Journal of the Siam Society; 58

Table of contents :
JSS_058_1a_Front
JSS_058_1b_Walker_LahuNyiNewYearCelebrations
JSS_058_1c_Bryant_HealthNeedsOfRuralThailand
JSS_058_1d_Gedney_SaekLanguageOfNakhonPhanom
JSS_058_1e_GriswoldPrasert_PactBetweenUncleAndNephew
JSS_058_1f_Noss_PairedAdjectivesInCambodian
JSS_058_1g_PrasidhSilapabanleng_ThaiMusicAtCourtOfCambodia
JSS_058_1h_Reviews
JSS_058_1i_ObituaryPhyaAnumanRajadhon
JSS_058_1j_ObituaryGCoedes
JSS_058_1k_Contributors
JSS_058_1l_Back
JSS_058_2a_Front
JSS_058_2b_Morton_ThaiTraditionalMusic
JSS_058_2c_Singaravelu_InvocationsToNatarajaInSoutheastAsiaShadowPlays
JSS_058_2d_Boisselier_RecentesRecherchesANakhonPathom
JSS_058_2e_LoofsWatson_ThaiBritishArchaeologicalExpedition1967
JSS_058_2f_Mulder_ThaiAndJavaneseWorldview
JSS_058_2g_Flatz_KhaloOrMaeRimLawa
JSS_058_2h_Jeshurun_AngloFrenchDeclarationJanuary1896
JSS_058_2i_PueyUngphakorn_ThailandsEconomicProspects
JSS_058_2j_Reviews
JSS_058_2k_AnnnualReport
JSS_058_2l_ListOfMembers
JSS_058_2m_ObituaryPrincePrididebyabongsDevakula
JSS_058_2n_ObituaryLuangPrakobNitisar
JSS_058_2o_ObituaryWARWood
JSS_058_2p_ObituaryPJSYoung
JSS_058_2q_Back

Citation preview

THE SlAM S(X'lF.lY 1',\'I'IHI.' \'I( 'J.:-1',\'l'IH

l:'>.~

II( 1 :".', I' H t·:KII

H:.vr:-o

11 o :-.;. v 11 t·>P 1n:~ n 1r.:.-..··t·K

('()!''il'll.

!Iis ~1aJ>c~ty the Kwg Her Majc~.ty !he ()uccn I kr ~1aJC~·tY tdcnt

HllllPrary Trca•,urcr llnnurar)' Sccrct;try A"~dr.tant I f,,nnrary Sct'rc!iH:O lto!HJrary hlittlr . ./IIUrtltl/ n/' tlu :.;;,m: ·''urirty I !nnmary hltttH, .\',J/IJr!l/ Ill!!•" ~· flufft.tin

llonurury l.thrariun

Cha Reng Nganradrud

y

I

JANUARY 19 70

volume LVIII part I

The journal of the Siam Society Contents of Volume LVIII Part 1 january 1970 Page Editorial

Articles Anthony R. Walker John Bryant, M.D. William J, Gedney A.B. Griswold and Prasert l) ~go out· tb;. ). On this day the am:ewal hpirits who ha\C been in the villa~~c to witne>~ the ft::stidtics since hh'm~· la!J nyi (the day on which the rice cakes wen: made), leave the vill:;·gc. Un nl: tc.i"o nyi the \'illag(•rs rn:1y rc~umc Wt.Hk in the fields hut must relllrn to the village at night and not sleep in their tit~ld huts. No prayers arc offered and no dancing takes place tlll this c\ening. The f(•lldv;ing day is c:dled ch"tL, the Guardian of the Yc;~:---­ (b) The two visiting villages have both prepared rice cakes, pork etc. and have br~ught these to offer at the hk' m~! celr of the host village. (c) Thts phrase means 'clothes of many different colours'. {d) The. Year Guar~iat1 possesses a box in heaven in which he stores blessings to ~~ ve to the vtllagers,

THE

LA

HJ2 NYi NEIV YEAR CELEBHATIONS

25

May the four Year birds in heaven protect the souls and lives of all the villagers. (e) You who speak only the truth, protect everybody so they may not be killed by men or spirits. You in heaven, who speak only the truth, may your four celestial birds of the year once again sing beautifully nine times in one night. Hereafter may G'u£ sha's flag sing beautifully and bless both young and old that they may have no trouble and that nobody may kill them. '

closely spaced forest bean bowl person excrement rice ten

suk 6 1ap6

suk' bapt

cooked, ripe to bite

khut 6

hut 1

to

thuaJS thua 5 thaoy6 phuu 6

tians tua 5 tiay 6 pu6

di~

teen

I• hOm pen khii thii pun thiia thiiay phuu khii

l•haaw sip

suk

khop, kat

kbiit

TilE SAEK LANI:UM:E OF NAKIION

!'llANO~!

81

PJ\OVINCE

There is also evidence in the vowels to support Haudricourt's opinion that Sack belongs to the northern branch of the Tai family. We do not yet understand the vowel system of the parent language of the Tai family, called Proto-Tai, and the main reason that we have been unable to make any headway in this matter is that in many words, perhaps a quarter or a third of the vocabulary, languages of the Northern family show a very different vowel from other Tai In such cases of divergence, Saek has a vowel the same langunges. as or very similar to that found in the Northern forms, as shown in the following Saek and Yay examples: Saek

Yay

nua 3

iiia 3

grass

y~a

nua 3

nia 3

crossbow

naa-maay

via 3

vi:a 3

cloud

meek,

raayl

r±ayl

to disappear

haay

rualrs

ruak 5

to vomit

raak

(fay6

hay6

excrement

khii

ya::ls

6o5

straight

trol), sH

dua 1

tlia'

navel

sa!IH

tlual

kual

salt

klia

saaks

saak 5

rope

ch£ak

raan4

raan4

house

dan

thatJ4

tlll) 4

to arrive

thfl)

1JUa4

t)fa4

snake

l)UU

pawl

pawt

crab

pun

rJJ6

ro 6

to know

ruu

lfk6

J±lrl

child

Iliuk

saa1)2

eaal)

high

SUUl)

riP

vP

mountain stream hUay

nuuk 3

nulr 3

deaf

nuak

f~a

82

William .T. Gedney

Saek

Yay

riit) I

diiJ I

priarJ I vii4

tial)' fi4

riP

ri5

kuu 3

1m 3

pluu6 kaaJ

pyu2 ho 2

rii 4

ri 4

iinm6 6

iium6 nuaiJ6

nua1J prul{ 4

tuk4

suak 3

suak 5

red melon, cucumber fire dry field nine empty knee

deer)

track, footprint to dye younger sibling bamboo strip elbow

rJJy

teerJ fay ray

kaaw plaaw khaw

y5am naJt)

taak saak

There is further evidence that Haudricourt is right in classifying Saek as a Northern Tai language. For instance, Saek agrees with Northern Tai in some words where the form is in some ways so similar to but in other ways so different from the form in other Tai languages that we do not know whether we are dealing with the same words or not : Saek

Yay

puJI

punt

phiat)4

piarJ 4

phia 5

p±as

body hair city, country shirt

klu}n filial)

s£a

We must conclude that Haudricourt's theory, based on a handful of words, was more correct than he knew. Finally, I wish to cite some of the features of the Saek language which make it especially interesting to scholars. The fact that Saek is a member of the Northern branch but bas strayed to its present location far to the south, is already an interesting fact which suggests fascinating questions as to when it separated from the other Northern languages, and by what route it came south. But there are other exciting things in this

langua~e.

