Prasat Thong

Prasat Thong ( Thai : สมเด็จพระเจ้า ปราสาททอง - Somdet Phrachao Prasat Thong - pronunciation: [ sŏmdèt pʰráʤâo praː-sàːt tʰoːŋ ] - about: King of the Golden Palace ; also: Somdet Phrachao Sanphet V. - สมเด็จพระเจ้า สรรเพ ช ญ์ ที่ 5 , Sri Worawong or Suriyawong ; * 1599 in Ayutthaya ; † August 7, 1656 ibid) was from November 1629 to August 1656 King of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya in Siam (today Thailand ), successor to King Songtham and the briefly ruling kings Chettathirat and Athittayawong .

Descent and youth

Prasat Thong was the illegitimate son of King Ekathotsarot and was initially called Phra Ong Lai. He was passed off as the son of the valet Phya Sri Thammathirat, whose younger sister was the mother of King Songtham , so he would have been a cousin of the monarch. From a humble position he rose to the top page of King Songtham at the age of 18, but he was always in great trouble. On one occasion, he was thrown in prison for attacking the "pretend king" at the annual plowing ceremony. He was later involved in a plot against the brothers of King Songtham, Prince Sri Sin and Prince Thong. After a few years in captivity, he was released in 1622 and distinguished himself in the same year in the generally unsuccessful expedition against the Khmer. The following year they discovered an intrigue he spun with one of Sri Sin’s wives and went to prison again.

Before his coronation he was the Defense Minister ( Thai : ออกญา กลาโหม - Okya Kalahom ) of King Songtham .

Accession to the throne

The Chao Phraya Kalahom's accession to the throne is a somewhat intricate story. He was an influential minister at the court of Ayutthaya when King Songtham died. Prince Chetta became king as the legitimate successor. This tried to turn off the Kalahom, probably because he suspected a double play by the experienced minister. There was then fighting between the two parties, in the course of which King Chetta was killed. When the Kalahom was offered the throne, the latter surprisingly refused because the king's ten-year-old brother, Prince Athittayawong, was still alive. For this, the Kalahom exercised the rule, only to snub him in front of the court and to portray him as incapable. Eventually, King Athittayawong was deposed and the Chao Phraya Kalahom was able to accept the royal dignity as there were no longer any legitimate heirs to the throne. He was now called Prasat Thong.

Problems arose immediately, especially with the Japanese shogun who refused to recognize the new ruler of Siam. As a minister, the Kalahom did not favor the Japanese in setting up trading posts, as was expected of them. Prasat Thong attacked the Japanese settlement in Ayutthaya immediately after sending Namagasa south to Nakhon Si Thammarat to put down an insurrection there. Numerous Japanese in Ayutthaya were killed. Japan has since played no role in Siam, the remaining Japanese residents fled to Cambodia .

Economic policy

Prasat Thong brought the trade in numerous goods under the control of the royal family. Whereas under the kings of Sukhothai it was only the tin trade from which wealth nourished, Prasat Thong now extended the royal monopoly to coveted goods: hides and animal skins, metals, precious stones, spices.

Confrontations with the Europeans

In 1636 Prasat Thong took the important trading city Pattani after there had been resistance to tribute obligations to Ayutthaya from there. Siam and Ayutthaya had become the most important economic area in Southeast Asia . This made the Europeans aware, so the Dutch tried to blackmail Prasat Thong by blocking Ayutthaya from the sea. In doing so, they gambled away a lot of credit at court, and Prasat Thong improved relations with the English and French in order to weaken Dutch influence.

Successor confusion

Prasat Thong died in 1656. He left a wealthy but troubled empire with an unclear succession to the throne. Prasat Thong's eldest son, Chai , was subjected to a “royal execution” by his uncle and Prince Narai shortly after his enthronement : they kidnapped him, put him in a velvet sack and beat him to death with sandalwood clubs.

See also

• Yamada Nagamasa

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wyatt et al. (2005), p. 241.
2. ↑ Wood (1924), p. 172.

literature

• Richard D. Cushman (David K. Wyatt Ed.): The Royal Chronicles Of Ayutthaya . The Siam Society, Bangkok 2000, ISBN 974-8298-48-5 (literal translation and direct comparison of 7 chronicles available today , from the founding of Ayutthaya to King Taksin)
• WAR Wood: History of Siam . 1924.
• David K.Wyatt, Chris Baker, Dhiravat na Pombejra, Alfon van der Kraan: Van Vliet's Siam . Silkworm Books , Chiang Mai 2005, ISBN 974-9575-81-4