Background

Prior to 1809, the upper Northern Region or “Lanna Kingdom” (Lanna means the land of a million rice fields) with Chiang Mai as the capital had a close relationship with Burma after which relations with Bangkok developed and grew stronger. As Siam's vassal state, Lanna had to send royal tributes, gifts, and soldiers in times of war to Bangkok. Lanna was granted autonomy by the Siamese government thus the kingdom could appoint its own governor and viceroy. Lanna was free from being governed by Bangkok until the 1860s. The Northern Region extends to the upper Central Region, or the part that is usually called the lower Northern Region, covering the area occupied by nine provinces today: Nakhon Sawan, Tak, Sukhothai, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, Kamphaeng Phet, Phichit, Phetchabun, and Uthai Thani.

In the nineteenth century, the population of the Northern Region comprised of Thais, Chinese, and various minority groups such as Khmu, Lau, Karen, Meo, Yao, and other ethnic groups. The Northern Region's subsistence economy focused mainly on rice cultivation. Households made various goods mostly for their own consumption through exchanges within the villages. Exchanges also took place between northern villages and nearby regions such as Yunnan and Burma due to the limited access of the mountainous terrain and because waterway transportation was prohibitively expensive. The North traded with Yunnan Province in China and the city of Moulmein in Burma, using mules and horses. Yunnanese and Shan merchants brought iron, opium, brass pans, and beeswax from Yunnan and would buy salt, areca nut, and raw cotton from the North and lac, ivory, and tobacco from Moulmein.

The North traded with Burma and China more than with Bangkok because of better transportation. Bowring stated that in 1855 the river flowing to Bangkok, from Chiang Mai to Rahaeng [Tak], was treacherous. Intercity trade was very limited, most of which was through exchanges of goods. Bowring therefore concluded that:

Background

Ever since its designation as capital in 1782, Bangkok has prospered more than any of Thailand's other cities. It is the seat of the monarchy, the country's administrative centre, its centre of wealth, its principal port, home to the largest non-agricultural labour market, as well as the centre of internal and international trade. Bangkok is also the country's most populous city. In 1850, the population of Bangkok was estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000 and since that time it has remained Thailand's primate city.

Bangkok is located favourably in the fertile lower Chao Phraya River delta in the country's Central Plain, an area that has long been the country's rice bowl with transport made easy and relatively inexpensive by a network of canals connecting with the Chao Phraya.

As the country's capital, Bangkok was the tribute collection centre from various places, as well as a centre for exports and international trade. Even before the signing of the Bowring Treaty with Great Britain in 1855, Bangkok was an important port not just in Thailand but also in the Asian region, receiving goods from India, the Malay Peninsula, and elsewhere for re-exporting to China. Trade was largely monopolized by the royal government, with China as the kingdom's major trading partner. Growth in both internal and international trade led to the expansion of Bangkok's economy. Revenues from international trade were especially important as they constituted one of the major sources of income of the kingdom.

International trade helped to open Siam to western and, through Singapore, Chinese influences. In 1820, Portugal set up a consulate in Bangkok and built a warehouse on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River to store goods shipped from England. Westerners like the Portuguese were mainly employed in shipping, and as the port grew, Bangkok became a major employer of Chinese immigrants involved in shipping-related activities. Increasingly, the Chinese came to play major roles in various sectors of Bangkok's economy, as skilled and unskilled labour, concessionaires, tax collectors, entrepreneurs, and property owners. They acted as middlemen and merchants forging links between Bangkok and other economic centres in Asia and other parts of the globe. In time, more than half of Bangkok's population were Chinese.

Background

The Southern Region's society and culture are quite different from that of the other regions. The South has the highest number of Muslims. Ethnic problems are prevalent. Interventions by imperialist Britain also created political problems at the multi-national level. The region has its own history and culture which is related to neighbouring Malaya. It is the smallest of Thailand's regions, making up just 14 per cent of the country's land area (after 1909). It contains the thinnest point between Myanmar and the Gulf of Thailand, with the Ta Nao Si mountain range running along its length.

