction
  with
  men,
  the
  fight
  by
  Burmese
  men
  to
  avoid
  being
  emasculated
  by
 
colonialists
  and
  their
  condemnation
  on
  Burmese
  women
  marrying
  British
  men,
  and
  to
 
the
  alteration
  of

  the
  familial
  practice
  of
  the
  late
  imperial
  China.
  Through
  the
  nation-­‐
building
 project,
 both
 colonial
 and
 non-­‐colonial
 states
 alike
 reconsidered
 their
 cultural
 
identity
  and
  re-­‐defined
  gender
  roles
  and
  sexual

  mores
  following
  the
  Western
  concept
  of
 
civilization.
 Ann
 Stoler
 and
 Partha
 Chatterjee
 have
 shown
 how
 sexual
 propriety
 became
 
an
  essential
  part
  of
  national
  identity
  through
  Bengali’s
  nationalist
  movement

  and
  the
 
colonial
  policy
  in
  the
  Dutch
  East
  Indies,
  respectively.1
 Although
  the
  direct
  connection
 
between
  ones’
  sexual
  lifestyle
  and
  his
  or
  her
  patriotism
  became
  an
  axiom,
  each
  state

 
developed
 different
 forms
 of
 modernity
 to
 suit
 the
 deep-­‐rooted
 traditional
 practices.
 
The
 cultural
 policies
 of
 the
 Siamese
 monarch,
 Vajiravudh
 (Rama
 VI,
 1910-­‐1925)
 
tended
  to
  follow
  Western
  modernity.

  Having
  been
  educated
  in
  England,
  Rama
  VI
 
followed
 a
 Victorian
 lifestyle
 and
 promoted
 Siamese
 official
 nationalism
 borrowing
 the
 
British
  court’s
  concept
  of
  “God,
  King
  and
  Country”
  to
  emphasize

  “Nation,
  Religion
 
(Buddhism),
 and
 King”
 in
 his
 project.
 Scholars
 have
 examined
 his
 nationalist
 discourse
 
and
 its
 linkages
 to
 his
 definition
 of
 masculinity,
 personal
 relationship
 with
 males
 and
 the

 
concept
  of
  family
  and
  wifedom.
  However,
  Vajiravudh’s
  construction
  of
  the
  ideal
  modern
 
woman
 -­‐
 modern
 man,
 and
 his
 standard
 of
 sexual
 propriety
 warrant
 deeper
 examination
 
through
  the

  large
  pool
  of
  his
  literary
  works,
  official
  documents
  as
  well
  as
  personal
 
records
 and
 letters.
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Partha
 Chatterjee,
 The
 Nation
 and
 Its
 Fragments:
 Colonial
 and
 postcolonial
 histories
 (New
 Delhi,
 India:
 Oxford

 University
 
Press,
 199),
 Ann
 Stoler,
 “Carnal
 Knowledge
 and
 Imperial
 Power:
 Gender
 and
 morality
 in
 the
 making
 of
 race”,
 in
 Women
 in
 
Asia:
 Critical
 concepts
 in
 Asian
 studies,
 ed.

 Louise
 Edwards
 and
 Mina
 Roces
 (Abingdon,
 Oxon:
 Routledge,
 2009),
 pp.
 1-­‐33.

 
1
 


 

1
 


Placing
  the
  Sixth
  Reign
  in
  the
  context

  when
  both
  national
  and
  colonial
  states
 
debated
  the
  constitution
  of
  the
  modern
  woman
  -­‐
  modern
  man,
  this
  thesis
  examines
 
Vajiravudh’s
  discursive
  connection
  of
  “Thainess”,
  “civilization”
  and
  “sexual
  propriety”

 
and
 “ideal
 gender
 roles”
 as
 articulated
 in
 his
 writings.
 
 By
 doing
 so,
 this
 thesis
 seeks
 to
 
understand
 his
 personal
 and
 political
 conflicts
 with
 different
 groups
 of
 people

 as
 well
 as
 
his
 relationship
 with
 women.
 While
 Rama
 VI
 persevered
 to
 make
 his
 subjects
 “progress”
 
towards
 Western
 sexual
 mores
 and
 gender
 roles,
 he
 concurrently
 attempted
 to
 maintain

 
social
  and
  gender
  boundaries
  to
  serve
  his
  political
  ends.
  This
  thesis
  attempts
  to
  shed
 
light
  on
  the
  compromises
  he
  made
  and
  the
  predicaments
  he
  faced
  in
  the
  process

  of
 
articulating
 Thai
 modernity.
 

 
1.1.
 Literature
 Review
 
Vajiravudh’s
  literary
  works
  on
  gender
  roles
  including,
  essays,
  speeches,
  short
 
stories
  and
  verse
  dramas
  demonstrate
  how
  the

  throne
  attached
  significance
  towards
 
identifying
  cultural
  identity
  as
  much
  as
  national
  political
  identity
  of
  the
  absolute
 
monarchy.
  While
  his
  writings
  show
  the
  attempt
  to
  balance
  Western
  and
  traditional

 
practices,
  various
  heroic
  characters
  also
  reflect
  how
  he
  westernized
  certain
  practices
 
and
 deliberately
 branded
 them
 as
 “Thainess”.
 Such
 pursuits
 mirror
 the
 King’s
 struggle
 to
 
figure
  out
  how

  his
  subjects
  should
  behave
  in
  the
  modern
  world
  leading
  by
  Western
 
civilization.
  Arguments
  he
  made
  in
  this
  transitional
  period
  therefore
  demonstrate
 
changes
  of
  ideas
  and
  contradictions
  in
  sensitive

  issues
  including
  polygamy
  versus
 
monogamy,
 modern
 versus
 good
 women
 and
 men.
 Primary
 sources
 consequently
 show
 
us
 how
 Vajiravudh’s
 construction
 of
 cultural
 identity
 was
 a
 work
 in
  progress
  during

  the
 
fifteen
 years
 as
 ruling
 monarch.
 
 
Historians
  pay
  attentions
  to
  Rama
  VI’s
  literary
  works
  to
  balance
  with
  their
 
studies
 on
 laws,
 policies
 and
 writings
 of
 Vajiravudh’s

 contemporaries.
 They
 succeed
 in
 
critiquing
  how
  Siam’s
  asymmetrical
  relationship
  with
  the
  western
  imperialists
 


 

2
 


influenced
  Vajiravudh’s
  notion
  of
  gender
  and
  sexuality.

  However,
  political
  struggles
  and
 
personal
  conflicts,
  which
  significantly
  impacted
  his
  ideas,
  have
  been
  left
  unexplored.
 
Scholars
  and
  postgraduate
  students
  focusing
  mainly
  on
  examining
  Rama
  VI’s
  works
 
have

  also
  quoted
  some
  of
  his
  celebrated
  plays
  and
  essays
  to
  praise
  how
  the
  King
 
promoted
 “gender
 equality”.
 Nevertheless,
 these
 excerpts
 in
 no
 way
 represent
 the
 whole
 
but
 simply

 one
 part
 of
 his
 attitude
 during
 a
 particular
 period
 of
 his
 reign.
 While
 various
 
genres
  of
  Rama
  VI’s
  works
  provided
  a
  number
  of
  narratives
  on
  modern
  woman
  –
 

modern
  man,
  different
  purposes
  and
  functions
  of
  these
  works
  have
  also
  been
  left
 
unexamined.
  Rather,
  historians’
  arguments
  are
  based
  on
  three
  sets
  of
  questionable
 
assumptions,
 as
 outlined
 below.

 

 
Assumption
 1.
  Rama
 VI
 followed
 his
 predecessors’
 approach
 of
 separating
 Thai
 
traditions
  from
  Western
  social
  norms
  across
  the
  board,
  including
  gender
  and
  sexual
 
issues.
 

The
  Thai/Western
  dichotomy
  set
  in
  place
  in
  the
  Fourth
  and
  Fifth
  Reign
  has
  been
 
explored
  by
  Thongchai
  Winichakul,
  Tamara
  Loos,
  Thamora
  Fishel,
  and
  recently,
 
Surachet
  Suklarpkit.
  Their
  analyses

  echo
  Partha
  Chatterjee’s
  arguments
  on
  the
  Bengali
 
nationalists’
 logical
 reasoning
 to
 place
 Hindu
 culture
 in
 the
 spiritual
 realm
 and
 Western
 
values
  in
  the
  material
  sphere. 2
 Likewise,
  Thongchai
  argues

  that
  the
  Fifth
  Reign
 
separated
  Thainess
  and
  Buddhism
  from
  Western
  knowledge
  and
  Christianity. 3
 
Examining
 questions
 of
 gender
 and
 sexuality,
 Loos,
 Fishel
 and
 Surachet
 explore
 the
 Sixth
 
Reign’s

  construction
  of
  sexual
  propriety
  and
  familial
  practice.
 
  Based
  on
  well-­‐known
 
royal
  writings,
  they
  assume
  that
  Rama
  VI’s
  nationalism
  opposed
  what
  the
  King
  called
 
the
  “Western
  path”
  to

  Thai
  traditions.
  Loos
  argues
  for
  the
  Fifth
  Reign’s
  ‘alternative
 
modernity’
  with
  reference
  to
  King
  Chulalongkorn’s
  view
  of
  polygamy
  as
  a
  Thai
  tradition
 


 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Partha
 Chatterjee,
 The
 Nation…,
 pp.
 116-­‐135.
 

 Thongchai
  Winichakul,
  “Coming
  to
  Terms
  with
  the
  West:
  Intellectual
  strategies
  of
  bifurcation
  and
  post-­‐westernism
  in
 
Siam”,
 in
 The
 Ambiguous
 Allure
 of
 the
 West:
  Traces
 of
 the
 colonial
 in

 Thailand,
 ed.
 Rachel
 V.
 Harrison
 and
 Peter
 A.
 Jackson
 
(Hong
 Kong:
 Hong
 Kong
 University
 Press,
 2010),
 pp.
 135-­‐142.
 
