Siam: Its Government, Manners, Customs, &c.

by N. A. McDonald

The river is the "Broadway" of the city, whilst canals form the principal cross streets or avenues. Chiefly all travel in the city, and indeed everywhere in Siam, is done in boats. If a person wishes to go to church, to market, to call on a friend—in short, any where, he goes in a boat. The rivers are the great avenues of trade, whilst the whole country near the Gulf is intersected by a network of canals. But in those portions distant from the rivers or canals resort must be had to ox-carts and elephants.

Siam is the genial land of the elephant. He roams wild in her forests, but those which have not at least been partially tamed are now becoming scarce. He constitutes in the northern provinces the chief beast of burden, and one of the special uses to which he is put, is drawing timber from the forest to the bank of the river, where it can be formed into rafts and floated to market. I have seen a huge elephant with his tusks and trunk roll a large log up a declivity more quickly and dextrously than a dozen men would have done it.

Siam has also been denominated the land of the "white elephant," from the peculiar reverence shown for that animal. There is, however, no such thing as a white elephant. The standing color is black, but occasionally one is found which by some freak in nature is a kind of Albino, or flesh color. He comes as near the color of a badly burned brick as anything else. The Siamese do not call him a white elephant, but a "chang puak," a strange colored elephant. From time immemorial the Siamese have considered this strange colored animal the emblem of good luck, and the king, who has had the greatest number of them, is handed down in history as the most fortunate monarch. A certain king had at one time three of them. The king of Burmah sent an embassy, asking one as a special favor, which was emphatically denied. At this the king of Burmah took umbrage, and sent an army and took the whole of them. When one is found in the forest, word is sent immediately to the capital, and preparations are made for conducting him to the palace with the greatest honors and religious ceremonies. He is enthroned in a palace within the walls of the king's palace, and is henceforth fed on the luxuries of the land. He seldom, however, lives long, being killed with kindness. He would be much happier and his life would be considerably prolonged by allowing him to roam in his native forest. The finder of such an elephant too, is generally handsomely rewarded. Some travellers have stated that the white elephant is worshipped, but I have never seen anything of the kind, nor do I believe it. He is, however, held in peculiar reverence, because he is considered the emblem of good luck. The flag of the country is the flag of the white elephant. I am told that some Frenchman has lately written a book, in which he states that he has in his possession a hair from the tail of the white elephant of Siam, which he obtained at great sacrifice, and even risk of his life. The hair he may have, but the rest is imaginary.

The present population of Siam cannot be much short of eight millions. The Siamese proper are evidently an off-shoot from the Mongolian race, but by what admixtures they have arrived at their present status it would be difficult to ascertain. Some one has given the following description of them, which is substantially correct. "The average height is five feet three inches, arms long, limbs large, and bodies inclined to obesity. The face is broad and flat, the cheek bones high, and the whole face assumes a lozenge shape. The nose is small, mouth wide, and lips thick, but not protruding. The eyes are small and black, and the forehead low. The complexion rather inclined to a yellowish hue. The whole physiognomy has a sullen aspect, and the gait sluggish." The Siamese, as a general thing, do not tattoo their bodies as many eastern nations do.

CHAPTER II.

THE GOVERNMENT.

Siam proper is divided into fifty-eight provinces, which are each presided over by a Governor appointed by the Central Government at Bangkok. There are also several Malay states down the peninsula, and six or eight petty Laos kingdoms north of Siam proper which are tributary to the king of Siam. These Laos kingdoms pay a small annual tribute, and the King of Siam claims the prerogative of nominating a successor to the throne, when a vacancy occurs. This successor is taken of course from their own princes, but receives his insignia of office from the King of Siam. Aside from this, each of those kings is absolute in his own dominions. All the tributary states, however, are virtually under the Protectorate of the King of Siam, he being Lord paramount, or Suzerain.

The civil government is divided amongst the three principal ministers of state, Chow Phya Pra Kalehome, Chow Phya Puterapei, and Chow Phya Praklang. The Kalehome has special charge of the provinces to the west and southwest, and is Prime Minister, having charge of everything pertaining to army and navy. Puterapei has charge of the provinces to the north, and is over everything that pertains to habitations and dwellings of the people. The Praklang has charge of the provinces to the southeast, and is over all foreign interests, all vessels of trade foreign and domestic, and has charge to a certain extent of the treasury, hence the name Praklang. This was the arrangement under the late reign, and I presume it is very little changed, if any, as yet under the present.

The king is an absolute despot. No hereditary aristocracy or legislative assemblies control his will. There is an aristocracy or nobility, it is true, but their power is not felt only as instruments in carrying out the will of the king. The people exist for the monarch, and not the monarch for the people. The laws, as a general thing, are laws of the king and not of the country. The old adage, "New kings make new laws," is often literally true in Siam, providing the new sovereign is so disposed. He is absolute master of the persons, property, liberty and lives of his subjects. In speaking of him they do not say he rules or governs, but he "eats the kingdom," which is too often literally true. Almost any man in the kingdom is liable to be drafted at any time to do king's work, and the descendants of captives of war, such as Cambodians, Peguins, Burmese, &c., are obliged to render three months service, or its equivalent, to the government annually. The person of the king is held in extreme sacredness and reverence, and in addressing him the same titles and attributes are applied to him which are applied to Budha. For one of his subjects to inquire after the king's health would be an almost unpardonable offence, as it is presumed that the king never takes sick, or dies, as common people do. Some of these absurd ideas appeared in the late reign to have become obsolete, but are evidently being renewed again in the present. Formerly the king was both a monopolist and a trader, claiming exclusive right over such commodities as tin, ivory, cardamums, eagle-wood, Sapan-wood, gamboge, &c., but when the late king entered into treaty relations with the western powers, this monopoly was in a great measure yielded.

It is strange to say that this monarchy is not hereditary—that is, not in the sense that that term is understood in Europe. There is what is called the Senabodee, or Royal Counsellors, consisting of the chief ministers of state, who during the life of the king are merely silent counsellors, but upon his death their power becomes manifest, and upon them devolves the responsibility of selecting a successor, and governing the kingdom until such successor is chosen. The successor must be a prince of the realm, but not necessarily the eldest son of the late king—indeed, not necessarily a son of his at all.