TilE SAEK LANCUAGE OF NAKIION l'HANOM l'HOVINC:E

83

For example, Professor F.K. Li in 1954 reconstructed various consonant clusters for Proto-Tai, to account for various small sets of words having aberrant correspondences in initial consonant in various branches of the Tai family. Now we discover that Saek has clusters very similar to those which Li reconstructed for Proto-Tai: Proto-Tai *phi-or '»phr - as reconstructed by Li: Saek

pbrak 4

vegetable

pbram 2

hair of the head pbOm

phraa 2

cliff, rock

ph a

phraak 6

forehead

phaak

pbrJJm2

thin

phibm

phraw 2

to burn

pluhv

phak

a

Proto-Tai *pr- as reconstructed by Li : Saek

praak6

to expose to the sun taal'

preek 6

to break

priatJI

melon, cucumber tee!)

pruk4

bamboo strip

Proto-Tai *''br or Saek

'~~bl

teek t5ak

as reconstructed by Li :

bliil

gall bladder

dii

blinn!

moon, month

dian

bl:>:>k 6

flower

d'J'Jk

Linguists do not allow us to call one modern spoken language older than another, because any modern spoken language must have a history no longer or shorter in time than that of other languages of the same family, counting from the period of unity, before separation, to the present. But we must admit that some features of this Saek language, such as the consonant clusters just cited, are more conservative or archaic than those or other Tai languages.

William J. Gedney

84

Some of these apparently archaic features of Sack present new problems to the student of comparative Tai linguistics interested in reconstructing Proto-Tai. For example, it will probably take several scholars many years to figure out the historical ex plana tinn of the great variety of initials which Saek has corresponding to Siamese initial d-, besides blian I for dian and the other bl- words cited above: Siamese

Saek

dii

diil

good

dom

dam 1

to smell

dian

tluall

earthworm

daaw

traawl

star

dam

tram'

to transplant

d:>Jl)

tr:>JJ)

relatives by marriage

df.ay

praa 1

cocks pur

deel)

rii'

red

deet

riit 6

sunshine

dip

rip 4

raw, unripe

tiiday

ray'

stairs, ladder

kadiiuk

r:>:>k 6

bone

d:>:>y

raay'

mountain

duk

r:>k4

catfish

Saek is full of such puzzling features. Another curious one is t~at Saek ~nitial y corresponds sometimes to Siamese y, but somettmes to Stamese cb, and sometimes to Siamese s: Siamese

Saek

yiap

yiap6

to step on

yaaw

yiaw 3

granary

yiin

yuu 6

to be in a place

A

THE SAEI\ LANGUAGE OF NAKIION i'JlANOM l'HOVJNCE

yiiaiJ

YU3!]3

85

to roast

yaa

yaa

chiiu

yuu 6

lover

chaay

yaay4

eaves

saay

yooy 4

sand

siik

yak6

to wash clathes

say

yay4

fish trap

S!!

yJJS

straight

sa an

yaa}S

to hide

A'

5

paternal grandmother

Another curiosity is that Saek bas initial kw- in the two words kwaat 'leg' and kwaayi 'to sell,' whereas no other Tai language is known to have a -w- in these two words. It turns out that in Sui, a minority language spoken in Kweicbow province in China, which is believed to be remotely related to Thai, these two words have initial p rather than some kind of velar sound. The final -1, mentioned earlier, in such words as thnat5 'forest' or riit2 'stone', has caused great interest among students of southeast Asian languages. No other language of the Tai family has such a feature. The question is whether this is an innovation in Saek, or an old feature which all other Tai languages have lost. If it is an innovation, why is it that only certain words have the final -1, while others have final -n? One occasionally hears a final -1 pronunciation instead of -n in various Tai languages, even in modern standard Bangkok Thai, but only as a kind of free variant of final -n, whereas in Saek it is a regular, fixed feature of certain words, distinguishing such pairs as to fly firewood:

sky v:i:nl

rain

Some have wondered if this final -1 is the result of contact with Men-Khmer languages, but Saek shows no other evidence of such contact.

86

William J. Gedney

On the other hand, if the final -I is an old, original feature of the parent language which only Saek has preserved, this rn ises various problems and possibilities. One serious problem is that the group of Mak-Sui-Kam languages in Kweichow, to which scholars believe the Tai family to be next most closely related, has no such final -It but only final -n, so that this means that the period would have to be extended even farther back during which Saek alone is supposed to have preserved this feature while all the other related languages lost it. As to possibilities, scholars who like to believe that the Tai languages are ultimately related to Malaya-Polynesian, are pleased with the discovery of this final -l in Saek, because it means that at least one language of the Tai family is in this respect more similar to Malaya-Polynesian languages than we thought before. This whole subject of the special archaic features found in Saek which differ from those found in other languages of the Tai family are what give Saek such special interest and importance. Some of these features, when we get down to studying them in detail, wiJI undoubtedly help to clarify problems in the reconstruction of ProtoTai, the reconstructed prehistoric language which is assumed to have been the parent language of the entire group, before the break-up into daughter branches and languages. But as we have seen, there are other features in Saek which add to our problems, that is, they create new problems which were not known to exist. I have recently bad a new idea about the position of Sack with regard to its historical relationship to the other languages of the Tai family. If this new idea of mine is right, then Haudricourt's theory that Saek is a member of the Northern branch of Tai, which I have been supporting earlier in this talk, will turn out not to be right. This new idea of mine is suggested by the fact that the small group of Mak-Sui-Kam languages in Kweichow, which are believed by scholars to be the next most closely related linguistic group to Tai, seem to agree with Northern Tai rather than with Central and Southwestern Tai in those features of tone, vowel, and vocabulary in which Northern Tai differs from the others.

TilE SAEK LAN(;\JACE OF NAKI-ION PIL\NOM PHOVINCE

87

This suggests that when we speak of northern Tai as having made various special changes which differentiate it from the other Tai languages, we are putting it backwards. If Northern Tai agrees with the Mak-Sui-Kam group, then the special features of Norlhern Tai must be old, and it would then be the Central and Southwestern branches of Tai that have made special changes. If it turns out that this new idea of mine, which I have not yet had time to investigate thoroughly, is right, then we would have to call the period of unity just before the Southwestern and Central branches separated off Proto-Tai, and it may then be possible to show that Saek separated off at some time before this period which we designate Proto-Tai. In any case, whether we finally are able to prove that Saek is a genuine member of the Northern branch, or a separate language that broke away even earlier than the time of Proto-Tai, as I have just suggested, the Saek language provides material for study which is sure to take many years of careful study by scholars to work out. I can scarcely hope that all the problems which my Saek studies have brought to light will be solved by myself or others within my lifetime. I should like to urge Siamese students of linguistics to study Saek. It is our great good fortune that this unusual language is available, so to speak, in our own back yard. Do not think that I have done it all. Even for Ban At Samat, I hardly dare to hope that my dictionary is complete. And there are a great many more texts (legends of Saek history, folktales, etc.) to be collected there. And there remain the other Saek dialects spoken in other villages in Nakhon Phanom province.