2
3


 

3
 

and
  rejection
  of
  monogamy.4
 By
  examining
  law
  codes,
  Loos
  sees
  Vajiravudh’s
  familial
 
practices
 and
 sexual
 propriety
 as
 following
 this
 binary
 opposition.
 Accordingly,
 she
 finds
 
that
  “Officials
  and
  Kings

  concerned
  themselves
  with
  defending
  polygyny
  as
  a
  Buddhist
 
and
 Siamese
 customary
 practice”,5
 while
 Vajiravudh’s
 attacks
 were
 focused
 on
 modern
 
men
 who
 were
 susceptible
 to
 “all
 things
 western”
 and

 being
 sexually
 promiscuous.6
 
Following
 Thongchai
 and
 Loos,
 Surachet
 argues
 that
 monogamy
 was
 impossible
 
to
  enforce
  in
  the
  law
  code
  by
  the
  absolute
  monarchy,
  which
  considered
  polygamy
  as
 

Thainess.7
 In
  reading
  the
  court
  document,
  Surachet
  is
  also
  convinced
  that
  Rama
  VI
 
advocated
 polygamy
 as
 part
 of
 the
 Thai
 identity.8
 He
 thus
 claims
 that
 enacting
 the
 law
 of

 
monogamy
  was
  only
  possible
  in
  the
  1930s
  because
  the
  constitutional
  government
  did
 
not
 consider
 monogamy
 as
 exclusively
 Western
 practice.9
 Fishel,
 however,
 realized
 the
 
dilemma
  of
  Vajiravudh
  in

  coping
  with
  both
  Thai
  identity
  and
  the
  civilized
  practices
  of
 
the
  West
  as
  will
  be
  explained
  in
  detail
  below.
  Nevertheless,
  in
  her
  analysis
  of
 
Vajiravudh’s
  1921
  verse
  drama,

  “Huachai-­‐chainum”
  (The
  heart
  of
  a
  young
  man,
 
หวั ใจชายหนุ่ม),
  she
  concludes
  that
  Vajiravudh
  interpreted
  “westernized”
  or
  “modern”
 
women
  as
  a
  threat,
  unsuitable
  to
  Thainess.10
 The
  rejection
  of
  the
  modern

  woman
  by
 
Vajiravudh,
  Fishel
  argues,
  was
  to
  protect
  Thainess.11
 These
  historians
  therefore
  argue
 
for
  a
  binary
  conceptual
  opposition
  underlying
  Rama
  VI’s
  definition
  of
  sexual
  propriety
 
and
 gender

 roles.
 
 

 
Assumption
  2.
 
 
  Vajiravudh’s
  homoeroticism
  led
  him
  to
  regard
  women
  as
 
outsiders.
 Placing
 women’s
 role
 in
 the
 domestic
 area
 and
 prioritizing
 men’s
 role

 in
 the
 
public
 sphere,
 the
 King
 ignored
 men’s
 role
 as
 a
 husband.
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Tamara
 Loos,
 Subject
  Siam:
  Family,
  law,
  and
  colonial
  modernity
  in
  Thailand
 (Ithaca:
 Cornell
 University
 Press,
 2006),
 pp.

 
110-­‐111,122-­‐123.
 
5
 Ibid.,
 p.124.
 
6
 Ibid.,
 pp.
 170-­‐171.
 
7Surachet
 Suklarpkit,
 “Monogamy
 in
 Modern
 Thai
 Society,
 1870s-­‐1940s”,
 M.A.
 Thesis,
 Chulalongkorn
 University,
 2013,
 pp.
 
22-­‐82.
 
8

 Ibid.,
 pp.
 
 79-­‐82,103-­‐106.
 
9
 Ibid.,
 pp.
 
 154-­‐155.
 
10
 Tamora
  Fishel,
  “Romances
  of
  the
  Sixth
  Reign:
  Gender,
  sexuality,
  and
  Siamese
  nationalism”,
  in
  Genders
 and
 Sexualities
 in
 

Modern
 Thailand,
 ed.
 Peter
 A.
 Jackson
 and
 Nerida
 M.
 Cook
 (Chiang
 Mai:
 Silkworm
 Books,
 1999),
 pp.
 158-­‐162.
 
11
 Ibid.,
 pp.
 158-­‐163.
 
4


 

4
 

When
  discussing
  Rama
  VI’s
  nationalism,
  scholars
  tend
  to
  emphasize
  the
 
monarch’s
  regulation
  of
  men’s
  sexual
  propriety
  and
  their
  duty
  towards
  the
  throne.
 
However,
  a
  number
  of

  literary
  works,
  which
  demonstrate
  Vajiravudh’s
  concerns
  on
 
women’s
  roles
  and
  his
  association
  with
  women
  in
  his
  late
  years
  have
  been
  largely
 
ignored.
  This
  neglect
  might
  be
  due
  to

  the
  fact
  that
  the
  King’s
  relationships
  with
  each
 
woman
  were
  quite
  brief,
  and
  thus
  seems
  justified
  to
  see
  such
  unions
  as
  “a
  rather
 
functional
 affair”.12
 Instead,
 it
 is

 the
 King’s
 homoeroticism
 and
 relations
 with
 young
 men
 
that
 attract
 most
 academic
 attention.
 
As
 Rama
 VI’s
 homosexual
 inclination
 has
 been
 accepted
 by
 many
 historians,
 the
 
main
  question

  is
  to
  what
  extent
  did
  Rama
  VI’s
  homosexuality
  influence,
  if
  at
  all,
  his
 
administration? Benedict
 Anderson
 maintains
 Vajiravudh’s
 homosexuality
 had
 a
 direct
 
connection
  to
  his
  “policies,
  style,
  mistakes
  and

  problems”.13
 Anderson
  elaborates
  that
 
male
 favorites
 had
 different
 functions
 and
 impacts
 from
 female
 royal
 courtiers,
 who
 no
 
matter
  how
  powerful
  they
  might
  be
  behind
  the
  stage,
  could
  not

  compete
  with
  male
 
aristocrats
 and
 princely
 ranked
 officials.14
 Taking
 this
 analysis
 into
 account,
 Loos
 further
 
explores
 Vajiravudh’s
 nationalist
 policies
 but
 reluctant
 to
 affirm
 the
 impact
 of
 the
 King’s

 
sexual
  preferences
  on
  his
  policies.
  Instead,
  Loos
  suggests
  that
  to
  evaluate
  such
 
connection,
 a
 study
 comparing
 his
 policies
 with
 Rama
 VI’s
 other
 works
 and
 with
 other
 
monarchs’

 sexuality
 is
 necessary.15
 
Building
  up
  on
  these
  arguments,
  Fishel,
  Chanan
  Yodhong
  and
  Craig
  Reynolds
 
read
  Vajiravudh’s
  literary
  works
  as
  well
  as
  writings
  of
  the
  King’s
  contemporaries
  and
 

perceive
  the
  direct
  linkage
  between
  Vajiravudh’s
  sexual
  orientation
  and
  state
  policies.
 
While
 Fishel
 explores
 the
 ideological
 level
 by
 equating
 Rama
 VI’s
 homoeroticism
 to
 the
 


 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Craig
 Reynolds,
 “Homosociality
 in
 Modern

 Thai
 Political
 Culture”,
 Journal
  of
  Southeast
  Asian
  Studies
 45,2
 (June,
 2014),
 
p.
 266.
 
13
 Benedict
  Anderson,
  "Studies
  of
  the
  Thai
  State:
  The
  state
  of
  Thai
  studies",
  in
  The

  Study
  of
  Thailand:
  Analyses
  of
 
knowledge,
  approaches
  and
  prospects
  in
  anthropology,
  art
  history,
  economics,
  history,
  and
  political
  science,
  ed.
  Eliezer
  B.
 
Ayal
 (Athens:
 Ohio
 University
 Center
 for
 International

 Studies,
 Southeast
 Asia
 Program,
 1978.),
 p.
 208.
 
14
 Ibid.
 
 
15
 Tamara
 Loos,
 Subject…,
 p.
 171.
 
12


 

5
 


re-­‐channeling
  of

  male
  passion
  towards
  the
  throne, 16
 Chanan
  and
  Reynolds
  see
  the
 
influence
  that
  spurred
  him
  to
  establish
  the
  homosocial
  community
  as
  originating
  from
 
his
 education
 in
 England.17
 
 

Scholars
  affirm
  masculinity
  as
  a
  priority
  in
  Rama
  VI’s
  nationalist
  project,
  and
 
therefore
  disconnect
  it
  from
  femininity.
  They
  accordingly
  pay
  less
  attention
  to
  the
 
aspect
  of
  his
  relationship

  with
  women
  and
  his
  discussion
  on
  modern
  women.
  On
  this
 
topic,
  Loos
  briefly
  discusses
  how
  Rama
  VI’s
  idea
  on
  women’s
  roles
  was
  shaped
  by
  the
 
impact
 from
  the

  regulation
  of
  males’
 sexuality
  and
  construction
  of
  “modern”
 family.18
 In
 
other
 words,
 Loos
 argues
 that
 these
 two
 processes
 invoked
 an
 ideal
 woman
 image
 that
 
stranded
 two
 poles
 as

 being
 either
 honorable
 or
 undignified
 according
 to
 the
 criteria
 of
 
sexual
 propriety.19
 
 
The
 recent
 book
 of
 Chanan
 has
 delved
 into
 various
 types
 of
 secondary
 sources
 to
 

demonstrate
 the
 King’s
 homosexuality
 and
 homoeroticism
 shared
 among
 royal
 courtiers
 
and
 male
 favorites,
 whom
 he
 calls
 nai
 nai
 (นายใน).
 Depicting
 Vajiravudh
 as
 a
 misogynist
 
in
  one
  section
  entitled

  “Stay
  away
  from
  women”,20
 Chanan
  is
  selective
  on
  sources
  and
 
intentionally
  ignores
  the
  monarch’s
  notion
  of
  women’s
  rights
  and
  their
  position
  as
 
mother
 of
 the
 nation
 articulated
 in

 a
 number
 of
 his
 writings.
 Instead,
 referring
 mainly
 to
 
Rama
  VI’s
  attacks
  on
  promiscuous
  women
  and
  prostitutes,
  Chanan
  generalizes
  such
 
hostile
  comments
  as
  Rama
  VI’s
  main
  attitude
  on

  women.21
 Reviewing
  this
  thesis,
  Craig
 
Reynolds
  praises
  Chanan
  for
  pointing
  out
  the
  inseparable
  connection
  between
  the
 
throne’s
  personal
  life
  and
  politics.22
 While
  such
  linkage
  proves
  true
  the
  throne’s

  close
 
relationship
  with
  males,
  it
  is
  far-­‐fetched
  for
  Reynolds,
  who
  is
  presumably
  not
  familiar
 
with
 Vajiravudh’s
 literary
 works,
 to
 confirm
 Chanan’s
 claims
 that
 “women
 were
 kept
 out
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Tamora

 Fishel,
 “Romances…”,
 pp.
 162-­‐165.
 

 Chanan
  Yodhong,
 
  ‘Nai-­‐nai’
  Samai-­‐ratchakan
  Thi-­‐hok
  (Male
  royal
  courtiers
  of
  the
  Sixth
  Reign)
  (Bangkok:
  Matichon,
 
2013),
 pp.
 202-­‐218.
 Craig
 Reynolds,
 “Homosociality
 in
 Modern

 Thai
 Political
 Culture”,
 Journal
 of
 Southeast
 Asian
 Studies
 
45,2
 (June,
 2014),
 pp.
 271-­‐272.
 
