Absolute monarchy and the development of Bangkok's urban spaces
2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 29; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/02665433.2013.802125
ISSN1466-4518
Autores Tópico(s)Asian Studies and History
ResumoAbstractThis paper examines the development of Bangkok's urban spaces in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It aims to understand the ways Western culture influenced the development and use of urban spaces in this non-Western and non-colonized city. Thailand, then known as Siam, is unique as it was the only country in Southeast Asia that was not colonized by Western powers. Accordingly, the domestic political circumstances in Thailand played a critical role in the country's path to modernization. The primary shifts in accordance with the country's modernization were concentrated on the capital city and its society. Amongst the shifts of urban environment, the urban spaces in Bangkok were transformed and developed. The paper argues that the Siamese absolute monarch was a critical agent in the development process and that the modern spaces were developed in Bangkok as part of the king's wider political strategy.Keywords: absolute monarchyurban spaceBangkoknon-colonizedcivilization movement AcknowledgementsI am very grateful to the National Archives of Thailand for invaluable materials used in the research on which the paper is based and those appeared in the paper. I am thankful also to Professor John Pendlebury for giving advice and constructive comments on earlier drafts.Notes on contributorNattika Navapan graduated in architecture from King Mongkut Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand. She later received a master's degree in urban conservation from Newcastle University, UK. Sponsored by the Thai government, she pursued further study and completed her PhD at Newcastle University in 2010. She is currently a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Architecture, Naresuan University, Thailand. The field of her research is the history of urban space in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Bangkok.Notes1. Mead, The Rise and Decline.2. Winichakul, "The Quest for 'Siwilai'".3. Ibid., 545.4. Dhani Nivat, "Old Siamese Conception".5. Saksi et al., Physical Elements.6. Askew, Bangkok, 33.7. On the commodification of land, see Ibid., 31–33.8. Manarungsan, Economic Development.9. Mead, The Rise and Decline.10. King Chulalongkorn to Queen Saowapha, 5 September 1897, in Watanangura, Naruemit, and Khanitha, eds., First Visit of King.11. King Chulalongkorn to Queen Saowapha, 22 July 1897, in Ibid.12. Nana, "Plik Tamnan".13. Terwiel, Thailand's Political History.14. See Chulalongkorn, Klai Ban.15. Chulachakrabongse, Lords of Life, 255.16. See Royal Thai Survey Department, Maps of Bangkok.17. Mongkut, Prachum Prakard.18. Damrongrajanuphab, Prachum Pongsawadan. Moreover, Nor Na Paknam suggests that the new design was inspired by the Maidan, an open space of British legacy at the heart of Calcutta, where the king visited in 1871, because the redesign was proposed before the king's departure to Europe. See Nor Na Paknam, "Sanam Luang".19. The Prime Minister's Office, Government Gazette.20. For details of the exhibition, see Ngan Sadaeng Sinka; and Bock, Temples and Elephants.21. For celebration programme, see Phraya Srisahatep, Jotmaihet.22. In the flower fighting, people threw flowers and colourful paper strips at each other. For the origin of the activity from Hindu legend, see Sor Plainoi, Lao Rueng Bangkok.23. See the celebration programme in Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary, "R5 RL2/24".24. For golf, see Chakarapraneesrisilwisut, Rueng Kong Chao Phraya; and Bangkok Times, February 28, 1925. For football, see Bangkok Times, January 3, 1925. For horseracing, see Bangkok Times Weekly Mail, January 31, 1898.25. After the end of the absolute monarchy, the Royal Ground remains an urban centre for socio-cultural and political events. Well-known public activities taking place in the Royal Ground includes 'Hyde Park' or public free speech (1957-present) and weekend market (1957–1982). For further civic function of the Royal Ground in this period, particularly in political dimension, see Chinnapong, "Bangkok's Sanam Luang".26. The Mall in London and Champs Elysees in Paris were often referred to as the models of Ratchadamnoen Avenue.27. See Rama V's writing in Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N18.1s/1".28. Peleggi, Lords of Things.29. Ministry of Public Works, "R5 YT9/41".30. Until the end of his reign, palaces were developed on this part of the avenue only near the Dusit Palace. The rest of the street-front area was left vacant with the exception of the new barrack.31. