(All photos were captured at the King Prajadhipok Museum in Bangkok)
Table of Contents
Introducing King Prajadhipok
Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua, known as King Prajadhipok of Siam (Thailand since 1939), also referred to as King Rama VII, was the seventh monarch of Siam of the Chakri Dynasty. He was the last absolute monarch as well as the first constitutional monarch of Siam. His reign was during a turbulent time for his country mainly due to the Revolution of 1932. He abdicated on March 2nd, 1935 (aged 41), while in England where he died and was cremated in 1941.
CHRONOLOGY OF THE LAST SIX KINGS OF SIAM / THAILAND
King Chulalongkorn (Rama V): Born: 20 Sep 1853, Died: 23 Oct 1910 (Age 57)
King Vajiravudh (Rama VI): Born: 1 Jan 1881, Died: 26 Nov 1925 (Age 44)
King Prajadhipok (Rama VII): Born: 8 Nov 1893, Died: 30 May 1941 (Age 47)
King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII): Born: 20 Sep 1925, Died: 9 Jun 1946 (Age 20)
King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX): Born: 5 Dec 1927, Died: 13 Oct 2016 (Age 88)
King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X): Born: 28 Jul 1952 (current age: 68)
Life and Reign of King Prajadhipok
King Prajadhipok’s reign of Siam was preceded by his brother, King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) who was 12 years his senior. King Vajiravudh (reigning title: Phra Mongkut Klao Chao Yu Hua) died in 1925 at Bangkok’s Grand Palace aged 44. When the king fell ill in November 1925, his Princess Consort Suvadhana was pregnant. His last-minute succession instructions were that if the baby is a boy, he gets the crown. If a girl, then the throne must pass on to his brother, Prince Prajadhipok of Sukhothai. Princess Suvadhana gave birth to a princess only two hours before Vajiravudh’s death so the throne passed on to Prince Prajadhipok.
King Prajadhipok is the only Siamese monarch of the Chakri Dynasty to abdicate.
The brothers (Vajiravudh and Prajadhipok) were the sons of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) who died in Bangkok’s Dusit Palace in 1920, aged 57. King Chulalongkorn had over 30 consorts as well as concubines, for a total of 116. He had… 33 sons and 44 daughters.
Prajadhipok Sakdidej (reigning title: Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua) was born on November 8, 1893 in the Grand Palace in Bangkok. He was the youngest of nine children of King Chulalongkorn and Queen Saovabha Phongsri. Overall, Prajadhipok was Chulalongkorn’s second-youngest child (of the 77 children), and the 33rd and youngest of Chulalongkorn’s sons.
Translated records of the prince’s birth-announcement indicate he was born on “Wednesday, the 14th day of the waning moon, the year of the snake” (November 8, 1893). He was given the title of “His Royal Highness Prince Prajadhipok Saktitejana Kromakhun Sukhutai Dharmaraja”. The Queen Mother (Saovabha) affectionately nicknamed her infant son “ladnoi”, meaning “the little one”.
As the youngest of 33 sons, there was little hope for Prajadhipok to ever ascend the throne, so at the tender age of 13 he was sent off in 1906 to study in Europe. King Chulalongkorn placed great importance on the studies of his sons so he sent them overseas. Prajadhipok first went to France for four months where he received “foundation courses” in mathematics and science. His later involvement in the French military (he studied at the School of Military Affairs (the Ecole de Guerre)) greatly improved the strained relationship between France and Siam. After his education in France, he went on to study in England at Eton College and then at the Woolwich Military Academy in south-east London.
When King Chulalongkorn died in 1910, the throne was passed to his eldest son (the older brother of Prajadhipok), Crown Prince Vajiravudh (Rama VI). During this time Prajadhipok was serving in the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. However, at the outbreak of the First World War, King Vajiravudh ordered his younger brother to immediately return to Siam where he was assigned to a high-ranking military position.
In 1918 at Sukhothai Palace, Prince Prajadhipok (aged 25) married his childhood friend and cousin, Rambhai Barni, a descendant of his grandfather King Mongkut (Rama IV). After the war, Prajadhipok went back to France to further his studies and upon his return to Siam he was given the additional title of Krom Luang Sukhothai (Prince of Sukhothai). The couple lived at Sukhothai Palace on the banks of the Samsen canal near the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok’s Dusit District. The palace was a wedding gift from his mother, Queen Saovabha, and King Vajiravudh bestowed the name “Sukhothai Palace” to their brand new residence. The couple never had children.
After his brothers all died within a short period, including his brother King Vajiravudh who in 1925 died aged 44, Prajadhipok found himself on the way to the throne. At the age of 32, he was crowned King of Siam, an absolute monarch, on February 25th, 1926.
(Photos above captured at the King Prajadhipok Museum in Bangkok)
While the new King Prajadhipok was not well prepared for the newly bestowed responsibilities, he found it tough to deal with the severe political and economic problems he inherited from his brother. The years following were tumultuous for the king. He met strong opposition from Prince Damrong and other royal members of the Supreme Council when he announced a new constitution to the nation.
By 1932 Siam was in a great depression which led to the Siamese revolution of 1932 which started on June 24th, 1932. The revolution aimed at overthrowing the absolute monarchy and bring about a constitutional government to the kingdom.
While King Prajadhipok was at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin (200 kilometres south of Bangkok), the plotters (members of the People’s Party) arrested princes and relatives of the king at the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall in Bangkok. They demanded that the king become a constitutional monarch and create a constitution. Should he refuse, Siam would be declared a republic.