A PACT BETWEEN UNCLE AND NEPHEW Epigraphic and Historical Studies, No.

s~

by

A. B. Griswold and Prasert J;la Nagara

The slab of stone on which Inscription XL is engraved is 7.5 em. thick and 57 em. wide, with a maximum height of 66 em. It consists of three fragments, pieced together with cement. Two of them were found in 1956 by the Department of Fine Arts in the ruins of a small building in front of the Cetiya Ha Yot ('cetiya with five spires') in the southern part of the precinct of Vat Mabadbatu at Sukhodaya; the third was presented by Mr. Pundharma Bunasvasti in the same year. The stone is now in the Manuscript and Inscription Division of the National Library at Bangkok. The largest fragment has writing on both faces. The other two are fractured in such a way that while the written surface belonging to Face I survives, that belonging to Face II is lost. (Compare Figs. 1 and 2). The upper portion of the slab has disappeared, carrying away the beg,inning of the text of both faces save for a few illegible bits of the line that preceded I/ 1. The lower portion of Face I has also disappeared, carrying away an unknown amount of text. On Face II, however, the concluding lines survive in part. Face I (Fig. 1) has been edited by Maha Charp DOtigal)1varT).a at Prajum Silacarik, III, p. 43. It contains 29lines of Siamese, written in Sukhodaya characters. A few letters at the beginning and the end of most lines are broken off or obliterated. Apart from that, lines 1 to 3 are virtually intact. Approximately the first half of each of the other lines survives, plus fragments of the remainder of lines 7 to 14, amounting to about 30 per cent in line 7, decreasing to about 15 per cent in line 24. Face II (Fig. 2), edited by Mr. Prasara Punpragon, is published in Silpakara, Xf/3, 106 ff., with annotations by Prasert T).a Nagara . . *No. 1 was published in JSS LVI ii July 1968 and nos. 2, 3 and 4 in JSS LVII i January 1969.

90

A.B. Griswold & Prasert qa Nagara

It has 25 lines of Siamese in the same script as Face I, in similar handwriting. Then follow three lines of mixed Sanskrit and Pali in Khmer characters (of which Maba Sen Manavidura gives a Siamese translation, loc. cit., p. 109). The beginning of each line of Face II is lost, amounting to about 20 per cent in the first few lines, and as much as 40 per cent in lines 11 to 22. In addition several letters at the end of lines 27 and 28 have disappeared. As the passage at I/ 12-27 was evidently almost identical to that at II/ 1-13, the surviving portions of each can be used to restore the losses of the other. In our translation we indicate such repairs by brackets plus an asterisk. Brackets without the asterisk, as usual, indicate conjectural reconstructions based on the context. Lacunae which we are unable to reconstruct are indicated by dots, the number of which corresponds to the estimated number of lost or illegible letters in the text. The inscription is dated on Friday, the full-moon day of Vaisakha (April-May), in a year whose designation has disappeared (11/ 23 f.). The orthography and style of writing suggest the second half of the 14th century or later. The ,~11'1 appears several times, which is unusual among the Sukhodayan inscriptions. The purpose of the text is to record a solemn agreement between two kings (brana), an uncle and a nephew, both of whom speak in the first person (m). The lost upper portion of Face I perhaps contained no more than an exordium, for the real substance of the uncle's statement, which occupies the whole surviving portion of Face I, appears to begin at 1/1. In it he refers to the nephew as 'Satptec Cau Brana.' The nephew's statement, the beginning of which is lost, occupies most of Face II. In it be calls himself 11-.m1, 'the nephew', and refers to the other king as tl'wnqp, 'my uncle the Brana', or, to be more precise, 'my mother's younger brother the Brana.' The uncle makes four specific pledges (I/ 1-9): (1) Not to harm the nephew's officials if the nephew causes

them to do something which was doubtless set forth in the lacuna that follows (query: to come to the uncle's Court ?)j

A PACT BETWEEN UNCLE AND NEPHEW

91

(2) To refrain from doing something (lacuna) in case ministers or kings of foreign countries come to his Court (query: to refrain from making any disclosures to them that might be harmful to the SaJ11tec Cau Brafia ?); (3) To refrain from doing something else (lacuna); (4) To give the nephew free access at all times to come and salute the Sarptec Bral1 Mahadbatu and the relics of Mabadharmarajadhirajapabi tra. He then asserts his firm resolve to remain true to his oath (I/9-11); calls down the usual supernatural sanctions on his own bead in case he should prove false 0/11-26); and pronounces the wish that if he remains faithful he will reign for a long time, and finally attain nirvaqa. This appears to be the conclusion of his statement. It seems likely that the nephew's statement began in the lost lower portion of Face I and continued in the lost upper portion of Face II, for at II/ 1 he has already got the to same point in tbe supernatural sanctions that the uncle reached at I/ 12. As his statement follows the same general pattern as his uncle's, the specific pledges he is making to him must have been set forth in the lost lower portion of Face I, so we can do no more than guess at their contents. At II/l-12 the sanctions continue in nearly the same words as the uncle used at I/12-26. At II/12-13 the nephew makes the same wish as the uncle did at I/26-27, that if he remains faithful he will reign for a long time.

At II/ 13-18 the text continues without a break, and the nephew is evidently still speaking; but this part of his statement consists of matter which is lacking in the uncle's: a wish that the uncle and the nephew shall be bound together by friendship; a wish that there shall never be any anger or hostility between them; a mutilated passage in which, as well as we can make out, the nephew refers to an earlier pact he had made with 'the grandfather Brana', saying that he is now pledging the same thing to the uncle; and so on. From IT/19 on the two kings seem to be speaking jointly, or perhaps a third person is speaking on behalf of both. At If/19-25 comes a declaration that the mabasubarl}apatra, i.e. the document

A.B. Griswold & Prascrt 1,1a Nagara

92

containing the oath, has been duly executed. 1 At ll/21-25 the exact moment is given at which the inscription recording it is to be erected at the Brat) Sri Ratanamahadbatu Cau. The last three lines, in mixed Sanskrit and Pali, appear to be a magic formula intended to make the oath endure forever. Obviously the 'Brag Sri Ratanamahadhatu' where the inscription is to be erected is Vat Mahadbatu at Sukbodaya, where it was actually discovered. The 'Sa!ptec Brab Mahadbatu', which the nephew will be allowed to salute whenever he wishes, is its principal monument, the magico-religious center of the kingdom. The expression also refers to the Buddha relics it contained. 2 'Mahadharmarajadhirajapabitra', whose relics the nephew will be permitted to salute at all times, is Mabadharmar8:ja I of Sukhodaya, i.e. l,-idaiya (Lil Tai), who came to the throne in 1347 and died some time between 1368 and 1374. 3 The remains of many funerary monuments can still be seen in the precinct of Vat Mahadhatu, and his relics were doubtless enshrined in one of them. Who are the uncle and the nephew in our inscription? The uncle is necessarily a king of Sukhodaya, since no one else could guarantee the nephew access to the Mabadhatu; and he is necessarily one of ~idaiya's successors, since the reference to the relics shows that ~idaiya is already dead. The nephew, judging from his title Sa~ptec Cau Brana, is a king of Ayudhya. ~idaiya

bad only three successors- Mahadharmaraja II, III and IV. His immediate successor, Mahadharmaraja II, who reigned from T,.idaiya's death until c. 1398, was an independent monarch during part of his career, and a vassal of Ayudhya during part of it. The same is true of Mahadbarmaraja III, who reigned,from c. 1398 to 1419. Mabadharmara:ja IV (r. 1419-38). was a vassal of Ayudhya throughout 1) See below, note 30. 2) Two of them had been brought from Ceylon around 13 43; see Griswold, Towards a History of Suldwdaya Art, pp. 17-20; for the magico-religious importance of the monument, see ibid., pp. 20-22, 33-34. 3) For Pdaiya's dates, see ibid., pp. 29, 30, 39, 40 and note 108 (observe that the date 1357, ibid., p. 29, line 36, is a misprint for 1347); cf. Prasert !)a Nagara in SSR, June 1966, p. SO.

