King Mongkut’s Political Stability during the Era of Colonialism

Abstract

The objectives of the research were: 1) to examine the factors affecting political stability during King Mongkut’s reign and 2) to investigate strategies King Mongkut established for political stability during the influence of colonialism. The study was conducted as qualitative research by gathering data from documentary research and in-depth interviews. The documents consisted of primary documents which included chronicles, royal documents and announcements, and the secondary documents which included research, book and articles. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 informants who are historians and political scientists. The data were interpreted and analyzed descriptively.
The results revealed that: 1) the factors affecting political stability of King Mongkut included external and internal factors. External factors included the spread of British and French influence into the regions and territories which affected the stability of the Kingdom of Siam and the King. The internal factors included the outdated governance which weakened the royal power of the monarch, the power and influence of the Bunnag family who controlled large amounts of people and forces, and the royal power of the King’s younger brother who was popular with the Siamese citizens and foreigners. 2) King Mongkut implemented strategies in order to establish his political stability which consisted of building political acceptance to gain civil support and international acceptance. As well as managing effectively in politics and tensions by implementing coordinated policy towards Western nations demands and threats. As a result of the royal actions, the Kingdom of Siam was able to maintain its independence without being occupied by Western powers, and the King securely reigned the country until the end of his life.