18
 Tamara
 Loos,
 Subject…,
 pp.
 153-­‐154.
 
19
 Ibid.,
 pp.153-­‐154,
 172.
 
20
 Chanan
 Yodhong,

 
 ‘Nai-­‐nai’,
 pp.
 148-­‐154.
 
21
 Ibid.
 
22
 Craig
 Reynolds,
 “Homosociality...”,
 p.
 277.
 
16
17


 

6
 


of
  his
  life”,23
 that
  “there

  was
  hardly
  any
  male-­‐female
  love
  in
  his
  script”,24
 and
  that
  “only-­‐
male-­‐to-­‐male
 friendships
 could
 be
 found”.25
 
Thai
  postgraduate
 students
 working
 on
 Vajiravudh’s
 definition
 of
 femininity
 and
 
exploring
  a

  wider
  range
  of
  primary
  sources
  would
  disagree
  with
  such
  claims.
 
  However,
 
these
  scholars’
  focus
  has
  been
  on
  women’s
  role
  without
  connecting
  it
  to
  the
  King’s
 
epistemology
  of

  national
  identity,
  his
  policies
  on
  homoerotic
  nationalism
  and
  male’s
 
sexuality.
  Reading
  Vajiravudh’s
  writings
  to
  examine
  his
  attitudes
  towards
  the
  female’s
 
socializing
  practice26
 and
  his
  redefinition
  of
  “wife”,
 27

 students
  of
  history
  tend
  to
  claim
 
Vajiravudh
 cultural
 policies
 as
 simply
 to
 promote
 status
 of
 women.
 
Fishel
  considers
  the
  dilemma
  of
  preserving
  Thainess
  or
  imitating
  the
  West
  by

 
analysing
  Vajiravudh’s
  notion
  of
  Siamese
  sexual
  identity.
  Reading
  “Hauchai-­‐chainum”,
 
she
  comes
  to
  the
  conclusion
  that
  homoerotic
  sentiment
  was
  the
  central
  aspect
  “in
  the
 
construction
  of
  love
  of

  nation,
  for
  the
  despite
  all
  the
  uses
  of
  familial
  and
  conjugal
 
metaphors
  such
  as
  ’motherland,’
  ‘fatherland,’
  or
  ‘wife,’
  love
  of
  nation
  is
  exposed
  as
 
fundamentally
  homosocial,
  consisting
  of

  deep
  erotic
  bonds
  between
  men”. 28
 Thus
 
women,
  she
  concludes,
  only
  had
  adjunct
  roles
  in
  Rama
  VI’s
  ideological
  framework.29
 
Penny
  Esterik
  and
  Peter
  Jackson
  also
  suggest
  that
  Vajiravudh’s
  policy

  on
  women
  was
 
superficial
  and
  dictated
  only
  women’s
  appearance,
  public
  image
  and
  socialized
 
activity.30
 Esterik
  further
  argues
  that
  Rama
  VI
  excluded
  women
  from
  his
  nationalism
 
and
 positioned

 them
 only
 in
 the
 domestic
 sphere.31
 
Moreover,
  as
  masculinity
  was
  linked
  to
  men’s
  loyalty
  to
  the
  throne,
  historians
 
agree
  that
  the
  Victorian
  model
  of
  the
  family
  man
  was

  also
  absent
  from
  Vajiravudh’s
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 Ibid.,
 p.
 261.
 

 Ibid.,
 p.
 266.
 
25
 Ibid.,
 p.
 272.
 
26
 Pechsupa
 Tasanapan,
 “The
 Idea
 of
 “Socializing”
 and
 its
 Impact
 on
 Thai

 women,
 1918-­‐1932”
 M.A.
 thesis,
 Chulalongkorn
 
University,
 1999,
 pp.
 54-­‐66.
 
27
 Irapatra
 Suriyapan.
 “Concepts
 of
 “Mia”
 in
 Thai
 Society
 (1851-­‐1935)”
 M.A.
 Thesis,
 2009,
 Chulalongkorn
 university,
 p.
 101.
 
28

 Tamora
 Fishel,
 “Romances…”,
 p.
 164.
 
29
 Ibid.,
 p.
 158.
 
30
 Penny
  Esterik,
  Materializing
  Thailand
  (New
  York:
  Berg,
  2000),
  pp.
  98-­‐99.
  Peter
  Jackson,
  “Performative
  Genders,
 
Perverse
  Desires:
  A

  bio-­‐history
  of
  Thailand's
  same-­‐sex
  and
  transgender
  cultures”,
  Intersections:
  Gender,
  history
  and
 
culture
 in
 the
 Asian
 context,
 9(
 August
 2003),
 15.
 
31
 Penny
 Esterik,
 Materializing,
 p.
 100.
 
23

24


 

7
 


policies.
 Loos
 claims
 that
 “…the
 discourse
 of
 national
 identity
 defined
 men
 less
 in
 terms
 
of
  their
  familial
  position
  as
  husbands

  and
  fathers
  than
  in
  terms
  of
  their
  loyalty
  to
  the
 
monarch”. 32
 Reading
  Chanan,
  Reynolds
  elaborates
  that
  Rama
  VI’s
  patriarchy
  was
 
different
  from
  Victorian
  patriarchy
  in
  that
  Vajiravudh
  “did

  not
  involve
  authority
  over
 
the
 nuclear
 family.
 The
 nai
 nai
 were
 his
 family
 and
 he
 thought
 of
 them
 as
 his
 children”.33
 
Chanan
 himself
 explains
 how
 Vajiravudh’s
 policies
 were

 different
 from
 Victorian
 culture
 
as
  his
  definition
  of
  masculinity
  disdained
  marriage
  and
  the
  association
  with
  women.34
 
Thus,
 men’s
 role
 in
 the
 family
 has
 not
 been
 sufficiently
 explored
 by

 historians,
 even
 by
 
Thai
  scholars
  who
  could
  easily
  gain
  access
  to
  primary
  sources
  discussing
  about
  this
 
issue.
 

 
Assumption
 3.
 King
 Vajiravudh’s
 perspectives
 on
 gender
 roles

 and
 sexual
 mores
 
were
 static
 and
 remained
 unchanged
 over
 the
 course
 of
 his
 reign.
 
Being
  a
  prolific
  writer,
  Rama
  VI
  has
  left
  us
  numerous
  writings
  for
  analysis.
  By

 
selecting
  some
  of
  his
  works
  over
  others,
  scholars
  propose
  different
  arguments.
  Some
 
praise
  the
  monarch’s
  unequivocal
  support
  for
  gender
  equality
  and
  view
  his
  nationalist
 
discourse
  as
  the

  tool
  to
  educate
  his
  band
  of
  young
  men
  to
  treat
  women
  with
  respect.
 
Others
  point
  to
  sources
  that
  express
  his
  homosexual
  tendency
  coupled
  with
  his
 
unflattering
 attitude
 towards

 women.
 What
 historians
 agree,
 however,
 is
 how
 the
 King
 
formulated
 his
 ideas.
 Education
 and
 Victorian
 culture
 he
 learned
 from
 London
 are
 taken
 
to
  have
  been
  the
  main
  factor

  contributing
  to
  his
  model
  of
  sexual
  mores
  since
  the
 
beginning
  through
  the
  end
  of
  his
  reign.
  Loos
  maintains
  that
  the
  sexual
  morality
  the
 
throne
 adopted
 had
 developed
 during

 his
 childhood
 growing
 up
 in
 turn-­‐of-­‐
 the-­‐century
 
London. 35
 Pechsupa
  also
  stresses
  the
  influence
  of
  the
  education
  in
  London
  and
 
experiences
  in
  Europe
  on
  his
  notions
  of
  gender
  roles,

  proper
  manners
  and
  modern
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 Tamara
 Loos,
 Subject…,
 p.
 154.
 

 Craig
 Reynolds,
 “Homosociality...”,
 p.
 275.
 
34
 Chanan
 Yodhong,
 
 ‘Nai-­‐nai’,
 pp.
 247-­‐253.
 
35
 Ibid.,
 p.
 171.
 

32
33


 

8
 


lifestyle. 36
 
  Fishel
  proposes
  that
  the
  British
  boarding
  school
  system
  cultivated
 
Vajiravudh’s
 mindset
 of
 having
 “homosocial
 and
 sexual
 bonds

 among
 men”37
 as
 the
 style
 
of
 leadership
 and
 relationship
 with
 men
 in
 his
 circle.38
 Fishel
 elaborates
 on
 how
 the
 King
 
channeled
  such
  sentiment
  in
  the
  service
  of
  the

  nation
  by
  adopting
  Mosse’s
  analysis
  of
 
European
  nationalism
  and
  respectability.39
 Chanan,
  agrees
  with
  Fishel,
  and
  compares
 
Rama
 VI’s
 homosocial
 community
 of
 nai
  nai
 to
 male
 homosocial
 student
 circles

 in
 Eton
 
and
  Harrow.40
 Nonetheless,
  Reynolds
  rightly
  argues
  against
  Fishel
  and
  Chanan
  that
 
Vajiravudh
 did
 not
 attend
 any
 boarding
 school
 in
 England,
 but
 was
 tutored
 privately
 in
 

his
  early
  years
  in
  London.41
 The
  influence
  came
  from
  his
  last
  years
  at
  Oxford
  University,
 
where
  the
  cultural
  revival
  of
  Hellenism
  could
  have
  shaped
  his
  perspective
  of
  male
 

friendship.42
 
 
Although
 the
 western
 influence
 during
 his
 reign
 is
 well
 taken,
 Western
 and
 Thai
 
historians
 tend
 to
 ignore
 shifting
 politics
 and
 personal
 conflicts
 that
 also
 contributed
 to

 
his
  attitudes.
  Primary
  sources
  subsequently
  have
  not
  been
  examined
  through
  the
 
political
  and
  personal
  life
  situations
  of
  the
  monarch.
  Scholars,
  instead,
  perceive
 
Vajiravudh’s
 ideas
 as
 static
 and

 consider
 his
 policies
 as
 pursued
 consistently.
 
More
  importantly,
  when
  applying
  this
  Western
  model
  to
  understand
  his
  concept
 
of
  sexual
  mores
  and
  gender
  roles,
  Vajiravudh’s
  different
  approaches,
  as
  shown

  in
  his
 
literary
  works,
  contradict
  each
  other.
  While
  Western
  historians
  have
  not
  paid
  much
 
attention
  to
  such
  contradiction,
  some
  Thai
  scholars
  attempt
  to
  make
  sense
  of
  these
 

sources
 by
 tracing
 the
 King’s
 changing
 ideas.
 Unfortunately,
 their
 analyses
 cover
 only
 a
 
small
  section
  of
  the
  chapter
  with
  confusing
  dating
  of
  the
  writing’s
  composition.
 