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N18.1s/1".32. Ministry of Public Works, "R5 YT9/41".33. See the proclamation in Lailuk, Bunreung, and Samran, Prachum Kotmai Prajumsok, vol. 18 Part 1.34. See the proclamation in Lailuk, Bunreung, and Samran, Prachum Kotmai Prajumsok, vol. 17 Part 1.35. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N18.1/11".36. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N18.1s/1".37. The available information about the construction of the inner section of the avenue is limited. See, for example, Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N5.4/5"; and Aimjai, "Prawatsat".38. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R6 N8.1/2"; Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N18.1s/8"; Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N5.8/23"; Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N5.10/10"; and Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N5.8/16".39. Kulachol, "Bangkok Morphology".40. The triumphal arches were designed with the use of various traditional symbols, including the royal tiered-umbrellas, emblems of the dynasty and of the king, Buddhist imagery, and Chinese motifs. For the studies of the symbolic representation of the arches, see Peleggi, Lords of Things; and Siri, Soom Rub Sadet Praputtachaoluang.41. It was not until 1957 that Ratchadamnoen Avenue becomes a key site for political demonstrations and, hence, a political public sphere. There are several works studying about political roles of the avenue and the Democracy Monument, built in 1939 in the central section of the avenue, during the period of constitutional monarchy. For instance, for further history of Ratchadamnoen Avenue and major political movements from 1957, including interviews with key persons involving in the events, see Aimjai, "Prawatsat". For the Democracy Monument's political roles, see Kumsupa, Anusawaree. Kumsupa investigates the formation and transformation of the monument's meanings and the correlation of factors involving these processes. She argues that different meanings, created in different periods, reveal a relationship between the monument and political purposes at particular time.42. Ministry of Public Works, "R5 YT8.2/8"; and Damrongrajanuphab, Prachum Pra Nipon Bettalet.43. The dimension was based on a map published in 1932 by the Royal Thai Survey Department.44. King Rama V did not live long enough to see the Anantasamakom Throne Hall completed.45. Wong, Visions of a Nation.46. Ibid., 34.47. "Kumtawai Chaimongkol", Government Gazette, vol. 33.48. "Krabuan Rot Hae", Government Gazette, vol. 25.49. For more details on the celebration programme and activities, see Department of Fine Arts, Jotmaihet.50. Damrongrajanuphab, Rueng Sadet Prapat.51. After the overthrow of the absolute monarchy, the new government placed a circle brass plaque with an inscription in the ground of the plaza for remembrance of the political revolution and the celebration was organized. The celebration of the constitution was then set as an annual public event. The Royal Plaza later becomes one of the key sites used for political demonstrations. For further details about political events which took place in the Royal Plaza and made it a public political space, see Aimjai, "Prawatsat"; and Kumsupa, Anusawaree.52. Whitehand, Changing Face of Cities.53. Cavalcanti, "Urban Reconstruction".54. Damrongrajanuphab, Prachum Pongsawadan.55. See the king's reply speech in Department of Fine Arts, Jotmaihet.56. Nor Na Paknam, "Sanam Luang".57. Hobsbawm, "Introduction: Inventing Traditions".58. One of the major trends found in the recent works within a field of geography is a study of the linkages between spectacle, identity, and place. These works tend to explore the interactions of spectacle and place and to examine the ways the use of space and architecture are carefully calculated to achieve political goals. See, for example, Kong and Yeoh, "Construction of National Identity"; Waterman, "Carnivals for Elites?"; and Hagen and Ostergren, "Spectacle, Architecture and Place".59. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N5.8/3".60. Johnson, Ireland.61. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N5.10/10".62. Damrongrajanuphab, Bantuk Rapsung.63. Nor Na Paknam, "Sanam Luang".64. Winichakul, "The Quest for 'Siwilai'".65. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N48.2kor/4".66. Ministry of Public Works, "R5 YT8.3/10".67. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N5.8/3".68. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N18.1s/1".69. Ministry of Municipal Government, "R5 N48.2/57".
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