CHAPTER XXXII.
THE FORMER GOVERNOR IN LEAGUE WITH DACOITS—TROUBLE ON THE FRONTIER—DACOITING BOATS—ADVICE TO A MISSIONARY—THE GOVERNOR OF PETCHABURI—A PETITION TO THE KING—ROBBING THE PEOPLE—MISGOVERNMENT OF A SIAMESE PROVINCE—MISSIONARY’S OPINION OF THE KING—EXTRAORDINARY FLOODS IN SIAM—THE SEASONS—FLOOD OF 1878: VILLAGES WASHED AWAY—FLOOD OF 1831—ENTERING THE PALACE IN BOATS—BOAT-JOURNEYS FROM AND TO BANGKOK.
As soon as the boats were made fast to the bank, I called on Mr Stevens, and fortunately found him at home. He proved a highly intelligent man, well acquainted with the people and their manners and customs. He said the governor of Raheng was the pick of the flock of Siamese officials, and one of the few that was allowed an adequate salary, which had been granted him by the king so that he might not be induced to take to the evil practices of his predecessor, which had given rise to frequent complaints on the part of the British Government.
The late governor was a bandit in disguise. He was notoriously in league with the dacoits who infested his province, which neighbours our frontier, and his proceedings had been laid bare in a police case which was reported in the English newspaper at Bangkok. In the issue for March 1873 it was related that two men, Tah and Nai Ruan, whilst at a theatre near the governor of Raheng’s residence, seeing the servants of one of the new governor’s deputies loading a boat with goods, learned that the deputy was going to Bangkok. They then proceeded to a rest-house in a neighbouring village, and informed five others of their crew, one of whom was named Chi. Whilst conversing on the matter, Chi remarked to Tah: “When Pra Intakeeree [the former governor] was still in Taht [Raheng] we were in the habit of committing robberies, selling the plunder, and dividing the money thus acquired with Pra Intakeeree. If at any time complaints were made against us, Pra Intakeeree assisted us, and exonerated us from criminality. This ally of ours is now under accusation at Bangkok; we have no protector; we cannot enter the town, and must wander hither and thither in concealment: we must commit and multiply daring robberies, and thus make it manifestly true that Pra Intakeeree was not the patron of thieves. This will be the cause of his return to Taht, to be again our patron and protector.” They accordingly waylaid the boat, fired into it, wounded the deputy and one of his children and killed a slave, and afterwards plundered the boat.
I heard many similar stories of the governors of the Siamese provinces. For instance, one of the missionaries whom I met in Bangkok was loud in his complaints about the evil doings of the governor of Petchaburi, a missionary station to the west of the Gulf of Siam, who was a brother of the Foreign Minister. He told me that when talking with the abbot of the monastery at that place about the power of Christianity in inducing men to lead virtuous lives, the abbot turned smilingly to him and begged him to concentrate all his labours upon the governor, because that personage was the perpetrator, by himself or by his crew, of most of the ill deeds in the province.
Four petitions had been thrown into the Mission-house by the people, one of which had been forwarded by my friend to the king, who despatched three commissioners to inquire into the case, the head one being reputed to be the honestest and most fearless man in Siam.
The commissioners stayed about six months, investigating various charges, and convicted 70 criminals, 27 of whom were the jailers, constables, and slaves of the governor. One of the men, named “Chat,” had been convicted of murder by the governor, and should have been sent to Bangkok for execution, but having bribed the governor with seven catties (£56 sterling), he was allowed to roam about in chains, the anklets of which he could remove at will, as they were made of lead instead of iron. The complaints against the governor and Chat are summed up in the following petition, which was translated for me by the missionary:—
“April 6, 1883.
“We, Siamese, Laos, and Peguans, have consulted together as to our troubles. We believe the missionaries are wise, and are able to bring happiness to us. The Chinese tax-collectors receive but small salaries, therefore squeeze sums from the poor people. We complained to the governor of this province, but the tax-collectors had already bribed his Excellency, who therefore replied to his subjects: ‘You must pay according to the demands of the tax-collectors [monopolists].’ Thus they have great gain to send to China, and no benefit occurs to our country. The missionaries have never been known to impose upon any one, but desire all may be happy; teaching all to be wise, and freely caring for the sick and needy. Because of this we have had some happiness. We therefore beg you to help us now.
“At this time there is great trouble among the citizens of Petchaburi. Thieves and robbers are shooting many men and women. Liberated prisoners in chains, and some whose chains have been loosed, are plundering houses. Some of them are slaves of the governor. One named Chat, a notorious robber, freed from prison and now a slave of the governor, is prowling about, daily committing highway robberies all the way from the large bridge to Ta Ching, both from boats and on shore, never ceasing.