A !'ACT BETWEEN UNCLE AND NEPHEW

93

his reign, and after his death the kingdom of Sukhodaya was abolished. 4 These facts may help us to identify the uncle in the inscription. If the uncle were the nephew's vassal, we should expect him to swear allegiance to him unilaterally, without receiving any reciprocal undertaking at all. 5 But both parties to Inscription XL swear oaths, and both invoke sanctions of the sort invoked in the treaty of 1393 between Sukhodaya and Nan, which has every appearance of being a pact between two sovereign states. 6 Though the specific pledges made by the nephew in Inscription XL are lost, it may be suspected that they were of the same character as the uncle's; even if they were not, they must have constituted a real quid pro quo, for they are backed up by no less solemn sanctions than the uncle's. On these grounds alone we should probably be justified in concluding that both parties to the pact are sovereign monarchs; and there is evidence in the sanctions which seems to prove it. Each party pronounces the wish that, in case he should prove false, 'the upholders of pure righteousness' (i.e. the monks), will accept no alms from him-a grave penalty, as it would exclude him from an important means of making merit, and so lessen his chances of happiness in future 4) For the history of Sukhodaya in the reigns of Mahiidharmariija II, III and IV, see Griswold and Prasert ga Nagara, Epigraphic and Historical Studies, Numbers 1 to 4 (No. 1 : USS LVI/2; Nos. 2-4: JSS LVII/ 1); cf. Griswold, Towards a History of Sukhodaya Art, pp. 47-55; Griswold and Prasert ~a Nagara, On lite me:.HJing in Cambc1dian, as in English and many other language~. often ~hare a :,ingle nb!>tract noun which is used to measure, withuut prcjudke, tl:c •tuality involved. In such language:;, adjectives like "large" lHH.l "small" mnah kbnia. These two thh1gs are equally old. raboh pii nih c;>mnah khnia. These two things are of equal age. *In this article, the term "Cambodian" means Modern Standard Khmer as spoken and written in the Kingdom of Cambodia itself. This is the text of a talk delivered at the Sian1 Society on 4 September, 1969.

Ricbrm:l H.

116

NCl~S

In many languages which ha\·e worth of thelic Cll!egmic~. if n neutral-ab:Jtract noun is derived from either of a pair of oppt•site adjectives, it is invariably derived from the fl'!l!\ilive m ''huger" member of the pair. This is true in both Engliidl ;md Camth~>tlinn, where, for example, things can be "lwt" tlong, in fact, that it may even penetrate scientific thinking: the ir:len:,ity of light, for example, could as easily be measured fl'l'm top tn bottom (i.e. in degrees of darkness), but is in practice measured from bottom to top (in degrees of light). Following are some English exumples M neuuul-:th!l>trat:l based on the ''larger" of two paired-nppcJsltC adjective": ",'>'mall''

«'/.ru·_l!f"

.lb.ll/ions of equality only. This set of words hu!! the same relationship to adjectives that classifiers have to nouns: a given adjective determines the selection of the specific member of the the set. Only the last member listed below, /pahael/, can be used with any adjective indiscriminately.

~ichard B. Noss

118

provael) khnia ''Same in linear measurement'' khmaw-day pii nih khley provael) khnia. ''These two pencils are equally short." pQn khnia "Same in three-dimensional measurement.'' siQw-phQW pii nih tumhum pQn khnia. "These two books are the same size." smaQ khnia ''Same in some other kind of measm-ement'' siQw-phow pii nih thl)UQn sma~ khnia. ''These two books are equally heavy." douc khnia ''Same in non-measurable degree." khmaw-day pii nih r:i:l douc khnia. "These two pencils are equally dull." domnaal khnia "Same in age (oj people)" koun-sQh pii neQ? nih aayu? domnaal khnia. "These two students are the same age." pQhael khnia "approximately the same" kbmaw-day pii nih veelJ p:)hael khnia. "These two pencils are about the same length." So far we have dealt mainly with paired-opposite adjectives having (related or unrelated) neutral-abstract nouns. For other paired adjectives, however, which are clearly of opposite meaning as far as the native speaker is concerned, there may be no abstract noun which effectively covers the entire semantic range of the pair. It is difficult, for example, to find a single noun that embodies the complete concept of good/bad in English without prejudicing the case; different words like "quality," ''morality" and "value" come to mind, but none serves. Furthermore, no linear scale of measurement seems to be involved; or if there is a scale, it starts at zero and goes in opposite directions: BAD ZERO GOOD + ~--------------------'0---------------------~ "IMMORAL" (minus) "AMORAL"

(plus) "MORAL"

Whereas the "light/heavy" distinction can be plotted on a single scale: ~

0 ZERO

LIGHT

HEAVY

INFINITY

l'AIHED ADJECTIVES IN CAMBODIAN

i19

Even the plus/minus type of model, however, does not really serve in the areas of morality and emotion, for it is possible for an individual or a situation to be both "bad" and "good" at the same time. This is, in fact, the essence of tragedy. The same is true of pairs like "sad/happy." For still other adjectives, there may be no obvious paired-opposite. For example, what is the opposite of"angry" in English? It is tempting to use the linguistic evidence of paired-opposite adjectives and their related neutral-abstract nouns as a tool to gain insight into the cultural values of the society using the language. The use of paired-opposite adjectives for semantic mapping of other words has long been a technique of psycholinguistics, in fact. Thus, for English speakers, a ''brave" person has a lot of "courage" and a "cowardly" person has very little; there is even a newer formation "courageous" which means "brave." In other words, "cowardice" and "bravery" are both on the "courage" scale, which resembles the "lightness/heaviness" scale illustrated above. But what about "meekness" and "boldness," "sadness" and "happiness"? The native speaker identifies them as opposites, but what is the name of the scale? In Cambodian, the situation is a little different, because the neutral-abstract noun derived by infix gives us a tool.

For example,

consider this set : (sac-kdey) aakro? "bad(ness)"

(sac-kdey) Poo "good(ness)" lum?o::>

"goodness" Does this mean that "goodness" can be a neutral quality as far as Cambodians are concerned? If so, this concept must predate Buddhism!

Another set :

cia "well, in good health" ch:i:i "ill'' cumiJi:i: "illness" There is no infixed form "'jcumnia/, which would be the abstract noun from /cia/.

To be sure, there are other words for "health," but they

come from Sanskrit sources. Since the infix is always applied to the "large" member of a pair of adjectives, this suggests that "ill" rather than "well" is the positive adjective!

i2o

Richard B. Noss

pin

Finally, here is the most puzzling set of all: t;.Hee "empty" "full"

r(

7"

Text to be submitted by 1st October for January issue, 1st April for July issue.