King Prajadhipok accepted the ultimatum and the first constitution of Siam was promulgated on December 10th, 1932, and so he became the first constitutional monarch of Siam. He returned from Hua Hin to Bangkok some 6 months later and humbly met his plotters.
Abdication of King Prajadhipok
The following year the king’s relationship sours with the People’s Party. A rebellion followed and the king’s prestige diminished. The king felt helpless and moved with his wife to Songkhla, in the far south of the country – 970 kilometres south of Bangkok.
While visiting England for medical treatment (more specifically dental work), he communicated with his government back in Siam and laid out the conditions under which he would return and continue to serve as their king. The government refused to comply with his demands so on October 14th, 1934 King Prajadhipok announced his intention to abdicate. However, it was not until March 2nd, 1935 at age 42, that he formally abdicated his nine years on the throne.
On the very same day of his formal abdication, Ananda Mahidol (age 10 and born in Germany but living in Switzerland), the older brother of King Bhumibol (father of the current king) ascended the throne. Four years later, on June 23rd, 1939 under the reign of King Mahidol and the dictatorship of army officer Phibun (in full, Luang Phibunsongkhram), the country’s name Siam, which was adopted by the Portuguese during the 16th century (from a Sanskrit word, syam), was changed to Thailand.
Phibun imposed a Western way of life onto the Thai people. He changed to the Western calendar, introduced a new flag and a new national anthem, and demanded that Thais wore western-style clothes, including hats. Phibun resigned in 1944, returned in 1948, and when ousted again in 1957 he fled to Japan where he died in 1964 at the age of 66.
Final Years of King Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok refused to return to Siam and spent the rest of his life with Queen Rambhai Barni in Surrey, England. On May 30th 1941 Prajadhipok died from heart failure in his residence, Compton House, in the village of Wentworth in Virginia Water, Surrey. His cremation in north London was attended by his wife and a few close friends.
She returned to Thailand by ship in 1949 and with her, she brought the ashes of Prajadhipok. The Royal ashes of King Prajadhipok was borne by Lord Chamberlain of the Siamese Royal Household and Mom Dawiwongse Thawalayasakdi to Bangkok via Singapore. They were escorted by Queen Rambhai Barni. She continued to live at Sukhothai Palace until her death.
The queen died on May 22nd, 1984 in Bangkok at the age of 79 and was cremated in a grand royal funeral presided over by her nephew, King Bhumibol, at Sanam Luang square in front of Bangkok’s Grand Palace.
After the queen’s death, Prince Vajiralongkorn (now the current king), then the Crown Prince of Thailand, lived at Sukhothai Palace until he moved to Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall.
Unlucky King Ananda Mahidol
King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland when in March 1935 the National Assembly of Siam recognized him as the successor of King Prajadhipok. He arrived back in Bangkok ten years later in December 1945. However, just six months later (and four days before returning to Switzerland), on the morning of June 9th 1946, he was found shot dead in his bed in the Boromphiman Throne Hall, Grand Palace, Bangkok. He was living in this palace with his younger brother Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej (later King Rama IX) and his mother Princess Sri Sangwan. Mahidol’s death (aged 20) was ruled murder by medical examiners, and three royal pages were later executed. The exact circumstances of his death remains a subject of much debate and controversy.
Beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej
King Mahidol was succeeded by his younger brother, Bhumibol Adulyadej who became Rama IX on June 9th, 1946 (aged 18). King Bhumibol was born on December 5th, 1927 at Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The much revered and beloved King Bhumibol reigned until his death (aged 88) on October 13th, 2016 at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. The Royal Cremation Ceremony of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was held on October 26th, 2017, at the royal crematorium at Sanam Luang (photo below)
Current King Maha Vajiralongkorn
King Bhumibol was succeeded on December 1st 2016 by his only son (second oldest child of four), Maha Vajiralongkorn (reigning title: Phrabat Somdet Phra Vajira Klao Chao Yu Hua) who became Rama X. King Vajiralongkorn was born on July 28th 1952 in the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, Dusit Palace, in Bangkok.
The full name of the current king of Thailand is:
Phrabat Somdet Phra Paramendra Ramadhibodi Srisinra Maha Vajiralongkorn Mahisara Bhumibol Rajavarangkura Kitisirisumburna Adulyadej Sayamindradhipeshra Rajavarodom Borommanat Pobitra Phra Vajira Klao Chao Yu Hua.
And we will stop the story right here as Thailand has very strict lèse majesté laws against writing anything deemed unflattering about the current monarchy. This story was really about the life of King Prajadhipok and the story has been delivered! Trust you enjoyed it. Make sure to visit the King Prajadhipok Museum (details below) next time you are in Bangkok.
☛ Read more: More posts about Thailand
KING PRAJADHIPOK MUSEUM
Website: https://www.kingprajadhipokmuseum.com/en
Address: 2 Lan Luang Rd, Wat Sommanat, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok
Map location: 13.756161, 100.506467
Opening Hours: Open daily (except Monday, New Year and Songkran day) 09.00 a.m. – 04.00 p.m.
Getting here: Take the Saensaep Canal express boat service and disembark at the Phanfa pier. The museum is located across the canal from Wat Saket (Temple of the Golden Mount) and Loha Prasat temple.
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Blog post and photos by Peter who has been travelling almost full-time since 2005 and has been to over 122 countries. He visited several countries, such as Japan, more than 20 times. Peter is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of GlobeRovers Magazine, an independent travel magazine focused on intrepid destinations.