  Thus,
 
they

 fail
 to
 provide
 thoroughly
 critiques
 on
 Rama
 VI’s
 shifting
 ideas.
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Pechsupa
 Tasanapan.
 “The
 Idea…”,
 pp.
 33-­‐35.
 
 

 Tamora
 Fishel,
 “Romances…”,
 pp.
 164-­‐165.
 
38
 Ibid.
 
39
 Ibid.,

 pp.
 165-­‐166.
 
40
 Chanan
 Yodhong,
 
 ‘Nai-­‐nai’,
 pp.
 113-­‐116.
 
41
 Craig
 Reynolds,
 “Homosociality...”,
 p.
 271.
 
42
 Ibid.,
 p.
 272.
 
36
37


 

9

 


Therefore,
  scholars
  have
  not
  elaborated
  in
  detail
  about
  Vajiravudh’s
  shifting
 
ideas,
 whose
 causes
 have
 therefore
 never
 been
 truly
 examined.
 These
 small
 numbers
 of
 
literary
 works,

 they
 explored,
 consequently
 need
 to
 be
 compared
 with
 other
 works
 and
 
to
 be
 looked
 through
 the
 lens
 of
 the
 political
 and
 personal
 conflicts
 developing
 around
 
Rama
 VI
 as

 well
 as
 the
 immediate
 predicaments
 he
 encountered.
 

 
1.
 2.
 Conceptual
 Framework
 and
 Outline
 
Reading
 Rama
 VI’s
 essays,
 speeches
 and
 dramaturgical
 works,
 scholars
 consider
 
Vajiravudh
 as

 a
 monarch
 who
 expressed
 ideas
 and
 pursue
 certain
 policies
 with
 a
 clear
 
sense
  of
  direction.
  However,
  a
  re-­‐examination
  of
  his
  writings
  according
  to
  the
  date
  of
 
composition
 sheds

 lights
 on
 the
 shifts
 in
 the
 King’s
 articulation
 of
 Thainess,
 civilization,
 
sexual
  morality
  and
  gender
  roles.
  This
  articulation
  was
  influenced
  by
  Siam’s
 
asymmetrical
  relationship
  with
  the
  West
  since

  the
  mid-­‐nineteenth
  century.
 
  Although
 
Siam
  escaped
  direct
  colonization,
  Vajiravudh
  viewed
  Western
  imperialism
  as
  a
  threat
 
and
  more
  importantly,
  as
  a
  model.
  Against
  this
  backdrop,
  Rama
  VI
  also

  experienced
 
personal
 and
 political
 conflicts
 with
 different
 groups
 of
 people
 ranging
 from
 his
 parents,
 
uncles
  and
  siblings
  who
  opposed
  his
  lifestyle
  and
  notion
  of
  familial
  practice.
  Another
 

social
  group
  the
  throne
  considered
  a
  threat
  was
  “modern
  men”
  consisting
  of
  elite
 
commoners
  and
  the
  young
  generation
  of
  officials,
  clerks
  and
  professionals.
  These
  young
 
men
  were
  receptive

  to
  western
  ideas,
  which
  led
  them
  to
  contest
  official
  nationalism.43
 
Writings,
  stage
  performances
  and
  speeches
  were
  therefore
  Vajiravudh’s
  space
  to
 
express
 his
 political
 point
 of
 view
 responding
 to

 both
 Western
 imperial
 modernity
 and
 
internal
 political
 conflicts.
 
 
While
  his
  literary
  works
  demonstrate
  his
  aims
  to
  gradually
  move
  away
  from
 
traditional
  familial
  practice
  of
  polygamy
  and

  adopt
  Western
  model
  of
  monogamy,
  the
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 For
  the
  discussion
  about
  popular
  nationalist
  movements,
  see,
  Nakarin
  Mektrairat,
  “An
  Intellectual
  History
  of
  Siam's
 
Political
  Transformation
  During
  2470-­‐2480
  B.E.”,
  M.A.
  Thesis,
  Chulalongkorn

  University,
  1985.
  Matthew
  Copeland,
 
“Contested
  Nationalism
  and
  the
  1932
  Overthrow
  of
  the
  Absolute
  Monarchy
  in
  Siam”
  Ph.d.
  Dissertation,
  Australian
 
National
 University,
 1993.
 
 

 
43

 

10
 


promotion
  of
  the
  roles
  of
  “modern
  woman”
  also
  follows
  a
  similar
  trajectory.
  In
  other
 
words,
  Vajiravudh
  equated
  women’s
  subordination
  to
  men
  with

  traditional
  practices
 
and
  then
  encouraged
  women
  to
  follow
  Western
  sartorial
  code
  and
  socialize
  with
  men
  in
 
public.
 While
 Rama
 VI’s
 policy
 on
 modern
 women
 positively
 echoed
 European
 concept

 
of
  femininity,
  his
  notion
  of
  “modern
  men”
  signified
  the
  opposite
  as
  the
  monarch
 
depicted
 them
 as
 sexually
 promiscuous
 and
 unpatriotic.
 
If
  Rama
  VI’s
  construction
  of
  modern
  women

  was
  a
  response
  to
  Western
 
modernity,
  his
  image
  of
  modern
  men
  was
  the
  result
  of
  internal
  political
  pressure.
  As
 
shown
 in
 the
 throne’s
 comparison
 between
 modern
 men’s
 promiscuity

 and
 noblemen’s
 
polygamy,
  Vajiravudh
  exploited
  the
  Western
  model
  of
  sexual
  propriety
  to
  attack
  those
 
who
 challenged
 his
 authority.
 The
 thesis
 examines
 his
 construction
 of
 sexual
 propriety
 
by

 discussing
 these
 responses
 according
 to
 the
 two
 directives
 outlined
 below.
 

 

 

1)
 The
 Response
 to
 Western
 Models
 of
 Familial
 Practice
 and
 Femininity
 
Although
  Siam

  was
  not
  directly
  colonized,
  this
  thesis,
  following
  Thongchai
 

Winichakul
  and
  Tamara
  Loos,
  sees
  the
  Fifth
  and
  Sixth
  Reigns
  as
  being
  simultaneously
 
both
  a
  colonized
  state
  and
  colonial

  aggressor.44
 It
  explores
  the
  Fourth
  to
  the
  Sixth
 
Reign’s
  attitudes
  towards
  Western
  model
  of
  marital
  norms
  and
  women’s
  roles.
  In
  so
 
doing,
 it
 examines
 how
 the
 courts
 altered

 gender
 roles
 to
 correspond
 with
 the
 West,
 but
 
still
 attempted
 to
 maintain
 their
 traditional
 polygamous
 practice.
 

 Exploring
  the
  shift
  in
  gender
  and
  sexuality
  discourse
  of
  Bengali
  nationalists

 
during
 the
 same
 period,
 Partha
 Chatterjee
 uses
 the
 spiritual-­‐material
 duality
 to
 explain
 
the
 nationalists’
 response
 to
 British
 imperialism.45
 According
 to
 Chatterjee,
 in
 the
 latter
 
half
  of
  the

  nineteenth
  century,
  Bengali
  nationalists
  re-­‐positioned
  the
  role
  of
  Hindu
 
women
 to
 be
 consistent
 with
 their
 nationalist
 project.
 He
 critiques
 how
 the
 nationalists
 


 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Thongchai
  Winichakul,
  “Siam’s
  Colonial
  Conditions
  and
  the

  Birth
  of
  Thai
  History”,
  in
  Southeast
  Asian
  Historiography
 
Unravelling
 the
 Myths,
 ed.
 Volker
 Grabowsky
 (Bangkok:
 River
 Books,
 2011).
 pp.
 24-­‐27,
 Tamara
 Loos,
 Subject…,
 p.
 21.
 
 
45
 Partha

 Chatterjee,
 The
 Nation…,
 p.116-­‐134.
 
44


 

11
 


placed
 women
 in
 the
 spiritual
 dimension
 as
 separate
 from
 the
 material
 dimension
 of
 life,
 
which

  was
  the
  sphere
  of
  men.46
 The
  “new
  women”,
  he
  concludes,
  were
  the
  ones
  who
 
bore
  the
  burden
  of
  protecting
  the
  “essence
  of
  Hindu
  tradition”,
  while
  men
  in
  the
 

material
  world
  were
  already
  colonized
  and
  were
  allowed
  to
  learn
  about
  Western
 
knowledge.47
 
Borrowing
  Chatterjee’s
  conceptualization,
  Thongchai
  frames
  the
  nineteenth-­‐
century
  Siamese
  elite’s
  logical
  reasoning
  that
  separated
  their

  worldview
  into
  two
 
spheres.48
 According
  to
  Thongchai,
  the
  royal
  elite
  considered
  Buddhism
  as
  the
  essence
 
of
  Siam
  and
  as
  a
  result,
  national
  identity
  was
  rooted
  in
  the
  spiritual

  world.49
 Opposite
  to
 
this
  spiritual
  realm,
  they
  assigned
  Western
  knowledge
  to
  the
  material
  sphere. 50
 
Thongchai
  argues
  that
  such
  paradigm
  enabled
  the
  court
  to
  accept
  the
  Western
 
knowledge

  under
  the
  impression
  that
  it
  was
  on
  a
  lower
  plane
  than
  Buddhist
  spiritual
 
truth.51
 
  According
  to
  this
  logic,
  the
  essence
  of
  Thainess
  remained
  untouched
  by
  the
 
West.52

 However,
 Thongchai
 examines
 only
 the
 epistemology
 pertaining
 to
 sociopolitical
 
elements
 and
 leaves
 gender
 and
 sexuality
 out
 of
 his
 analysis.
 
 
My
 thesis
 furthers
 this
 line
 of
 argument
 by

 adopting
 Chatterjee’s
 framework
 to
 
study
  the
  approach
  of
  Rama
  IV
  and
  V
  as
  well
  as
  Rama
  VI’s
  strategy
  in
  his
  nationalist
 
project
  to
  locate
  the
  position
  of
  the

  traditional
  practice
  of
  polygamy
  and
  roles
  of
  Thai
 
women
 in
 Chapter
 2
 and
 3
 respectively.
 Although
 Thongchai
 suggests
 that
 Chatterjee’s
 
bifurcation
  concept
  is
  applicable
  to
  the
  mindset
  of

  the
  Siamese
  court,
  this
  thesis
  will
 
argue
 against
 his
 assumption
 in
 relation
 to
 sexual
 practice
 and
 gender
 roles.
 
 
In
  comparison
  to
  the
  Bengali
  nationalists,
  Chapter
  4
  aims

  to
  demonstrate
  how
 
the
  different
  condition
  of
  Siam,
  led
  Vajiravudh
  to
  place
  modern
  woman-­‐modern
  man
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Ibid.,
 pp.
 120-­‐126.
 

