Thailand: The Golden Kingdom. William Warren

the role of monarchy in Thai life, shrewdly adapting it to a world that was changing with bewildering speed as neighbor after neighbor fell under European colonial rule. Bangkok, too, began to prosper, spurred by increased trade that attracted a growing number of Chinese immigrants. While most Thais preferred traditional occupations like farming and government service, the Chinese concentrated on commerce and were largely responsible for the city's remarkable growth.

      A map of Ayutthaya, a late 17th-century European drawing of a court mandarin, a detail from a temple mural showing foreigners, and a view of the royal barges at Ayutthaya.

      The Chao Phraya River in the 1890s.

      An elephant roundup staged in the old kraal near Ayutthaya, late 19th century.

      To the average Westerner today, perhaps the best known of the early Chakri kings was Rama IV, or King Mongkut. Before coming to the throne in 1851, he spent 27 years in the Buddhist priesthood, a unique experience for a Thai ruler which in turn gave him unique insights into ordinary people's lives. He had travelled extensively, met foreign missionaries, learned English and French, and developed a keen interest in modern science; more than his predecessors, he recognized the danger of isolation, and through a series of wide-ranging reforms and treaties with foreign powers, he set his kingdom on a modern course.

      King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) was a more than worthy successor. He reigned for 42 years and changed almost every aspect of Thai life, from government organization to fashions in dress and architecture. Pressure from England and France led to the loss of Thai territory in the far south and in Indo-China, but due to shrewd diplomacy it retained its treasured independence.

      Soon after King Chulalongkorns death in 1910, the winds of change grew fiercer and more unpredictable. Because of its paternalistic nature, Thailand's absolute system survived longer than most; but it, too, ultimately succumbed to the demand for popular government. During the reign of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII), on 24 June 1932, a small group of officials, most of them foreign-educated, staged a coup d'etat in Bangkok and demanded a constitution. Already working along such lines, the king agreed, and so Thailand's ancient system, intact since Sukhothai, came to an end.

      Disillusioned by the undemocratic regime that replaced him, King Prajadhipok abdicated in 1934. His successor was Prince Ananda Mahidol, a grandson of King Chulalongkorn and then a 10-year-old student in Switzerland. Except for a brief visit in 1938, the new king did not return to his homeland until the Pacific War ended, and tragedy ensued shortly afterward; on 9 June 1946, he died in the Grand Palace.

      Thus his younger brother, the present monarch, came to the throne as King Bhumibol Aduljadej. The official coronation service took place in 1950, and at the same time the king married a beautiful young princess who became Queen Sirikit.

      They have made rural development the hallmark of their reign, initiating programs that have ranged from new crops and methods of agriculture to water resources and the revival of traditional crafts. In the process, the king has become not only the best known of all the Chakri rulers but also the most beloved, a moral force that has held the country together in more than one period of political and economic unrest

      Turn-of-the-century view of Bangkok's Golden Mount, once the highest elevation in the city, overlooking a busy canal.

      Khmer-style prongs in the old capital of Ayutthaya, once a city of more than a million people.

      Land & People