Pak Nam Po is 338½ miles from Zimmé, and 204½ miles from the king’s palace in Bangkok—the distance between Zimmé and the palace being 543 miles. The river for 173 miles from Pak Nam Po varied in width from 600 feet to 900 feet, and from thence to Bangkok was seldom more than 1000 feet in breadth. I reached Bangkok on June 28th, and put up in the hotel, where the manager did the utmost for my comfort and that of my servants. In fact, Veyloo was so pleased with hotel life that he subsequently took service with the manager.
CHAPTER XXXV.
MR SCOTT—VISIT TO THE LEGATION—ADEPTS AT INTRIGUE—MR ALABASTER ON SIAM—EVERYTHING TAXED—THE REVENUE—CORVÉE LABOUR—IMPOVERISHING THE PEOPLE—THE OLD SCHOOL DYING OUT—THE IRON-ROAD A MAGICIAN’S WAND—KING STORK—PUTTING A STOP TO CATTLE-THEFT—A PIQUANT STORY—CATTLE-LIFTING BY OFFICIALS—A LINGERING LAWSUIT—EXTORTING CONFESSIONS—TORTURE AT THE POLICE COURTS—THE LAST DAY’S AGONY—UNLAWFUL IMPRISONMENT—INSIDE A PRISON—IMMORALITY OF PRINCES—FIT COMPANIONS—BROTHELS IN BANGKOK—SELLING RELATIONS—CHANTING PRAYERS—FLOGGING WOMEN—THE BIGGEST LIARS AND THIEVES—SLAVERY IN BANGKOK
On reaching the hotel I was glad to learn Mr Scott had arrived the previous day, and Mr Colquhoun was expected in about a week. During part of the Franco-Chinese war the former gentleman acted as Mr Colquhoun’s secretary, and afterwards as correspondent for some of the home papers. For many years he had been in Burmah, and had earned a high reputation as a writer under the nom de plume of Shwé Yoe. His charming work ‘The Burman’ is elegantly written, and gives the best extant description of the habits, manners, and customs of the Burmese. I was pleased to find him willing to be my companion on future journeys of exploration, in case Mr Colquhoun and I could arrange for the necessary funds for carrying them out.
As soon as the boats were unloaded, I hired a house-boat from the hotel and proceeded up the river to call upon Mr Satow, our consul-general, and to receive the letters awaiting me. Mr Satow, previous to his appointment at Bangkok, had for many years been attached to our ministry in Japan, and is considered the best European authority upon that country. His library of Japanese works—comprising books from the earliest times to recent date, many of them beautifully illustrated—filled several large rooms, and necessitated his employing a Japanese librarian to attend to them. He gave me a hearty welcome, and subsequently, on Mr Colquhoun’s departure for China, became my host for some weeks during my stay in Bangkok, and did all he could to make my visit pleasant. He proved to be a most agreeable acquaintance, a student both of books and men, and an admirable musician. He possessed great tact, and the rare capacity of rapid insight into the characters, mode of thought, and action of people with whom he came in contact. Without the latter faculty, our minister in Siam would be worse than useless, because the Siamese are adepts at intrigue, besides being malicious, cunning, treacherous, tricky, and untruthful beyond conception. I was informed by some of their European underlings that Siamese strategy had caused the removal of former British consul-generals, and that a similar victory could easily be attained again if the whim moved them. Unless backed up by our Foreign Office, our minister in Siam would be in a very unpleasant position.
Before returning to the hotel I visited the other members of our legation, Mr French, Mr Cording, and Mr Archer, and had a long and pleasant conversation with them. They gave me a good idea of the place and the people, and showed me many interesting articles of virtu which they had collected. I am especially indebted to Mr French for a beautiful collection of Siamese china which he enabled me to purchase, and to Mr Cording and Mr Archer for much of the pleasantness of my visit to Bangkok.