EDITORIAL AND PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Chairman Honorary Advertising Manager Members

Michael Smithies, Honorary Editor of the]merna/ Aswin Kongsiri Sulak Srivaraks Tej Bunnang P.J.S. Young

PtlBLICATIONS OF THE: SIAM SOCIKf\' 1. The Journal per number .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Tho Journal back numbers before 19·16 2. Index to the Journal, Volumes Ito XX'/ (t.uld out) 3. Index to the Journal, Volumes XX'/! to XI. (t;nld .. ut) ... 4. Florae Siameusis Enumcrutia····per number 5. Tho Natural History Bulletin per number

Price (Dubt) 40.00 60.00 12.00 12.00 30.00 30.00

REPRINT VOLUMES I X 6. The Commemorative Publication issued on the occasion or the Society's 50th Anniversary: One set (Vols. I & II) cloth-bound ... . . . ... ... ... ... 120.00 One set (Vols. I & l!l paper-bound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 00.00 Vol. JH paper-bound, Early History and Ayudhyn (sold out) 50.00 Vol. IV , Lophburi, Bangkok, !lhuket... . .. 50.00 Vol. V , Relationship with Burma, Part I... . . . 50.00 Vol. VI ., , Relationship with Burma, Part 2.. 50.00 50.00 Vol. VII , Relnthmship with I'Mtugnl, llolland and the Vatican 50.00 Vol. VIII , Relationship with France, Englund nnd Denmark 50.00 Vol. IX , Dr. R.S. le Mny: The Coinage of Siam (sold out) " 50.00 Vol. X , Studies of old Siamese Coins 50.00 7. Erik Scidenfaden: The Thai Peoples . .. .. . . . . . .. 80.00 8. Charles Nelson Spinks :The Ceramic Wares of Sium, 1965 9. Gunnar Seidenf'nden and Tern Smitinand: 45.00 The Orchids of Thailand: A Preliminary List, 195•J, l'urt J 45.00 19 59, Part II, I 7 5.00 1960, Part II, 2 7 5.00 19 61, Pnrt III 75.00 1963, Part IV, l 100.00 1965, l'nrt IV, 2 10. Monograph No. 1 Goruon Young : The llill Tribes of Northern Thailand 70.00 .Jth cditiun, 1969 . .. . . . . .. .. . 11. Monograph No. 2 II.R.Il. Prince Darnrong Rajnnubbnb : 20.00 A llistory of Buddhi~t Monuments in Siam, ill., 1962 (sold out) 12. Monograph No. 3 Albert H. Banner and Dora M. Bunner: 80.00 The Alpheid Shrimp of Thui1nnd, ill., 1966 13, John Black, F.R.G.S.: Tho Lofty Snnctuury of Khno Phra Vih11r 20.00 80.00 14, Felicitation Volumes of Southeast-Asian Studies, Vol. I 80.00 Vol. II 15. The Kamthieng House; An Introduction 50.00 Guide to the Kamthieng Museum, ill., 1966 16. An Annotated Bibliography of Mntcrial Concerning Southeast Asia from Pctermanns Geographische Mitteilungen 1855-1966. Larry Stcrnstcin and Carl Springer ... . . . .. • ... ... . . . ... ... .. . .. . ... ..· ··· 100.00 17. II.H. Prince Dhani Nivat: Collected articles reprinted from the Journal of the 100.00 Siam Society . .. . •. .. . ... . .. .. . ... ... .·· ·· · ··· ·· · ··· Members receive a discount of 20% on the above prices Conversion Rate: Baht 20.00 c= 1 US dollar PRINCIPAL AGENTS ABROAD Martinus Nijhoff Luznc & Compa11y Lange Voorhout 9 46 Great Russell Street The Hugue London, W.C. 1

TIH: SlAM SOUET\'

Addrcs1: 131 /unku R"~~~ {1 Me ~I). Ihwsk

._,2 c:;:;

,..,"'

r::

§

>le of Siam. 1857. 2 vols.

London: Parker and Son,

Blanchard, Wendell, ed., and others. Thailand; Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files, 1958. 525 pp. Damrong (Rajanubhab), (Prince). Siamese Musical Instruments. 2d ed. Bangkok: The Royal Institute, 1931. 12 pp, 16 pis. Duriyanga, (Phra) Chen. Thai Music, Thailand Culture Series, No. 8. 4th ed. Bangkok: National Culture Institute, 1956. 56 pp. Ellis, Alexander J. "Appendix to Mr. Alexander J. Ellis's Paper on 'The Musical Scales of Various Nations' read 25th March, 1885," Royal Society of Arts. Joumal, XXXIII (Oct., 30, 1885), 1102-1111. • --- - • - • - - - "On the Musical Scales of Various Nations," Royal Society of Arts, Journal, XXXIII (March 25, 1885), 485-527. - ·--- · ·- ·- · "Tonometrical Observations on Some Existing Nonbarmonic Scales," Royal Society of Arts, Proceedings (1884), 368-385. Graham, Walter Armstrong Siam. 3d ed. London; Moring, 1924. 2 vols. Groslier, Bernard and Jacques Arthaud. Angkor; Art and Civilization. Translated from the French by Eric Ernshaw Smirh. London: Thames and Hudson, 1957.230 pp. Hood, Mantle. "Polyphonic Stratification in Javanese Music, " !FMC. gram. Israel: August, 1963. Unpublished.

Pro-

Moore, Sidney. "Thai Songs in 7 I 4 Meter," Etluwmt(sicology, XIII, (May, 1969), 309-312. Moore, W. Robert. "Angkor, Jewel of the Jungle," National Geogmj>hic 1\Iaga.ura~tam, by Umapati Sivikariyar (14th century A.D.): ''In the forest of Taragam lived multitudes of heretical sages. Shi va proceeded there to refute their heretical beliefs. The sages' anger was directed against Shiva, and they tried to destroy him by means of incantations. A fierce tiger was created in sacrificial fires and rushed upon him. But smiling gently, Sbiva seized the tiger, and with the nail of his finger, stripped off its skin and wrapped it about himself like a silken cloth. Undiscouraged by failure, the sages renewed their offerings, and produced a monstrous serpent which however Shiva seized and wreathed about his neck like a garland. Then he began to dance; but there rushed upon him a last monster in the shape of a malignant dwarf, Muyalaka. Upon him Shiva pressed the tip of his foot, and broke tbe creature's back; and so, his last foe prostrate, Shiva resumed the dance, witnessed by gods and sages (Coomaraswamy 1948: 85-86). The expression, To' Perang Hutan ('Lord of the Jungle War'), occurring in the Kelantan shadow-play invocations, probably refers to the legend of Shiva's conquest of the forces of evil (tiger, serpent, and Muyalaka) that were rushed upon him by the heretical sages of the forest of Taragarn. In this connexion, mention may also be made of another deity of the Malay folklore, namely, To' Panjang Kulw ("Grandsire Long-Claws"), who, according to Skeat (1967: 90-91), signifies a special manifestation of Shiva. The name, To' Panjang Kuku is probably connected with the legend of Shiva stripping off the tiger's skin with his own nail in the forest of Tl'iragam. The Nadiinta dance of Shiva provided the motif for the South Indian bronze images of Shiva as Nataraja. The image represents Shiva with his upper right hand holding the hour-glass-shaped drum which signifies creation, and his upper left band bearing a tongue of flame signifying destruction. His lower left hand points to his raised left foot si~nifying release or salvation 1 and his lower right band