 Ibid.,
  p.
  120.
  For
  more
  discussions
  on
  the
  Bengali

  nationalists’
  concept
  of
  binary
  opposition
  considering
  women
  as
 
“pure
  and
  unmark”,
  and
  males
  as
  tainted
  by
  “western
  education…and
  forced
  urbanization”,
  see,
  Tanika
  Sarkar,
  Hindu
 
Wife,
 Hindu
 Nation:
 Community,

 religion
 and
 cultural
 nationalism
 (New
 Delhi:
 Permanent
 Black,
 2001),
 p.
 43.
 
48
 Thongchai
 Winichakul,
 “Coming...”,
 pp.
 135-­‐136.
 
49
 Ibid.,
 pp.
 135-­‐137.
 
50
 Ibid.
 
51
 Ibid.,
 p.136.

 
52
 Ibid.,
 p.137.
46
47


 

12
 


differently
  from
  that
 of
 the
  nationalists
 of
 the
 colonial
 state.
 To
 begin
  with,
  Vajiravudh’s
 
“modern

 woman”
 was
 not
 the
 sole
 figure
 that
 should
 uphold
 “the
 essence
 of
 the
 nation”.
 
Instead,
  both
  new
  woman
  and
  new
  man
  were
  assigned
  for
  defending
  national
  identity
 
and

 sovereignty.
 Although
 many
 scholars
 have
 proved
 that
 male
 pre-­‐eminence
 in
 Rama
 
VI‘s
  nationalist
  thinking
  is
  undeniable,
  this
  thesis
  complements
  this
  argument
  by
 
highlighting
 women’s
 role
 and
 their
 position

 in
 the
 royal
 project.
 It
 further
 argues
 that
 
while
  men
  had
  to
  be
  highly
  attentive
  to
  their
  manners
  and
  sartorial
  code,
  modern
 
women
 could
 assert
 more
 roles
 and

 socialize
 with
 men
 in
 the
 public
 sphere.
 Moreover,
 
even
  though
  women’s
  virginity
  was
  the
  King’s
  concern,
  Rama
  VI’s
  paid
  stronger
 
attention
 to
 male
 discipline
 in
 sexual
 matters.
 

 
The
  King’s
  attitudes
  might
  reflect
  his
  concern
  about
  women’s
  right.
  The
  thesis,
 
nevertheless,
 does
 not
 imply
 that
 Vajiravudh
 truly
 supported
 gender
 equality;
 rather,
 it
 
investigates
  how
  Vajiravudh,

  similar
  to
  Bengali
  nationalists,
  re-­‐conceptualized
  the
 
gender
  hierarchy
  through
  what
  Chatterjee
  calls
  the
  “new
  patriarchy”,53
 in
  order
  to
 
explain
  how
  the
  monarch
  instituted
  “legitimate
  subordination”54
 of
  modern
  women.

 
According
 to
 Chatterjee,
 the
 construction
 of
 “the
 new
 patriarchy”
 reflects
 the
 imposition
 
by
 the
 Bengali
 nationalists
 of
 the
 domestic
 role
 for
 women
 and
 their
 social
 responsibility
 
as

  mother
  of
  the
  nation.55
 Indian
  nationalists
  demarcated
  “normal”
  and
  “abnormal”
 
women
  on
  the
  basis
  of
  the
  way
  they
  abided
  by
  their
  new
  role
  and
  modern
  social
 
responsibility.56
 

This
  thesis
  accordingly
  will
  shed
  lights
  on
  such
  similarities
  by
  investigating
 
Rama
  VI’s
  treatment
  of
  women’s
  role
  and
  how
  he
  officially
  legitimized
  female
 
subordination
  by
  assigning
  women
  a

  preponderant
  role
  in
  the
  domestic
  arena
  and
  a
 
minority
  role
  in
  the
  political
  sphere.
  Vajiravudh
  also
  defined
  “normal”
  and
  “abnormal”
 
behaviors
  according
  to
  his
  own
  sexual
  standard
  by

  monitoring
  both
  genders.
  Still
  his
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 Partha
 Chatterjee,
 The
 Nation…,
 p.
 127.
 

 Ibid.,
 p.126-­‐130.
 
55
 Ibid.
 
56
 Ibid.,
 p.133.
 
53
54


 

13

 


approach
  to
  women
  and
  men’s
  sexual
  practice
  differed,
  in
  that
  men’s
  sexual
  moderation
 
was
  a
  litmus
  test
  for
  their
  patriotism,
  while
  women’s
  sexual
  promiscuity
  was
 

stigmatized
 as
 personal
 moral
 degeneration.
 
Apart
  from
  binary
  opposition,
  the
  thesis
  adopts
  Maurizio
  Peleggi’s
  notion
  of
 
gender
 boundaries
 as
 part
 of
 the
 demarcation
 of
 the
 modern
 Siamese
 state.57

 
 According
 
to
 Peleggi,
 modern
 statehood
 was
 constituted
 in
 Siam
 through
 the
 demarcation
 of
 three
 
important
 boundaries:
 territorial,
 social
 and
 between
 genders.58
 This
 thesis
 argues
 that
 
social

  and
  gender
  boundaries
  were
  mainly
  demarcated
  by
  Rama
  VI.
  By
  comparison
  to
 
the
  Fourth
  and
  Fifth
  Reigns,
  Chapters
  2
  and
  3
  demonstrate
  how
  Mongkut
  and
 
Chulalongkorn
  adopted
  binary

  opposition
  to
  defend
  polygamy.
 
  Chapter
  2
  illustrates
 
how
 the
 Fifth
 Reign
 faced
 predicaments
 on
 women’s
 roles,
 as
 Chulalongkorn
 left
 women
 
in
  a
  grey
  area
  in
  order
  to

  represent
  both
  national
  tradition
  and
  modernity.
  Thus,
  during
 
the
 transitional
 period
 at
 the
 turn
 of
 the
 century,
 no
 gender
 boundaries
 were
 set.
 This
 
thesis
  proposes
  that
  Rama
  VI

  made
  the
  first
  attempt
  to
  set
  such
  boundaries
  through
 
familial
  practice
  and
  gender
  roles.
  Chapter
  3
  examines
  Rama
  VI’s
  adoption
  of
  binary
 
opposition
  equating
  polygamy
  as
  an
  acceptable

  traditional
  practice
  during
  his
  early
 
years
 on
 the
 throne.
 However,
 the
 third
 and
 fourth
 chapters
 argue
 that
 after
 1915,
 Rama
 
IV
  articulated
  gender
  and
  social
  boundaries
  by
  considering

  monogamy
  as
  an
  ideal
 
practice
 and
 constantly
 discussing
 modern
 woman-­‐modern
 man’s
 lifestyle
 and
 fashion,
 
romantic
 love
 and
 duties
 to
 the
 nation.
 
Although
  Vajiravudh’s
  images
  of
  modern
  women

  and
  ideal
  familial
  practice
 
overlaps,
 to
 a
 certain
 extent,
 with
 the
 Victorian
 values
 of
 femininity
 and
  monogamy,
 this
 
thesis
 argues
 that
 it
 was
 not
 Rama
 VI’s
 intention
 to

 directly
 import
 Victorian
 ideas
 into
 
Thai
 society.
 Rather,
 such
 cultural
 construction
 reflected
 Rama
 VI’s
 policy
 to
 cause
 “Thai
 
modernity”
 to
 be
 on
 a
 par
 with
 the
 west
 on

 sexual
 propriety,
 which
 was
 different
 from
 
Loos’s
  argument
  about
  “alternative
  modernity”
  as
  preserving
  polygamy
  during
  the
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
57
58


 


 Maurizio
 Peleggi,
 Thailand:
 The
 worldly
 kingdom
 (London:

 Reaktion
 Books,
 2007),
 pp.
 57-­‐89.
 

 Ibid.,
 p.
 57.
 

14
 


Fourth
  and
  Fifth
  Reign.59
 The
  thesis
  therefore
  aims
  to
  explore
  how
  Rama
  VI
  branded

 
these
  particular
  notions
  of
  women’s
  role
  and
  sexual
  propriety
  as
  “true
  civilization”
  of
 
Siam.
 

 
2) Responses
 to
 Internal
 Conflicts
 
Although
  Vajiravudh’s
  notions
  of
  sexual
  propriety,

  femininity
  and
  masculinity
 
might
 be
 attributed
 to
 his
 formative
 years
 in
 England,
 this
 thesis
 proposes
 that
 Rama
 VI,
 
too,
  adopted
  and
  gradually
  developed
  the
  concept
  of
  Western
  morality

  to
  attack
  those
 
who
  questioned
  his
  political
  authority.
  The
  Chapter
  3
  and
  4
  follow
  Stephen
  Greene’s
 
argument
  that
  Rama
  VI
  began
  to
  assert
  more
  roles
  in
  political
  administration

  and
 
encountered
 conflicts
 with
 princely
 ranked
 officials
 after
 five
 years
 on
 the
 throne.60
 This
 
thesis
  construes
  this
  as
  a
  turning
  point
  in
  his
  perception
  on
  familial
  practice
  and

  gender
 
roles
  and
  as
  a
  tool
  to
  discredit
  noblemen,
  modern
  men
  as
  well
  as
  the
  Chinese
 
population.
 
 
The
  forth
  chapter
  also
  aims
  to
  understand
  the
  royal

  definition
  of
  “an
  honorable
 
man”,
  whose
  character
  was
  opposite
  to
  these
  three
  groups
  mentioned
  above.
  In
  doing
 
so,
  the
  thesis
  follows
  Tamora
  Fishel’s
  argument
  on
  the
  construction
  of

  Thai
  identity
 
through
 the
 relationship
 with
 “others”;
 the
 Chineseness
 and
 the
 West.
 Fishel
 argues
 that
 
while
  the
  Chinese
  was
  “…the
  excluded,
  rejected
  ‘other’”,61
 the
  West
  was
  “a
  model

  for
 
nationalism,...gender
  roles,
  (and)
  sexual
  norms,” 62
 However,
  the
  throne
  eventually
 
rejected
  the
  West
  to
  maintain
  “the
  ‘unique
  Thai
  identity.’
  ” 63
 This
  thesis
  therefore
 
explores
  Vajiravudh’s
  varying
  attitude

  on
  the
  triangular
  relationship
  of
  the
  Western
 
practice,
  the
  “Chineseness”
  and
  the
  “traditional
  Thainess”
  through
  the
  characters
  of
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Tamara
 Loos,
 Subject…,
 pp.
 18-­‐24.
 

 Stephen
 Greene,
 Absolute
 Dreams:

 Thai
 government
 under
 Rama
 VI,
 1910
 –
 1925,
 (Bangkok:
 White
 Lotus
 Press,
 1999),
 
pp.
 115-­‐148.
 
61
 Tamora
 Fishel,
 “Romances…”,
 p.
 165.
 
62
 Ibid.
 
63
 Ibid.,
 p.

 166.
 
