Article

A brief account of the Siam Society

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

A brief account of the Siam Society

Piriya Krairiksh, then President of the Siam Society, delivered this institutional profile in 1992 at a dinner hosted by the Raja Muda of Selangor, surveying the Society’s 88-year history as a catalyst for objective research on Thai arts, sciences, and culture. The piece functions as both a commemorative overview and a statement of the Society’s enduring policy of presenting multiple perspectives on contested issues.

Summary

The speech traces the Siam Society from its 1904 founding under Royal Patronage by Crown Prince Vajiravudh (later Rama VI) through its institutional development, publications, and research programmes. Krairiksh frames the Society’s identity around a consistent policy—unchanged since 1904—of acting as a “catalyst” that surfaces important issues and encourages objective research so that all sides are presented for public understanding (p. 36). This policy is illustrated through specific case studies: the authenticity controversy over the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription, which the Society resolved by publishing two volumes (one English, one Thai) containing arguments both pro and con; the early recognition of the Mon people’s historical role, with Robert Halliday’s articles and dictionary appearing as early as 1913; and the Society’s assistance to the Thai-Danish Expedition in Kanchanaburi, which revealed a prehistoric culture dating earlier than 2000 B.C. and fundamentally revised understanding of Thailand’s past (pp. 35–36).

The second half shifts to the Society’s operational infrastructure and contemporary activities. Krairiksh details the library holdings, the four publication series, the two historic houses (Kamthieng House and Saengaroon House) that house an ethnological museum and the Thai-language magazine office, and the Society’s engagement with environmental and urban issues through symposia in 1989 and 1992 (pp. 36–37). He also notes the Society’s financial precarity—receiving no government funding despite occupying prime Bangkok real estate—and its reliance on member donations, bazaars, and gala dinners (p. 38).

Key Findings

  • The Siam Society was founded in 1904 under Royal Patronage; every subsequent Thai monarch has served as Royal Patron, and HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana is the current Honorary President (p. 35).
  • The library, built in 1962 with contributions from Danish firms and opened by the Thai and Danish royal couples, holds over 25,000 volumes (40% Thai, 60% foreign languages) and over 530 periodical titles (94 Thai, 427 foreign) (p. 36).
  • The Journal of the Siam Society has been published continuously since 1905 in English; the Natural History Bulletin is produced by the Natural History Section with Dr. Warren Brockelman as Honorary Editor (p. 36).
  • The Kamthieng House, a teak-built northern-style house over 150 years old originally from the banks of the Ping River in Chiang Mai, houses Thailand’s first ethnological museum, founded in 1933 (p. 37).
  • The Society receives no government funding; in 1991 Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun gave a fundraising talk on the role of non-governmental organizations in national development (p. 38).
  • A 1992 symposium on Environment and Culture with Emphasis on Urban Issues was organized in collaboration with Japanese environmental and cultural organizations, reflecting the Society’s engagement with international comparative experience (p. 37).

Conclusion

Krairiksh’s definitive takeaway is that the Siam Society’s nearly century of work has been defined by a single, unwavering principle: to present all sides of contested issues so that readers and the public can form their own judgements. This is not merely a methodological preference but an institutional identity that has guided everything from the dual-language publication of the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription debate to the Society’s contemporary environmental symposia, and it remains the organizing logic of the Society’s mission into its future.

Context

  • This is an institutional speech rather than a research article; it draws on the Society’s own publication record and institutional memory rather than external archival collections.
  • The piece was published in JMBRAS as part of a broader exchange between Southeast Asian scholarly societies, reflecting the Siam Society’s engagement with regional academic networks.

References