During the next few days I made a series of visits to various foreign consuls, missionaries, merchants, and gentlemen in Siamese employment, and gained much information upon the hindrances and prospects of trade, and the condition of the people of the country. Every one was of opinion that the state of the people could not be much worse than it is, and that it would be difficult to imagine any further hindrances to inland trade than already existed. Mr Alabaster, the confidential adviser of the king, who has since died, told me that nine-tenths of the non-Chinese inhabitants of Bangkok were slaves; that squeezing was so universal amongst the nobility, officials, and monopolists, that no man could become rich in the country unless he purchased an appointment, and thus became one of the rulers; and that justice in the courts was a farce—the heaviest purse, or the most powerful person, invariably winning the case: besides which, if a man was believed to be in possession of money, false charges were brought against him, directly or indirectly, by the officials, in order to wring the money out of him. The taxes of the country were farmed to Chinese monopolists, who, being in league with the officials, collected far more than their dues. Everything in the country was taxed—even bamboos, mats for thatching, and firewood. An old woman could not collect a few sticks into bundles for sale without giving up one-fifth of the bundles to the creatures of the monopolists. A man could not fish even in the sea without paying taxes on his boat, stakes, nets, lines, and hooks. The mesh of the Government net was so fine that it missed nothing; everything that was marketable was taxed in Siam. The revenue coming into official hands was known to exceed three millions sterling a year, but only twelve hundred thousand of that ever found its way into the Treasury; and he believed that he was within bounds when he stated that between five and six millions were collected lawfully and unlawfully, by tax-gatherers and monopolists, from the people.
Outside foreigners and Chinese, all the people resident in the country who were not slaves were serfs, and unable to leave their districts without the permission of their Government masters. The majority of them were forced to work thrice a year for a month at a time without recompense by their Government masters, or pay heavily for a substitute to be procured. This simply impoverished the people, not only from loss of time, but by preventing them from entering into trade and interfering with their agricultural pursuits. It was true that the king and Prince Devawongse—his most trustworthy and trusted minister—really desired the welfare of the country, and that their power was gradually increasing; but the vested interests of the deceased regent’s family[[28]] were so great, and the nobility and officials were so generally vicious and corrupt, that considerable time and tact would be required to clean out the Augean stables of Siam. A railway might be the best way of strengthening the king’s hands—it would certainly mean the death of serfdom and slavery, and act like a magician’s wand in improving the position of the people; but it could never be made to pay if the present evil condition of the country continued.
The latest scandal that had occurred at the date of my visit was caused by the Lord Mayor of Bangkok, one of the half-brothers of the king, who governed the city as King Stork governed the frogs, by gobbling up all within reach of his beak. He was described to me as selfish, sensual, and depraved; a cold-hearted libertine, without the poor gloss and with none of the social attractions of a Lovelace, who gave way unrestrainedly to the indulgence of his appetites, and had as cruel inclinations as any devil yet depicted by monkish mind. On the plea of putting a stop to cattle-theft, he had issued an order that every owner of cattle must be able to show a written receipt indicating from whom they were purchased. He then, according to my informants, sent his satellites round to lift and convey to his own pastures the confiscated cattle, which of course included those bred by the peasantry on their own lands. Many of the cultivators had been thus, in one fell swoop, deprived of their only means of tilling their fields. To get rid of such a tyrant and his myrmidons would be like getting rid of the devil and all his angels. It was quite refreshing to me to hear some months ago that this scoundrel had been removed from his office, and that there was some talk of making Prince Devawongse Minister of Justice.
A story, worthy of enshrinement for its humour, was related to me by Mr Van Dyke, one of the missionaries at Petchaburi. According to him, the governor of that province having procured a prize bull, invited the people of his neighbourhood to bring their cows to be served by his noble animal; and after the cows had dropped, claimed the calves as his property, on the ground that his bull was their father. Another anecdote was told me by the same missionary: A man came from Ratburri to Petchaburi in search of four cattle that had been stolen. Mr Van Dyke advised him to look for them in the governor’s fields. He did so, and found them grazing there, and returned and told the missionary it was no use taking any action for their recovery, as the thief was too powerful and would judge the case. He then set his face homewards. I could fill a good-sized book with similar stories of various governors and other officials which were related to me whilst in Bangkok.