The Siamese settled in Nakhon Si Thammarat in the thirteenth century. At the time, the city was the region's commercial hub with links to Malaya. Nakhon Si Thammarat was later established as an independent state. The centres in the east side of the Southern Region (as it is today), which comprised Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and parts of Songkhla, were once important cities belonging to the ruler of Malaya. They traded with Kelantan, Terengganu, and Melaka, which were commercial centres in Muslim Southeast Asia. Pattani became prosperous and was home to multiple ethic groups. The Thai state started to expand its reach into the state of Pattani and there were a number of skirmishes around the seventeenth century. In 1786, Pattani was under Bangkok's rule, butnevertheless had a degree of autonomy as a tributary state. The Muslim population held numerous anti-Siamese state protests in Bangkok and Pattani. The Siamese government tried to restore order by appointing a provincial commissioner to rule Pattani under the thesaphiban system. In 1909, the Anglo-Siamese treaty legitimized “the incorporation of Pattani into Siamese nation at the same time as it created, on the province of Satun, henceforward separated from Sultanate of Kedah which has passed into the hands of the British”.

The Muslims in the four Southern provinces — Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Satun — had close historical, ethnic, religious and cultural links to Malaya. Communications between them were easy because Malaysian was the local language. The people in these provinces became Thai due to political reasons.

Background

The Central Region contains a vast fertile plain that is the Chao Phraya River delta. It is similar to other river deltas of the world such as those of the Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia and the Ayeyarwady River in Burma, all of which are important to population settlement. Deltas are plains created by the accumulation of sediment carried by the river from mountains and other high areas. Delta soil is rich in natural fertilizers and is ideal for growing grains and crops to feed a large population.

The Chao Phraya River delta was first settled by communities of various ethnicities that migrated from abroad. It is suitable for building houses and for agriculture. The Central Region's delta has been deemed one of the most important “rice bowl” of the world. This reflects the area's richness and its suitability for rice cultivation with a potential to “feed” the people of the world. Other river basins exist in the Central Region, namely those of the Tha Chin and Pa Sak rivers. The western part of the region is not a plain but a continuation of mountain ranges from the North. The area is also fertile because it is a confluence of the Mae Klong and Phetchaburi rivers with coastal basins along the Gulf of Thailand. The Central Region also covers the east coast, which is the southeastern part of Thailand. The area comprises deltas formed by small rivers such as the Rayong, Chanthaburi and mueang Trat. The upper watersheds next to the Gulf and in the eastern part of the Central Region are the Bang Pakong basin and the Prachin Buri basin.

Before 1855, the economy and commerce of the region was expanding. Sugarcane farming for sugar production flourished in Bang Pla Soi, Nakhon Chai Si, Bang Pakong and Chachoengsao. There were no less than 200 sugarcane processing plants in Chachoengsao, some with as many as 200 labourers. During the reign of King Rama III, sugar production extended to 19 major cities, most of which were in the Central Region. Pepper was another important export. Its main production sites in Chanthaburi were run by the Chinese. The amount of pepper exported to China in 1822 was 600,000 hab. The development of a market economy affected the growth of the region's population and economy.

Background

For a long time (before 1760), the Northeastern Region, also known as Isan, had been under the rule of the Kingdom of Lan Xang. After 1779, the whole of Northeast and Laos came under Bangkok's rule and in 1893, western Laos was taken over by the French. Then, in 1903, some parts of the Northeast fell under French colonial rule as well. The centralization during the reign of King Rama V (which strengthened the unification between the central government and the national treasury) and the construction of the railroad linking Bangkok to Khorat allowed the educational system and culture of the region to be under the control of Bangkok.

The Northeast was a tributary state. Major mueangs in the region sent levies to Bangkok to fund exports and construction projects such as the construction of royal palaces. The growth of the Bangkok elites could in fact be attributed to levies from the Northeast. These levies reflected the economic expansion of the country even before the signing of the Bowring Treaty in 1855. A majority of the levies, particularly those paid in gold, came from the Northeast. This showsthat the region was able to pay its taxes in kind, rather than “money” or“labour”, which meant that the region was, to a certain degree, affluent.

The Northeast has arid weather because it is located in a rain shadow behind mountain ranges that separate it from other regions. The mountain ranges block the southwestern storms. As a result, the agricultural economy of the region became dependent solely on the South China Sea cyclones. The main river in the region is the Mekong which flows through a host of nations such as China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Also present are the Mun, Chi and Songkhram rivers. The Northeast is sometimes called the Khorat Plateau. The mountain ranges that form the boundary between itself and other parts of Thailand are the Petchabun, the Dong Phya Yen and the Khao San Kamphaeng. The Phanom Dong Rak range separates the region from Cambodia.

The soil in the Northeast is generally not suitable for rice farming. Therefore, farmers produce little excess rice. Many areas in the region have a rather arid climate. Some areas had been settled by migrant Laotians who had crossed the Mekong River from Laos.