Sunday 30 August 2009

The Great Beloved King


(This is the Great Beloved King in Dusit Palace Royal Ground.)

Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua (Thai: พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรมินทรมหาจุฬาลงกรณ์ฯ พระจุลจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว), or Rama V (20 September 1853–23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang (พระพุทธเจ้าหลวง - The Royal Buddha). He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam. His reign was characterized by the modernization of Siam, immense government and social reforms, and territorial cessions to the British Empire and French Indochina. As Siam was threatened by Western expansionism, Chulalongkorn, through his policies and acts, managed to save Siam from being colonized. All his reforms were dedicated to Siam’s insurance of survival in the midst of Western colonialism, so that Chulalongkorn earned the epithet Phra Piya Maharat (พระปิยมหาราช - The Great Beloved King).

3 comments:

James said...

A beautiful picture and very impressive statue.

Hilda said...

Isn't he the the king depicted in the musical "The King and I"? I remember being so intrigued by him I actually looked him up in the encyclopedia when I was much younger.

Magnificent statue, as befits a great leader. Love the night lighting too.

Chin said...

No,he isn't . :)