lN\'llCATIONS TU NA')'AHA.IA

51

signifies protection for the conscious and unconscious order of his creation. While his left foot is raised, his right foot is firmly planted on the back of Muyalaka (signifying 'arrogant ignorance') whom Shiva conquered. The Malay expression, Yang Berdiri Kald 'Ttmggal (One who is standing on a solitary foot), which occurs in the invocations of the Kelantan shadow-play, probably refers to the Nadanta dancing form of Shiva as Nataraja. The Tamil puranic work, Koyi/ Pura11am, in its third chapter, bas an account of also the legend concerning the repeat-performance of the Nadanta dance by Shiva in the golden hall at the temple of Na~araja in the famous Shaivite centre of pilgrimage, namely, Citambaram,4 which has been regarded as the centre of the Universe. Shiva is said to have performed his Nadanta dance for the second time at the request of two of his sage-devotees, Patai'ijali (who was in fact Adi-Sesha, the primeval serpent who had taken the form of the sage) and Vyagbrapada ('tiger-footed sage'). The sacred dance-halls (sabha) that are associated with the performance of the Nadanta dance by Shi va at the temple of Nata raja in Citambaram are known as Cit Sabha and Kanaka Sabha. The Cit Sabha and Kanaka Sabha, where Shiva in the form of the invisible Akasa ("ether") linga and Nataraja are enshrined, are the sanctum sm1ctorum of the temple. It is from the AJ~asa linga that Shiva is said to have appeared to perform the Nadanta dance for the sages. There is a screen of cloth hanging bet ween the in visible Akasa lihga in the Cit Sabba facing south and the image of Na!araja. This screen is said to be pushed aside (or rolled up) only on very special occasions of religious significance. The interiors of the Cit Sabba are of such sanctity that only the officiating priestly Dil~shitars have access to them. The Dikshitars perform their rituals according to the canons of the Shaivite Agamic Sastras. 4) Citambaram (or Chidambaram) is situated about 150 miles south-west of Madras in South India. The name, Cit-ambaram, 'clothed in cit (consciousness), is said to be a Sanskritized derivation from Tamil cirrambalam 'little hall or temple'. The holy place of Citarnbaram is also known as Til!ai, named after a tree (Excoecaria aga!Iocha), and Puliyii1· (Tiger's town or settlement).

'I • '·..····1

I

·~

52

S. Singaravelu

Architecturally too, the Cit Sabha and the Kanaka Sabha are of considerable interest to us. The Cit Sabha is a rectangular building, its longer sides running east and west, and opening on the south into the Kanaka Sabha, which is a kind of maf!qapa of almost identical dimensions and plan. The roofs of the buildings are modelled upon the style of a thatched-roof. The Cit Sabba has wooden walls on three sides, while on the south are wooden doors, windows, and pillars (Harle 1963: 37). The above features of the Cit Sabha, its architectural style, the screen, and the rituals conducted by the ofBciating priests according to Agamic canons, and some of the corresponding features of the shadow-play stage (panggong) would seem to suggest the possibility that they both were related in some way, which could have provided a reason for the importance of the invocations to Nataraja in the shadow-play performances. Finally, mention may also be made of another striking feature of the invocations of the Kelantan shadow-play, namely, the lively syncretism that bas been achieved between the higher divinities and various other spirits. This syncretism has been possible probably because Shi va himself has been regarded as the Lord of the Elements, or the Lord of the Ghosts (Bhiitesvara). The spirits of darkness, the antigods, the demons, the genii, evil spirits, ghosts, evil elves, magicians, serpents, tigers etc., are said to be serving him. Thus Shiva rules over both the spirits of light and darkness (Danielou 1964: 196, 213), and this made the divinity of Shiva the deity par excellence for To' Dalang of the shadow-play to make his offerings for the protection be sought. The religious and artistic motif of Shiva as Nataraja is believed to be of very ancient Indian (probably Dravidian) and pre-Aryan origin. The religion and philosophy of Shaivism belonged to another and earlier stratum of Indian civilization than the Vedism of the Aryans. Shaivism has also been the religion of the common people for whom there was little place in the aristocratic Aryan fold. Though the symbol and significance of Shiva as Na~araja has been of an ancient and humble origin, it bas proved to be a great motif in religion and art, and a great symbol which becomes all things to all men; age after age it yields to men such treasure and value as they find in their own hearts and minds.

INVOCATJON!i TO NA')'AHAJA

53

BIBLIOGRAPHY BANGKOK. Vajiraniina National Library. 1918 Kham Plwh R7mwllian. (Vajiranrrna National Library, Bangkok, 1918). (Contains the four texts of the Thai Nang Yai invocations.) 1920 Tamm len nang yai nai ngannwlwrasoj•. Latthithithamniam tang tang. (Bangkok, Vajirafiana National Library, 1920). (The sixth volume of a series of publications on Thai culture issued by the Vajiraiiii National Library, Bangkok, containing a text of the Thai Nang Y ai invocations together with information on the techniques of figure-manufacture and shadow-play performance.) COOMAHAS\V AMY, A.K. 194 8 The Dance of Shiva. House, 1948). CUISINIEH, Jeanne.

(Bombay, Asia Publishing

1957 Le thl:atre d'ombres il Kelantan.

(Paris, Gallimard,

1957). DANIELOU, Alain.

19 64 llindre Polytheism.

(London, Routledge, Kegan & Paul,

1964). DHANI NIVAT, H.H. Prince. 1962 'l'he Nang [The shadow-play of Thailand] (Thai Culture, New Series, No.3, Bangkok, Fine Arts Department, 1962 (B.E. 2505) First pub., 1954). GEEH'I't,,

Clifford. 1960 The Religion of Java. and Collier-Macmillan Ltd., 1960).

(London, Free Press of Glencoe

1963 Temple Gateways in South India; the architecture and icomgraphy of the Cidambaram GojJIIras. (Oxford, Bruno Cassirer, 1963).

1-IAHLE, J.C.

NicoLAS, Rene.

1927 "Le thHitre d'ombres au Siam; historique du theatre

d'ombres," in Jo11mal of the Siam Society, Vol. 21, part 1 (1927), pp. 37-51; 17 plates. NIK MOHAMED AMJN BIN NIK AllU BAKAH.

1960 Wayaug Kulit Kelantcm, (Aca-

demic exercise for the B.A. l-Ions. degree, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 1960. Romanized Malay text.

Unpublished.)

19 36 "The Kelantan Shadow-Play," in, Journal of the l'lialaymz Bra11ch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS), Vol. 14, part 3 (1936),

RRNTSE, Anker.

pp. 284-301. 1947 "The origin of the Wayang Theatre (Shadow-Play)" in JMliRAS, Vol. 20, part 1 (1947), pp. 12-15. SIMMONDS, E.H.S.

1961 "New Evidence on Thai Shadow-Play Invocations," in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Afdcan Studies, Vol. 24, pnrt 3 (1961), pp. 542-559.

54 SKEAT,

S. Singuruvclu W.W. 1967 i\Ialay Mtrgic, Being an lntroduc·tion to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the Malay Penimula. (New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 1967. First pub., 1900).

UMAl'ATI Siv"AcAHIYAI\

1952 Kuyil Puranam.

[The Pur una of the temple of

Nataraja at Citambaram.] With the commentary by ArumuganiivaUir. (Madras, 19 52). (Tamil text). Wl~ST!WT,

R.O. 1961 a The l\Ialays; a cultural history. (6th edn., London, Routledge, Kegan & Paul Ltd., 1961. First pub., 1947).

1961 b The ,,Ialay i\1agicia11 Being Shaman, Saiva, and Sufi. London, Routledge, Kegan, & Paul Ltd., 1961).