“Morning and evening the slaves of the governor, having been liberated, go to the temple Bandi It, the temple Chap Prie, the temple Poue, the temple Chan, and the temple Yai, and plunder various things, gold and jewels from the women, and as the women are bringing their sugar to market they seize it. The owners of the sugar recognise the thieves as slaves of the governor, and complained to the governor’s head-wife, who brought out the parties not concerned. The sugar-women said these are not the parties. Then the governor’s mother charged the sugar-women with making false accusations, and threw them into prison, compelling them to pay seven and a half dollars before liberating them.
“Thieves have stolen our cattle. The governor’s mother received the said cattle. They were found in her possession, and proved to be ours. Notwithstanding this, we had to pay large sums to secure them. She is also accustomed to take bribes from litigants. The case then enters the court, and if not decided according to the bribe, she exercises her authority and sees that it is so decided.
“Litigants in his Excellency’s courts, where cases are as yet pending, are required to render his Excellency service; if they refuse, wages equal to the service are exacted from them. His Excellency sends prisoners to cut bamboos belonging to citizens in the province, and sells or uses the same. They also go to bridges, halls, and temples to steal boards and timber to be used as fuel at his Excellency’s place. If you doubt this, we beg you to go and inquire at Temple Chang. The slaves of the governor’s head-wife have stolen from this temple, and even defiantly cursed the monks, and thrown stones against the monasteries. Her slaves have also stolen cattle, and placed them at her fields, Na Kok Sanook. The owners have traced their cattle to the said fields, but dare not take them, and sought to redeem them and failed. At these fields cattle are constantly butchered.
“Again, when the season arrives for flooding the rice-fields, the head-wife shuts off the canals so as to secure the water to her fields. Thus the farmers cannot secure water for their fields until hers are all worked. She is also accustomed to send out officers and draft farmers to till and harvest her fields. She has no mercy on the farmers. Her cattle are permitted to go over the rice-fields adjoining hers and graze upon the growing rice. On the owners complaining, she told them to drive the cattle away, and on their doing so, had them thrown into prison until they paid money to gain their liberty. Many persons have been thus arrested, oppressed, and hindered from work.
“We can no longer send our children to herd our cattle. Cattle have been forced from our children in as many as three or four different places in a day. They even come and steal our cattle from under our houses at night. These cattle-thieves are the governor’s slaves and prisoners. Even a prisoner guilty of murder, plunder, and highway robbery has, for a consideration, been released by the governor, and is now plundering boats and houses along the markets. His name is Chat; he is now a slave of the head-wife.
“The cattle-thieves have been caught by the owners and handed over to the governor, their only punishment being four or five days’ imprisonment. The chains were then taken off, the thieves were posted to deny the theft to the last, and the suit was decided according to his Excellency’s interest. The informers have at such times been held at the governor’s place, and been compelled to work night and day as though they were prisoners.
“At times we have been compelled to watch the prisoners, the prisoners having been previously advised to flee; this being done, the complainants have been thrown into prison instead of the prisoners. This being the case, who can dare to seize the governor’s slaves on charge of theft? Whilst the owners were thus wrongfully in prison, the stolen cattle were sold. The owners have then gone to the buyers and proved their cattle, and begged to be allowed to redeem them, but the buyers refused. The owners have wept over their loss, not knowing what to do. Cattle-boats have taken away our cattle, one and two boat-loads a day. How can we be happy? We beg to take you as our refuge. Give us peace, we pray; our hearts are filled with sorrow. It is of no use to cry to his Excellency!
“There is no one to catch the robbers and bring them to justice. Tow Poo Chow (the governor’s son) sends out police at night. But these police are simply litigants, who work all day for his Excellency. The litigants bring the cases before Tow Poo Chow, but he is indifferent, and uses the litigants for his own purposes. The day police are instructed to arrest all persons carrying knives, and fine each offender two and a half dollars. If we carry our tool knives (for cutting bamboos, &c.) we are arrested. But the governor’s people are allowed to carry knives, swords, and guns, and none dare arrest them.
“They go about oppressing the people. If we have meetings for merit-making, weddings, and hair-cuttings, they attend to curse us, and act like rowdies. These days are not like those of his Excellency the Kromatah [the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the former governor of the province]. It is beyond all endurance. We are but common people; we cannot write well, and beg you to put this in good form. We of the three languages [Siamese, Laos, and Peguans] have been greatly oppressed. We beg to take you as our refuge. We beg you to hear our words that we may have peace.”