59
60


 

15
 


westernized
  modern
  men,
  the
  Chinese
  male
  and
  female
  antagonists,
  and
  Thai
  noblemen
 
in
 his
 literary
 works
 respectively.

 
 
Moreover,
  the
  chapter
  attaches
  significance
  to
  his
  intimate
  relationships
  with
 
women
 to
 produce
 an
 heir
 to
 the
 throne,
 which
 had
 been
 developed
 since
 1920
 after
 the
 

demise
 of
 his
 brother
 Prince
 Chakrapong,
 till
 then
 the
 Heir
 Apparent.
 It
 examines
 how
 
heterosexual
  relationships
  influenced
  Rama
  VI’s
  shift
  from
  focusing
  on
  homoerotic
 
nationalist
 sentiment
 and
 arguing

 against
 polygamy
 in
 his
 stage
 plays,
 to
 concentrate
 on
 
stories
 about
 heterosexual
 romance
 and
 the
 family.
 Chapter
 4
 also
 explores
 how
 Rama
 
VI
  used
  stage
  performances
  to
  support

  his
  belated
  marriage
  and
  to
  represent
  gender
 
roles
 as
 he
 conceived
 of
 them
 in
 his
 late
 years.
 
 
While
  there
  was
  strong
  linkage
  between
  political
  situations,
  Rama
  VI’s

  policies
 
and
 his
 writings,
 these
 sources
 show
 contradictions
 of
 his
 ideas.
 The
 thesis
 consequently
 
attempts
  to
  understand
  such
  contradictions
  in
  two
  directions.
  Firstly,
  considering
  the
 
King
 as

 a
 politician,
 the
 thesis
 elaborates
 how
 he
 developed
 his
 notions
 of
 gender
 roles
 
and
  polygamy-­‐monogamy
  to
  attack
  political
  enemies.
  Secondly,
  viewing
  Vajiravudh
  as
 
an
 artist,
 the
 thesis
 investigates

 his
 use
 of
 literatures
 and
 stage
 performances
 as
 a
 way
 
to
 experiment
 new
 ideas,
 which
 shifted
 through
 years
 and
 also
 became
 contradictory.
 
 
Exploring
  verse
  dramas,
  it
  is

  important
  to
  note
  that
  romantic
  stories
  between
 
heterosexual
  couples
  were
  not
  the
  direct
  reflection
  of
  Vajiravudh’s
  personal
 
relationships
 with
 women.
 His
 depiction
 of
 ideal
 monogamous
 families
 in
 several

 plays
 
was
 also
 opposite
 to
 the
 actual
 familial
 practice
 in
 the
 royal
 court.
 His
 fictions,
 instead,
 
mirror
  his
  hopes
  to
  establish
  ideal
  sexual
  propriety
  and
  to
  defend
  his

  position
  as
 
unmarried/
 late
 married
 monarch.
 
 
Moreover,
 while
 some
 scholars
 emphasize
 the
 homosexual
 sentiment
 of
 the
 male
 
characters
  in
  Vajiravudh’s
  plays,
  this
  thesis,
  following
  Fishel,
  stresses

  how
  Vajiravudh
 
spurred
 such
 sentiment
 to
 personally
 cultivate
 men’s
 passion
 and
 loyalty
 to
 the
 throne.
 


 

16
 


This
  thesis
  therefore
  aims
  to

  examine
  how
  Vajiravudh,
  as
  a
  politician
  and
  an
  artist
 
presented
 his
 works
 in
 the
 mist
 of
 sociopolitical
 unease
 throughout
 the
 reign.
 

 
1.3.
 Sources
 and
 Limitations
 

One
 year
 after
 Vajiravudh’s
 enthronement,
 British
 Documents
 on
 Foreign
 Affairs
 
reported
  enthusiastically
  how
  the
  King,
  who
  was
  skillful
  at
  stage
  management,
 
succeeded
 in
 showing
 “the
 drama”
 of
 his

 second
 coronation,
 dated
 December
 2nd,
 1911.
 
Praising
  how
  the
  exquisite
  ceremony
  impressed
  royal
  family
  members
  and
 
representatives
  from
  Western
  and
  Eastern
  countries,
  the
  report
  analyzed
  this
  “act”
  as

 
Rama
  VI’s
  attempt
  to
  present
  Siam
  to
  foreigners
  as
  “proud,
  independent
  and
  able
  to
 
stand
  on
  an
  equal
  footing
  with
  the
  nations
  of
  the
  world”,
  on
  the
  one

  hand,
  and
  to
  his
 
subjects
 as
 the
 autonomous
 reign
 possessing
 history
 and
 responsibilities,
 on
 the
 other.64
 
While
  Vajiravudh
  vigorously
  continued
  his
  pursuit
  of
  dramatic
  arts
  throughout
  the
 

reign,
 messages
 in
 his
 works
 also
 consistently
 became
 responses
 to
 these
 two
 internal
 
and
 external
 challenges.
 
The
 King’s
 responses
 of
 gender
 roles
 and
 marital
 norms
 appear
 in
 a

 hundred
 of
 
writings.
  To
  understand
  his
  shifting
  notions
  and
  policies,
  the
  thesis
  studies
  various
 
types
 of
 publications
 separating
 into
 three
 categories,
 as
 follows:
 

 
1.
 Literary

 Works
 
Vajiravudh’s
  literary
  collections
  include
  different
  genres
  of
  creative
  writings
 
published
  in
  state
  supported
  journals
  and
  newspapers.
  Discussing
  about
  “Thainess”
  and
 
“civilization”
 in
 essays
 and
 plays,
 Rama

 VI
 aptly
 linked
 his
 nationalistic
 sentiment
 with
 
his
  debates
  on
  gender
  roles
  and
  sexual
  propriety.
  Due
  to
  the
  difference
  in
  types
  of
 


 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Kenneth
 Bourne,
 D.
 Cameron
 Watt
 and
 Machael

 Partridge,
 eds.,
 British
 Documents
 on
 Foreign
 Affairs:
 Reports
 and
 papers
 
from
 the
 foreign
 office
 confidential
 print,
 part
 I
 from
 the
 mid-­‐nineteenth
 century
 to
 the
 first
 world
 war,
 series
 e,

 Asia,
 1860-­‐
1914
 (Frederick,
 Md.:University
 Publications
 of
 America:
 1989),
 pp.
 280-­‐281.
 This
 document
 will
 be
 later
 referred
 to
 as
 
“British
 Documents”.
 
64


 

17
 

composition
 and
 stories
 narrated,
 the
 thesis
 subcategorizes
 these
 collections
 into
 two
 as
 
outlined
 below.
 

 
1.1 Essays
 
 
Vajiravudh’s
 articulations
 of
 Thainess,
 civilization
 and
 national

 duties
 of
 women
 
and
 men
 were
 mostly
 elaborated
 in
 the
 form
 of
 essays.
 The
 thesis
 examines
 his
 articles
 
published
  in
  “Thai
  Newspaper”
  (Nangsuea-­‐phimthai,
  หนังสือพิมพ์ไทย),
  Siam
  Observer
 
Newspaper,

  Dusitsamit
  Magazine
 as
 well
 as
 several
 leaflets
 disseminated
 to
 royal
 pages,
 
the
  Wild
  Tiger
  Corps
  and
  officials.
  Conveying
  messages
  to
  men
  and
  rarely
  to
  women,
 
these
  works
  depict

  ideal
  characters
  of
  gentlemen
  ranging
  from
  lifestyle,
  fashion,
  social
 
manners,
 courtship
 to
 marital
 norms.
However
  to
  make
  a
  comparison,
  Vajiravudh’s
  direct
  comments
  on
  gender
  and
 
sexuality
 constituted
 less

 than
 one
 fifth
 of
 all
 articles.
 The
 majority
 was
 devoted
 to
 his
 
critiques
  on
  political
  situations
  in
  Bangkok
  and
  abroad.
  The
  Chinese’s
  strikes
  of
  1910
 
and
  the
  Palace

  Revolt
  of
  1912
  (Kabot
  roso
  nung-­‐roi-­‐samsip,
  กบฏ ร.ศ.130)
  prompted
 
Rama
  VI
  to
  continually
  launch
  polemic
  against
  young
  Chinese
  and
  Thai
  men
  at
  home.
 
Serious
 and
 satirical
 comments
 on
 the

 Government
 of
 China,
 Turkey
 and
 Germany
 also
 
began
  before
  and
  continued
  after
  the
  First
  World
  War.
  Due
  to
  the
  thesis’s
  scope,
  this
 
study
  excludes
  writings
  on
  such
  topics

  as
  well
  as
  his
  analyses
  on
  Thai
  ancient
  traditions
 
and
 legends.
 
 

 
1.2
 Verse
 Dramas
 

 
 

Over
  a
  hundred
  of
  Vajiravudh’s
  dramatic

  and
  poetic
  works,
  verse
  dramas
  or
 

plays
  provide
  most
  discussions
  on
  gender
  roles
  and
  marital
  norms.
  Although
  actors
  and
 
audience
  were
  mainly
  men,
  these
  plays
  significantly
  shed

  lights
  on
  Vajiravudh’s
 
expectations
  of
  women
  roles
  in
  hypothetical
  situations.
  The
  thesis
  consequently
  centers
 
on
  thirty
  pieces
  of
  original
  works
  and
  emphasizes
  the
  important
  ones
  Vajiravudh
 

 

18
 


showed
  on
  stage.
  While
  the
  thesis
  explores
  how
  he
  used
  such
  space
  to
  strengthen
  his
 
position
 as
 a
 monarch,
 it
 investigates
 how

 far
 his
 creativity
 took
 him
 to
 imagine
 the
 ideal
 
gender
 role
 of
 new
 woman-­‐new
 man.
 
The
 study,
 however,
 disregards
  translated
 plays
 he
 directly
 adapted
 from
 that
 of
 

English
 and
 French
 playwrights.
 While
 the
 thesis
 also
 takes
 short
 stories,
 comical
 stories
 
and
  poems
  in
  Dusitsamit
  Magazine
  into
  account,
  it
  excludes
  two
  third
  of
  his
  poetic
 
compositions

  consisting
  of
  many
  kinds
  of
  poetries,
  stories
  of
  opera
  oriented
  dance
 
dramas
  (Lakon
  duekdamban,
  ละครดึกดําบรรพ์)
  as
  well
  as
  his
  own
  version
  remaking
  of
 
classic
  works,
  such
  as
  poems

  on
  Phra
  Ruang
  and
  Ramakian,
  the
  Thai
  version
  of
 
Ramayana.
 