(Rev. cd.,

RECENTES RECHERCHES

A NAKHON

PATHOM~·

par

Jean Boissclie r ABSTRACT The antiquity of Pra Pathom Chedi was first recognized by King Mongkut. Subsequently, the existence and culture of 'Dviiravatl' were established and defined by Prince Damrong, George Coed~s. and Pierre Dupont. Two medals from Nakhon Pathom published by Boeles confirmed the reality of the name 'Dvaravati', and in 1965-66, it was discovered that ancient Nakhon Pathom, measuring 3.7 km. east-west and 2 km. northsouth, was centered on Wat Pra Paton. Moreover, at long last, it is now possible to put the chronology of Dv1iravatr art on a solid basis, instead of attributing the works as a whole to the 7th-ll th centuries, with the most naturalistic presumably oldest. In July and August, 1968, after a disturbance at the monastery brought them to light, the Fine Arts Department uncovered stuccos around the subbasement of State I of Chedi Chula Paton, which was known to Dupont as Wat Pra Paton and incompletely excavated by him in 1939-40. These stuccos, which for the most part are apparently illustrations of .Jiitalza, reveal Indonesian influence and can only be attributed to the ninth century or to the end of the eighth. This does not mean, however, that the foundation of the monument was also so late, for on the north-east face are remains of terracotta figures, smaller in scale and more refined than the stucco ones, and already in poor condition at the time of the construction of State II. They would date from the seventh century, and the stuccos would belong to State II, at which time the upper surface of the subbasement of State I was covered over (probably ninth century). To State III of the monument belong the painted, carved, and engraved bricks of the foundation deposits under the new stupas at the north, east, south, and west corners. The eleventh century would be the outer limit of a style still so vigorous, but the good preservation of the stuccos suggests a date closer to that of State II, possibly the late ninth or early tenth century; perhaps the occasion was a return to the original Theravada Buddhism.

* Paper written in October 1968.

The photographs have been kindly provided by Prince Subhadradis Diksul and were taken by Mr. Pibul Subhakichvilekbakarn.

56

Jean Boisselier The original foundation deposit was pillaged long ago, but on the deepest level of the foundation bones and the shell fragments of a very large tortoise were found; this must be the tortoise who supports M t. Mandara, according to a legend wellknown in ancient Champa and Indonesia, Hitherto only gold tortoises have been known. Researches in U-Thong and the study of the three slates of the Wat Chula Paton monument allow us to divide the art of DvaravatT into three periods: a first phase, Theravadin in tendency, often characterized by terracotta decor (about the seventh to mid-eighth century); a second phase, Mahayana in inclination, Sri Vijaya-influenced, with stucco decoration (the late eighth and the ninth centuries); and a third phase, marked by a return to the Theravada, with increasingly impoverished and degenerate decoration (about the tenth century, or from the end of the ninth). H.W.

De tous les sites anciens de Ia Thailande, Nakhon Pathom est celui qui, le premier, a eveille !'interet du monde savant et c'est toujours lui qui, periodiquemcnt, nous apprend le plus sur !'ancien royaume de Dvaravati et sur son art. Parmi tousles lieux saints visites par Je roi Rama IV (le roi Mongkut dont on vient, tout juste, de celebrer le lOOe anniversaire de Ia mort) c'est Nakhon Patbom qui a, d'abord, retenu son attention, suscitant des lors son constant interet. Bien avant son accession au trone, des 1831, sept annees apn's son entree en religion, le Prince Mongkut se rendait en pelerinage a Pra Patbom Cbedi. La, apres avoir venere le stlipa, le Prince affirmait, devant le groupe de disciples qui l'a vaient accompagne, son importance exception neUe et formait le voeu de tout faire pour que soient justement honorees les eminentes Reliques du Buddha qu'il pensait y etre enfermees. Independamment de la foi profonde qui !'inspire, ce voeu, formule en pali, peut ~tre regarde comme le plus ancien temoignage de preoccupations archeologiques jamais manifeste en Thailande. En effet, apres avoir souligne que Pra Patbom Chedi etait, sans doute, le monument le plus venerable et le plus imposant de tout le pays thai, le Prince ajoutait que ce devait etre, aussi, le plus ancien tant ''les li~nes de sa

nf.:t:ENTES HI\CfmRC:I!ES ,\ NAKIION PATI!OM

57

modenature et ses sculptures sont etranges et different de tout ce qui existe dans les temps modernes. Des tors, par !'importance des Reliques qu'il devait enfermer, par son antiquite, parses dimensions, Pra Pathom Chedi devait etre regarde comrne le premier pathama de taus les cetiya du royaume de Siam. Natant que l'emprise croissante de la foret rendait toujours plus difficiles les pelerinages populaires, le Prince Mongkut souhaitait obtenir des divinites gardiennes de Pra Pathom Chedi deux Reliques qui, transportees dans Ia capitate et placees dans des reliquaires appropries, auraient pu etre offertes a la veneration des foules. Le voeu n'ayant pas ete exhausse, le Roi, apres son avenement, vers 1860, donnait l'ordre que soit entreprise la restauration de Pra Pathom Chedi. Les premiers travaux ayant echoue, on decidait alors, toujours a !'instigation du Roi, d'abriter tout entiere l'ancienne construction dans l'actuel monument acheve durant le cinquieme regne. Si les conclusions d'ordre historique auxquelles etait parvenu le roi Mongkut peuvent paraitre, aujourd'bui, quelque peu fragiles-le Roi voyait dans le stiipa le temoin, construit du temps meme d'As6ka, de Ia venue dans 1' Asie du Sud-Est des deux premiers missionnaires envoyes pour y repandre la Doctrine-nous n'aurions garde d'oublier qu'on ignorait tout, alors, de l'histoire du Sud-est asiatique, que celle de l'Inde n'etait guere mieux connue et qu'un ouvrage tel que le J\llahavmtzsa, qui rapporte ces faits, etait l'une des rares chroniques de caractere historique dont on put, pour l'heure, disposer. Et, finalement, c'est bien grllce au roi Mongkut que Nakhon Pathom est devenu, pour toute Ia Tbailande, le centre religieux le plus eminent et i1 est non mains certain que c'est encore grace a son initiative que pouvait etre isolee, dans le voisinage plus ou mains immediat de Pra Patbom Chedi, une culture bouddhique originate bien avant qu'il soit question d'un royaurne de Dvaravati et, surtout, de son art. Cette culture, utilisant le pali com me langue sacree, repetant a l 'envie la celebre formule, dite du Credo bouddbique, ye dhamma, avec ses statues du Buddha de facture tres particuliere, se~ Roues de la Loi, ses reliefs sculptes ou modeles dans Ie stuc ou, plus rarement, la terre cuite, ses medaiiles votives, paraissait assez bien caracterisee pour que, des

58

Jean Boissclier

1903, le Prince Damrong, fils du roi Mongkut et veritable promoteur des etudes historiques et archeologiques de la Thailande, puisse, comme nous le rappelions voila quelques annees, definir la culture

d'U- Thong par rapport a celle de Nakhon

Pat hom. Depuis lors, en depit de tout ce qu'ont pu nous reveler d'autres sites-et nous pensons plus specialement a U- Thong-· c'est presque toujours a partir de Nakhon Pathom qu'a pu progresser notre connaissance de la phase Ia plus ancienne de l'histoire de la Thailande.

Des travaux conjoints du Prince Damrong et de M. George Coedes sortira, de 1925 a 1930, une premiere definition de l'art "de Dvaravati", royaume encore hypothetique dont le nom et la localisation ont ete proposes a partir de rares indications figurant dans des textes chinois du VIle siecle. En 1939 et 1940, les degagements conduits par Pierre Dupont a Wat Pra Men eta Wat Chula Paton (Wat Pra Paton pour !'auteur) permettront de rattacher desormais a cet art une architecture. Si !'analyse qui en est alors donnee s'est trouvee, en partie, infinnee par les recherches plus recentes, iln'en reste pas moins qu'elle a fourni la base stable a partir de laquelle les travaux ont pu progresser. En 1952, la decouverte, et la publication par M. George Coedes, de deux fragments d'inscriptions permettent d'etablir la presence de la langue mone a Nakhon Pathom vers les VIle- VIIIe siecles, en fonction des caracteristiques de l'ecriture utilisee. Une dixaine d'annees plus tard, c'est la publication par M. Boeles, sui vie de leur dechiffrement par M. George Coedes, de deux medail!es inscrites trouvees sur le site, qui garantit, enfin, la realite du royaume de Dvaravati en celebrant, l'une et l'autre, en sanskrit trace en caracteres des VIle-VIIIe siecles, une "oeuvre rneritoire du Seigneur de Dvaravati" (Sri Dvaravati svara pul}ya, pul)ya auquel repond, en thai, bun, merite). Au cours des annees 1965-66, c'est la reconnaissancedu trace de l'ancienne ville, longtemps cherchee en vain dans le voisinage de Pra Pathom Chedi, alors qu'elle est bien plus a l'est, sensiblement centree sur Wat Pra P&ton, et aussi parce qu'on hesitait a distin~uer ses foss~s

59

dans le di'·dts de fondation n'ont pas fini de nous reserver des surpri~ ses. Tout recemment, lc degagement d'un nouveau site it ThOng,

u.

