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Thailand Contacts with the West
In 1511 Ayutthaya received a diplomatic mission from the
Portuguese, who earlier that year had conquered Malacca. These
were probably the first Europeans to visit the country. Five
years after that initial contact, Ayutthaya and Portugal
concluded a treaty granting the Portuguese permission to trade in
the kingdom. A similar treaty in 1592 gave the Dutch a privileged
position in the rice trade.
Foreigners were cordially welcomed at the court of Narai
(1657-88), a ruler with a cosmopolitan outlook who was
nonetheless wary of outside influence. Important commercial ties
were forged with Japan. Dutch and English trading companies were
allowed to establish factories, and Thai diplomatic missions were
sent to Paris and The Hague. By maintaining all these ties, the
Thai court skillfully played off the Dutch against the English
and the French against the Dutch in order to avoid the excessive
influence of a single power.
In 1664, however, the Dutch used force to exact a treaty
granting them extraterritorial rights as well as freer access to
trade. At the urging of his foreign minister, the Greek
adventurer Constantine Phaulkon, Narai turned to France for
assistance. French engineers constructed fortifications for the
Thai and built a new palace at Lop Buri for Narai. In addition,
French missionaries engaged in education and medicine and brought
the first printing press into the country. Louis XIV's personal
interest was aroused by reports from missionaries suggesting that
Narai might be converted to Christianity.
The French presence encouraged by Phaulkon, however, stirred
the resentment and suspicions of the Thai nobles and Buddhist
clergy. When word spread that Narai was dying, a general, Phra
Phetracha, killed the designated heir, a Christian, and had
Phaulkon put to death along with a number of missionaries. The
arrival of English warships provoked a massacre of more
Europeans. Phetracha (reigned 1688-93) seized the throne,
expelled the remaining foreigners, and ushered in a 150-year
period during which the Thai consciously isolated themselves from
contacts with the West.
Data as of September 1987
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