In sending me the translation of the petition, the missionary stated that “the petition was much longer than this, but with similar charges. It contains the request that it may be placed before his Majesty.” And he says: “I sent the enclosed document to his Majesty. The king replied through his private secretary, expressing approval of my action, and determination to send a commission to root out the matter. The commissioners came, and were successful, finding things worse even than the petition stated. They also captured about seventy of the most notorious murderers and robbers. These are at present enjoying prison fare in Bangkok; but, strange to say, the governor is free, or at least virtually free. He is on trial, but at the same time in his place as governor. I fully believe his Majesty desires the peace and prosperity of his subjects; but much is concealed from H.M.’s eyes, and underlings are greedy for filthy lucre, and at the same time inefficient.”
While conversing about the country, Mr Stevens told me that in making railways in the plains of Siam, the occasional extraordinary rise of the rivers, and the consequent inundation of the country, would necessitate high embankments. At Raheng, in November 1878, he had the opportunity of observing the highest flood that had happened during the lifetime of the inhabitants. In the plains of Siam, from November to May, scarcely a cloud obscures the sky, and no rain falls except in January, when the Siamese look for a shower, which is necessary for certain kinds of fruit which are then forming. From November to February the weather is delightful, being the cool season; but the thermometer is seldom lower than 64°. Even in March and April, the hottest months, the thermometer in Bangkok seldom rises above 98°. From November to May the north-east monsoon blows constantly; and from May to November is the wet season, when the south-west monsoon occurs, and showers fall almost every day. The rainfall in Bangkok during ten years’ observations was found to vary between 39 and 73¼ inches, giving an average of less than 56 inches against 182 inches on the parallel coast of Burmah.
Rain being an unusual occurrence in Siam in November, Mr Stevens noted in his diary that on the 6th inst. it rained heavily throughout the day, many logs of timber were drifting down the river, and that the water, topping the banks, inundated the city. During the night the river rose three feet, and rain continuing throughout the next day, the inundation increased, and the elephants were removed to the high ground. On Friday the 7th, the heavy rain continued, and there was a great rush of water from the hills at the back of his house, carrying everything before it; fruit-trees and the slab palisade, besides 40 of his teak-logs, being washed away, and the floating grass drifted off the lake at the back of his house; and the house, although built on posts well rooted in the ground, was in great danger. In the evening he removed what he could into boats, and left for the night. Several of the villages in the neighbourhood were swept away, the houses floating down the river with the people in them. There had never been such a rise since Raheng was founded.
Some of the governor’s buildings were destroyed; rafts of timber were drifting past from Lakon; and the inhabitants of Raheng and the neighbouring villages all took refuge in their boats. The river rose two feet above the floor of his house, or 8½ feet above the river-bank. Several rafts broke up below the city, and 140 houses were washed away.
The next morning was fine, and the people returned to their houses, as the water was falling rapidly. The flood rose seven feet in twenty hours, and on its fall left a creek three feet deep on each side of his house. There was a great loss of property. Rice was not to be had, and many of the people found themselves starving on the Monday. The flood continued right down to Bangkok, and rose 10½ feet on the fields a gunshot distance to the west of the river at Kamphang Pet, 4½ feet on the fields to the east, and the same height under the governor’s house at that place.
In the ‘Siam Repository’ for July 1873, there is a description of the great inundation which occurred in 1831, which, like the flood described by Mr Stevens, was due to heavy rainfall in the north. The flood lay from three-quarters of a fathom to one and a half fathom on the rice-fields of the northern provinces, varying with the height of the land. Plowing southwards, it swamped the low lands in the neighbourhood of Ayuthia, the former capital of Siam, to the varying depths of one and three fathoms, and the rice-fields and orchards of Bangkok to from three-quarters to one and a quarter fathom.
Within Bangkok the surface of the ground was covered to the depths of half and three-quarters of a fathom; and noblemen, great and small, whose duties required them to visit the king, paddled their boats to the doors of the inner palace buildings. Between Bangkok and Ayuthia, as the flood rose above the floors, which are raised several feet from the ground, the people elevated a temporary floor, and made egress and ingress through the windows. Some were obliged to erect the floor upon the roof-beams of their houses, and to enter and leave by the gable-ends. The great plains looked like a sea; and one night during a storm the drifting masses of floating plants, gathering against some houses, swept them away, many of the sleeping occupants perishing.
Boats from Raheng to Bangkok take from 6 to 8 days in the rains, and from 12 to 15 days in the dry season. Returning from Bangkok, boats take 20 days in the rains, and from 30 to 35 days in the dry season. They are longer proceeding up-stream in the dry season than in the rains, owing to the shallowness of the stream, and the numerous sandbanks in its bed.