 
2.
 Official
 Documents
 

 

The
  King’s
  speeches,
  court
  cases,
  and
  the
  new
  Palace

  Laws
  are
  considered
 

official
 documents.
 The
 thesis
 investigates
 several
 collections
 of
 royal
 speeches,
 namely
 
100-­‐time
 speech
 collection,
 the
 birthday
 annual
 speeches
 to
 palace
 women
 officials
 and
 

a
  number
  of
  addresses
  to
  Wild
  Tiger
  Corps
  and
  militants.
  Exploring
  court
  cases,
  the
 
thesis
  reveals
  how
  Vajiravudh
  attached
  importance
  to
  discipline
  male
  officials’
 
behaviors
  as
  expressed
  in

  his
  announcements,
  warning
  notes
  and
  punishments.
 
Studying
 Palace
 Laws
 executing
 continuously
 from
 1914
 to
 1919,
 the
 thesis
 attempts
 to
 
understand
  how
  such
  laws
  correspond
  with
  or
  contradict
  his

  perspectives
  and
 
preferences.
 

 
3.
 Personal
 Records
 and
 Letters
 
 
These
  documents
  Vajiravudh
  wrote
  since
  young
  mirror
  his
  long
  reflections
  on
 
gender
  roles
  and
  marital

  norms
  in
  Thai
  society.
  The
  thesis
  studies
  his
  daily
  record
 
(samutchot-­‐raiwan,
  สมุดจดรายวัน)
  written
  from
  1907
  to
  1917,
  his
  writing
  to
  the
  royal
 


 

19
 

favorite,
  Ram
  Rakhop,
  “Prawat
  ton
  ratchkan
  thi-­‐hok”65
 (The
  history
  of
  the
  early
  Sixth
 
Reign,
  ประวัตต
ิ น
้ รัชกาลที่ 6)
  and
  his
  collections
  of
  letters
  to
  his
  close
  friend,
  Maynard

 
Willoughby
  Colchester-­‐Wemyss,
 66
 as
  well
  as
  other
  letters.
  Although
  his
  discussions
  on
 
sexual
  propriety
  encompass
  only
  a
  small
  portion
  of
  these
  documents,
  they
  essentially
 
show
 his
 genuine

 intention
 prior
 to
 the
 enthronement
 to
 introduce
 sexual
 propriety
 to
 
his
 band
 of
 young
 men.
 Additionally,
 his
 preference
 to
 be
 surrounded
 by
 royal
 favorites
 
and
 his
 backstage
 comments

 on
 women
 are
 frequently
 found.
 
 
 
Of
  all
  a
  thousand
  of
  works,
  Vajiravudh’s
  articulations
  of
  gender
  and
  sexuality
 
encompass
  not
  more
  than
  a
  hundred
  pieces.
  Still,
  these

  publications
  shed
  light
  on
  the
 
early
 construction
 of
 sexual
 propriety
 when
 the
 clash
 of
 Thainess
 and
 West
 took
 place.
 
While
  his
  works
  and
  policies
  show
  his
  cultural
  construction

  as
  a
  work
  in
  progress,
 
discursive
 articulations
 demonstrated
 in
 these
 publications
 mirror
 how
 Vajiravudh
 still
 
moved
  back
  and
  fort
  to
  highlight
  and
  occasionally
  blur
  the
  line
  of
  Thai/Western

 
dichotomy
 in
 different
 years.
 
It
 is
 difficult
 however
 to
 assess
 the
 exact
 number
 of
 readers
 and
 publications.
 It
 
could
  be
  assumed
  that
  quite
  a
  small
  group
  of

  people
  gained
  access
  to,
  for
  example,
 
Dusitsamit
  Magazine.
  As
 the
 price
 was
 one
 baht
 per
 issue,
 it
 was
 exceedingly
 expensive
 
for
  people
  in
  general
  and
  even
  for
  officials.

  His
  speeches,
  nevertheless,
  reached
  wider
 
audience
  including
  officials,
  scholarship
  students,
  school
  students,
  their
  parents
  and
 
teachers
 both
 in
 the
 capital
 and
 provinces.
 
Vajiravudh’s
  theatrical
  shows,
  except
  for

  a
  few,
  were
  not
  intended
  for
  the
 
general
 public
 to
 watch.
 A
 record
 indicates
 how
 high
 officials
 would
 exclusively
 receive
 
a
 letter
 from
 the
 Ministry
 of
 Palace
 inviting

 them
 to
 see
 royal
 playacting
 and
 later
 pay
 
for
  the
  ticket
  by
  themselves.67
 British
  Documents
  further
  demonstrate
  how
  these
  nobles
 
were
 not
 particularly
 pleased
 by
 this
 royal
 activity

 as
 it
 “caused
 them
 much
 hard
 word
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 Vajiravudh
 composed
 this
 work
 in
 1923
 narrating
 stories
 during
 late
 1909
 to
 1910.
 

 Wemyss
 was
 the
 squire
 of
 Westbury.
 For
 more

 details
 about
 their
 long
 friendship,
 see:
 
 King
 Vajiravudh,
 The
 King
 and
 
the
 Squire:
 Letters
 from
 King
 Vajiravudh,
 Rama
 VI,
 to
 Maynard
 Willoughby
 Colchester-­‐Wemyss,
 Esq
  (Bangkok:
  Vajiravudh
 
College,

 2009).
 
67
 Vorachat
 Michubot,
 Somdet-­‐phramahathiraratchao
 (King
 Vajiravudh)
 (Bangkok:
 Sangsanbook,
 2014),
 p.
 152.
 
65
66


 

20
 


and
 considerable
 discomfort.68
 The
 Queen
 Mother,

 Saovabha
 also
 disapproved
 of
 it
 since
 
early
 years
 on
 the
 ground
 that
 “It
 is
 not
 proper
 and
 it
 is
 not
 a
 very
 pleasing
 spectacle
 to
 
witness.
 I
 feel

 I
 can’t
 allow
 you
 to
 continue
 in
 this
 manner”.69
 Through
 political
 unease
 
and
 tension
 with
 his
 relatives,
 Vajiravudh’s
 stage
 performance
 then
 became
 the
 area
 of
 
intimate
  group
  of

  royal
  favorites,
  who
  the
  throne
  personally
  hoped
  to
  educate
  and
 
taught
 manners
 and
 etiquettes.70
 
 British
 Documents
 rightly
 conclude
 how
 his
 entourage
 
was
 the
 only
 group
 of
 men

 that
 might
 have
 been
 influenced
 by
 the
 King’s
 pontification.71
 
To
  contextualize
  the
  Sixth
  Reign,
  British
  Documents
  from
  1906-­‐1914
  and
  “the
 
Abstract
 of
 the
 British
 Foreign
 Office
 Documents
 Relating

 to
 Thailand
  Volume
 II,
 Reign
 
of
  King
  Vajaravudh
  (1910-­‐1925)”
  will
  be
  used.72
 London
  times
  of
  1922,
  1925
  and
 
Malcolm
 Smith’s
 account
 (the
 personal
 physician
 of
 Queen
 Saovabha)
 will

 be
 explored.73
 
Since
 Vajiravudh
 admired
 Margot
 Asquith,
 a
 British
 socialite,
 the
 thesis
 also
 reads
 “the
 
Autobiography
 of
 Margot
 Asquith”74
 to
 understand
 his
 role
 model
 of
 women.
 However,
 

due
 to
 the
 thesis’s
 scope,
 it
 does
 not
 touch
 up
 on
 writings
 of
 the
 press
 and
 the
 accounts
 
of
 his
 contemporaries,
 which
 have
 already
 been
 studied
 by
 other
 scholars.

 
Finally,
 a
 note
 on
 the
 thesis’s
 terminology
 is
 necessary.
 To
 begin
 with,
 “Siam”
 is
 
used
 as
 the
 country’
 s
 name,
 instead
 of
 “Thailand”,
 as
 the
 country’s
 name
 was

 changed
 
only
  in
  1939.
  However,
  the
  reader
  should
  note
  that
  “Siamese”
  is
  used
  in
  the
  adjective
 
form,
 such
 as
 Siamese
 monarchs
 and
 Siamese
 traditions,
 but
 not
 to
 signify

 people,
 who
 
are
  instead,
  referred
  to
  as
  “Thai”.
  Moreover,
  the
  thesis
  adopts
  the
  word
  “polygamy”,
 
instead
 of
 “polygyny”.
 While
 the
 latter
 seems
 appropriate
 to
 point
 out
 the
 deep-­‐rooted

 
tradition
 of
 Siamese
 familial
 practice
 of
 men
 having
 many
 wives,
 Rama
 VI’s
 discussions
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Kenneth
 Bourne…,
 British
 Documents…,
 p.
 281.
 

 Stephen
 Greene,
 Absolute…,
 p.
 5.
 
70

 King
 Vajiravudh,
 The
 King
 and
 the
 Squire,
 p.
 15.
 
71
 Kenneth
 Bourne…,
 British
 Documents…,
 p.
 281.
 
72
 The
  Abstract
  of
  the
  British
  Foreign
  Office
  Documents
  Relating
  to
  Thailand

  Volumn
  II,
  Reign
  of
  King
  Vajiravudh
  (1910-­‐
1925)
 (Bangkok:
 Thai
 Khadi
 Research
 Institute
 Thammasat
 University,
 1982).
 The
 latter
 document
 will
 be
 referred
 to
 as
 
“Abstract
 of
 British
 Documents”.
 

73
 Malcolm
 Smith,
 A
 Physician
 at
 the
 Court
 of
 Siam
 (Singapore:
 Oxford
 University
 Press,
 1986).
 
74
 Margot
 Asquith,
 The
 Autobiography
 of
 Margot
 Asquith
 (London:
 T.
 Butterworth,
 1920).
 
68

69


 

21
 


of
  sexual
  promiscuity
  referred
  to
  both
  women
  and
  men,
  who
  had
  more
  than
  one
 
partners.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

22
 


Chapter
 Two
 
Gender
 Roles
 and
 Familial
 Practice
 in
 Late
 Nineteenth-­‐Century
 Siam
 

 
Definitions
  of
  femininity
  and
  masculinity

  are
  subject
  to
  contestation.
  In
  Thai
 
society,
  fluctuating
  gender
  roles
  of
  different
  eras
  mirror
  the
  ruling
  class’s
  wavering
 
mindset
 and
 socio-­‐political
 changes.
 This
 chapter
 explores
 how
 nineteenth-­‐century
 Thai

 
monarchs
  interacted
  with
  Western
  imperialists,
  which
  brought
  about
  the
  modernizing
 
project
  to
  follow
  the
  dominant
  Anglo
  Saxon’s
  definition
  of
  progress.
  Through
  this
 
process,
  gender
  roles
  had
  been

  gradually
  adjusted.
  Furthermore,
  the
  cornerstone
  of
 
sexual
 propriety
 was
 altered
 to
 not
 be
 solely
 based
 on
 Buddhism,
 which
 was
 essentially
 
influential
  until
  the
  early
  Bangkok
  period,
  but
  also

  to
  correspond
  with
  Western
 
civilization.
 

 
2.1.
 Buddhist
 Cosmology
 and
 Ideal
 Gender
 Roles
 
 
In
  the
  context
  of
  the
  early-­‐modern
  Southeast
  Asia,
  ideal
  gender
  roles
  had

  been
 
shaped
 by
 socioeconomic
 changes
 and
 religion.75
 Barbara
 Andaya
 has
 demonstrated
 how
 
the
  economic
  changes
  and
  the
  state’s
  response
  to
  world
  religions,
  such
  as
  Christianity
 
and
  Islam,

  in
  case
  of
  peninsular
  Southeast
  Asia,
  and
  Buddhism,
  in
  case
  of
  mainland
 
polities,
  repositioned
  women
  as
  rulers,
  leaders
  of
  ritual
  practices,
  or
  royal
  courtiers.
 
Similar
 to
 other
 mainland

 Southeast
 Asian
 polities,
 the
 early
 Bangkok
 ruling
 elites
 based
 
their
 worldview
 on
 Hindu
 and
 Buddhist
 cosmology
 and
 adopted
 it
 as
 their
 main
 source
 
of
  legitimation.
  In
  so
  doing,

  the
  ruler
  was
  regarded
  as
  a
  divine
  King
  or
  devaraja.
 
Moreover,
  the
  consecrated
  image
  of
  the
  King
  was
  also
  represented
  in
  the
  concept
  of
 
chakkravattin
  or
  the
  position

  of
  the
  King
  as
  the
  universal
  monarch.
  The
  King’s
  divine
 
power
  showed
  in
  many
  aspects,
  such
  as
  titles,
  cosmic
  palace
  structures,
  sacred
  rituals
 
and
 numbers
 of
 queens.
 

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Barbara
  Andaya,
  The
  Flaming
  Womb:
  Repositioning
  women
  in
  early
  modern
  Southeast
  Asia
  (Chiang
  Mai:
  Silkworm
 
Books,
 2008),
 p.
 9.
 
75


 

23
 

In
  the
  early
  Bangkok
  period,
  however,
  the
  concept
  of
  devaraja
  shifted
  to
 
dharmaraja
  or
  righteous
  King.76
 Relying
  less
  on
  the
  divine
  kingship
  of
  the
  Ayutthaya
  era,
 
the
  Bangkok

  monarchs’
  source
  of
  legitimacy
  shifted
  to
  good
  karma
  and
  dharmic
  merit.
 
Consequently,
  the
  King
  was
  expected
  to
  exercise
  power
  righteously
  according
  to
 
Buddhist
 morality.77
 However,
 sacred
 rituals
 and

 royal
 traditions
 were
 necessary
 for
 the
 
new
  polity.
  The
  religious
  texts
  show
  that
  Rama
  I
  was
  concerned
  about
  following
  royal
 
protocol
 strictly,78
 as
 he
 believed
 that
 the
 downfall

 of
 the
 previous
 regime
 had
 resulted
 
from
 rulers’
 failure
 to
 conform
 to
 Brahmanic
 ritual.79
 Apart
 from
 religious
 practices,
 the
 
early
  Bangkok
  period
  courts
  also
  believed
  in
  the
  same

  idea
  of
  the
  Universal
  Monarch’s
 
sacred
  possessions
  (kaewchet-­‐prakan,
  แก้วเจ็ดประการ)
  as
  the
  previous
  era.
  One
  of
  the
 
sacred
 possessions
 was
 the
 supreme
 queen
 (nangkaew,
 นางแก้ว).
 Although
 the
 Universal
 

Monarch
  was
  surrounded
  by
  a
  number
  of
  royal
  consorts,
  the
  supreme
  queen
  was
  the
 
most
  honorable
  lady
  with
  highest
  social
  status,
  the
  most
  beautiful
  physical
  appearance
 
and
 virtuous

 morals.
 
“Nang
 Nopphamat”
 or
 “Tamrap
 thao-­‐sichulalak”
 is
 a
 poem
 composed
 by
 the
 royal
 
court
  of
  the
  Third
  Reign.80
 The
  characterization
  on
  Nang
  Nopphamat
  accounted
  for
  the
 
image

  of
  the
  supreme
  queen.
  Although
  she
  was
  not
  in
  the
  highest
  position,
  her
  character
 
made
 her
 worthy
 of
 being
 the
 first
 queen.
 Born
 in
 high
 social
 class,
 her
 comely

 look
 also
 
attracted
 compliments
 from
 people
 throughout
 the
 kingdom.
 As
 a
 dutiful
 daughter,
 she
 
also
 was
 committed
 to
 follow
 her
 parents’
 order
 to
 be
 a
 royal
 courtier.
 She

 then
 became
 
one
  of
  the
  King’s
  favorites
  because
  of
  her
  humble
  personality
  and
  talents
  in
  domestic
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Phonsiri
 Bunranakhet,
 “Inner
 Palace
 Women:
 Social
 lives
 and
 roles
 in
 Thai
  society
 during

 the
 reign
 of
 King
 Rama
 V”,
 
M.A.
 Thesis,
 Thammasat
 University,
 1997,
 p.
 15.
 
77
 Phonsiri
 Bunranakhet
 “Inner
 Palace...,”
 p.
 15.
 
 
78
 Barbara
 Andaya,
 The
 Flaming…,
 p.

 180.
 
79
 Ibid.
 
80
 Supoch
  Chang-­‐reo,
  “Nang
  Nopphamat:
  Rueang-­‐ching-­‐rue-­‐ing-­‐niyai
  (Nang
  nopphamat:
  a
  true
  story
  or
  a
  novel?)”,
  in
 
Maimi
  Nang
  Nopphamat
  Maimi
  Loi
  Krathong
  Samai
  Sukhothai
  (No

  nang
  nopphamat,
  no
  floating
  krathong
  in
  Sukhothai
 
era),
 ed.
 Sujit
 Wongthes
 (Bangkok:
 Matichon,
 2002),
 pp.
 177-­‐179.
 
76


 

24
 


work.
  This
  description

  reflected
  the
  expectation
  from
  the
  ruling
  class
  toward
  high-­‐
ranking
 women
 of
 the
 inner
 palace.81
 
However,
 it
 was
 not
 only
 the
 Hindu-­‐Buddhist
 concept
 that
 subordinated
 women
 
to
  men.

  The
  core
  teaching
  of
  Buddhism
  was
  also
  exploited
  by
  ruling
  elites
  to
  dictate
 
gender
 hierarchy.
 To
 begin
 with,
 Buddhism
 regarded
 those
 who
 were
 born
 as
 a
 woman
 
as

  having
  committed
  bad
  karma
  or
  had
  not
  stored
  sufficient
  merit
  in
  a
  past
  life
  as
 
compared
  to
  men.
  Moreover,
  women
  were
  unable
  to
  be
  ordained,
  as
  their
  presence
 

troubled
  monks.
  Buddhist
  Jataka
  (the
  stories
  of
  the
  Buddha-­‐to-­‐be
  or
  Bhodhisatta’s
 
reincarnations)
  also
  shows
  the
  core
  religious
  teaching
  on
  ideal
  gender
  roles.
  It
  mirrors
 
how
 women
 were
 viewed

 as
 lower
 creatures
 than
 men
 both
 in
 the
 worldly
 and
 spiritual
 
realms.82
 
In
 Jakata
 stories,
 it
 is
 relatively
 rare
 for
 women
 to
 enter
 the
 spiritual
 sphere.
 By
 

assigning
  men
  dominant
  roles,
  honorable
  women
  were
  given
  supporting
  parts
  to
  help
 
men
  reach
  nirvana.
  The
  Vessantara
  Jataka,
  the
  most
  influential
  text
  in
  Thai
  society,
 83
 
depicts
  the

  greatest
  reincarnation
  of
  Bhodhisatta
  before
  becoming
  the
  Buddha
  in
  the
 
following
 life.
 Nang
 Matsi
 (นางมทั รี)
 was
 the
 devoted,
 faithful
 and
 self-­‐sacrificing
 wife
 of
 
Vessantara.
  She
  was
  not
  reluctant

  to
  leave
  the
  palace
  for
  her
  husband’s
  pursuit
  of
  the
 
greatest
 merit.
 She
 compared
 herself
 to
 being
 the
 shoes
 and
 slave
 of
 her
 husband.84
 
 
More
 frequently,
 in

 Jakata
 stories
 the
 main
 obstacle
 for
 men
 to
 reach
 nirvana
 is
 
demonic
 character
 blocking
 men
 to
 learn
 Buddhist
 teaching.
 There
 are
 devilish
 females
 
attempting
  to
  seduce
  men
  to

  stray
  away
  from
  Buddhist
  morals.85
 Moreover,
  unfaithful
 
female
 characters
 are
 also
 repeatedly
 mentioned.
 These
 misogynist
 views
 are
 depicted
 in
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 “Nang
  Nopphamat
  Rue
  Tamrap-­‐thao-­‐sichulalak
  (Nang
  nopphamat
  or
  thao-­‐sichulalak’s
  book)”,
  in

  Maimi
  Nang
 
Nopphamat
 Maimi
 Loi
 Krathong
 Samai
 Sukhothai
 (No
 nang
 Nopphamat,
 no
 floating
 krathong
 in
 Sukhothai
 era),
 ed.
  Sujit
 
Wongthes
 (Bangkok:
 Matichon,
 2002),
 pp.
 31-­‐96.
 
82
 Suwanna

  Satta-­‐anan,
  “Khwam-­‐khatyaeng
  Thang-­‐sinlatham-­‐nai
  Udomkan-­‐phothisat:
  Sueksa
  korani
  phra
  wetsandon
 
chadok
  (The
  conflict
  in
  the
  morality
  of
  the
  Bhodhisatta’s
  ideology:
  the
  case
  study
  of
  Vessantara
  Jataka)”,
  in
 
Khwamriangmai-­‐rue-­‐sang
 Prachaya-­‐tawan-­‐ok
 (The

 new
 essays
 on
 reconstructing
 the
 East’s
 philosophy),
 ed.
  Suwanna
  Satta-­‐
anan
 (Bangkok:
 Chulalongkorn
 Press,
 2004),
 pp.
 137-­‐177.
83
 
 Ibid.,
 p.
 138.
 
84
 Ibid.,
 pp.
 147-­‐148.
 
85
 Naomi

 Appleton
 “Temptress
 on
 the
 Path:
 Women
 as
 objects
 and
 subjects
 in
 Buddhist
 jataka
 stories”,
 in
 New
  Topics
  in
 
Feminist
  Philosophy
  of
  Religion:
  Contestations
  and
  transcendence
  incarnate,
  ed.
  Pamela
  Sue

  Anderson
  (Dordrecht:
 
Springer,
 2010),
 pp.
 106-­‐107.
 
81


 

25