64

.Teun lloisselier

Ie chedi n' 29, nous a revele des dispositions inattendues. Le site n' 29 est represente par les vestiges, considerablement ruines, d'un chedi octagonal que le style des figures de stuc qui y ont ete recueillies ne permet d'attribuer qu' a Ia peri ode soumise ~~!'influence de Sri Vijaya, soit fin du VIIIe et IXe siecles. Le monument fait d'ailleurs partie de tout un ensemble, degage en 1966 par nos soins, appurtenant a !'art de Ia meme periode. Autour du monument, sensiblement a chacun des points cardinaux, ont ete decouverts des squelettes pareillement orientes et couches dans des positions qui ne devaient rien au hasard: un a cbacun des points sud, est et nord, deux (un masculin et un feminin) a !'ouest. Les corps etaient depourvus de toute parure, et seulement accompagnes de quelques menues coupelles en terre cuite; mais aux pieds de chacun d'eux etait fichee, verticalement, une tige de fer de destination certainement rituelle. Rien ne permet encore· de discerner a queUes dispositions religieuses pouvait correspondre un tel systeme d'inhumation ni de reconnaitre quelle secte pouvait faire appel a sernblables pratiques; rnais le probleme ne semble pas insoluble et sa solution devrait nous reveler beaucoup sur certains aspects de !'orientation religieuse durant Ia periode influencee par Sri Vijaya. Ainsi, pour revenir a Nakhon Pathorn et aux enseignements recueillis a Wat Chula Paton, les recentes recherches no us prouvent que les memes faits que ceux que no us avions constates aU-Thongau cours de nos missions de 1965 et 1966, !'influence de Sri Vijaya sur Ia culture de Dvaravati et les progres momentanes du Mahayana, y ont aussi marque leur empreinte. Ces const:ations, !'etude des trois etats du monument de Wat Chula Paton, nous autorisent, desormais, a proposer une division de l'art de Dvaravati en trois grandes periodes et d'attribuer a cbacune de ces periodes des dates approximatives: - Iere phase, de tendance tberavadin, caracterisee par un decor souvent de terre cuite: environ VIIe a milieu du VIlle siecle, - 2e phase, de tendance mahayaniste, influencee par SriVijaya, avec decor de stuc :··environ fin du VIIIe et IXe siecles, - 3e phase, retour au Theravada, avec decor plus pauvre et declin progressif : environ Xe siecle, avec, peut-etre, meme ses d$buts des Ia tin d1,1 IXe.

65

Faute de pieces, images ou monuments exactement dates, les points de repere de la chronologie que nous proposons aujourd'hui demeurent encore bien imprecis. Cette chronologie semble devoir fournir, neanmoins, la possibilite de mettre, enfin, un peu d'ordre dans une production artistique echelonnee sur plus de cinq siecles. Pour l'archeologue et pour l'historien de l'art, ces resultats paraitront appreciables mais les presentes recherches amenent une autre constatation qui, pour ne pas ressortir strictement au domaine de l'art et de l'archeologie, n'en est pas moins fort instructive. C'est !'interet de 1'etroite collaboration, depuis longtemps etablie, qui existe entre le Departement des Beaux-Arts de Thailande et la modeste mission arcbeologique franr;aise que nous avons l'honneur de diriger. Mais nous ne saurians conclure sans souligner encore combien il no us semble heureux, juste aussi, que les enseignements les plus precieux que nous ait jamais livre Nakhon Pathom alent ete recueillis au moment meme oLt l'on s'appretait a celebrer le lOOe anniversaire de la mort du Souverain qui avait si bien pressenti !'importance du site et s'etait tellement attache a lui rendre son antique rayonnement; aussi souhaiterions-nous que les resultats des presentes recherches soient un modeste, bien modeste, hommage a sa memoire.

Fig. I. Chedi Chula Paton, the first and the second stages, taken from the north, seeing the north-eastern facade on the left nnd the north-western facade on the right.

Fig. 2. Details of the north-eastern facade of Chula Paton, showing the construction of the second stage (a wall) on top of the first (a terrace).

Fig. 3. Details of the north·custcrn fucude.

.I

Fig. 4. Chedi Chula Paton, steps on the south·western facade.

Fig. 5. Bas-reliefs showing terracotta figurines of the first stage on the right and a stucco figure of the second stage on the left.

Fig. 6. Stucco bas-relief of the second stage.

Fift· 7. Stu.:w

FiJ:t, ll.

bu~·rclicf'

of tile

~econtf

stage.

Stucco has-relief' r~f' ''"' """""d "'"""'

Fig. 10. Garuda, stucco, of the second stage.

Fig. 11.

bz

Elephllll!·hinl~. ~tucco hn~·relicf' of the second stage.

Fig. 13,

........

__

.tt~

..... ,..................

"'"

Curved brick, found at Chedi Chuln Paton .

'

~·~~,:.

-----·

~=-:~r: ...111ii i i ___;Jil::~;..,;;,lllltl4--;-~c.;~-=--._:_.

Fig. 14· Carved brick, found at Chedi Chula Paton.

THE THAI-BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION: A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE SECOND SEASON 1967'* by

H.E.E. Loofs and William Watson

After a successful trial excavation in early 1966 at Kok Ckaroen site, 13.5 km. north of the town of Chai Bedan, Lopburi Province, c. 150 metres west of the road to Phetchabun, which disclosed five apparently neolithic burials with rich grave goods including hitherto unknown types of pottery (see JSS vol. LV /2, p. 248 seq.), it was decided to devote this second season of the Thai-British Archaeological Expedition mainly to further excavation of this promising site. As already mentioned (ibid., p. 249) this well-drained area of shallow limestone mounds at the beginning of the foothills of the mountain range bordering the Chao Phraya alluvial basin on the east, seemed to fulfil the topographical requirements for the carrying of a relatively dense prehistoric population with an economy based on the shifting cultivation of some cereals (e.g. rice or millet). Furthermore, large and easily accessible clay deposits in nearby river-beds would have made possible the development of local pottery manufacture. A concentration of surface finds (potsherds, some stone adzes and fragments of stone bracelets) on a shallow mound some 200-250 metres

* Again the authors wish to record, on behalf of the

Expedition, their sincere thanks to the then Director General and to the Executive Secretary as well as to other senior officers of the Fine Arts Department without whose constant support and efficient and friendly cooperation the work of this second season would not have been as successful as it proved to be. We also thank His Excellency the Governor of Lopburi for his interest in, and support of, our work, and the Nai Amphoe and District Health Officer of Chai Badan (Lam Narai), for all the assistance they gave us during our stay in the district. Our thanks also go to our colleague Mr. R. Hamilton Parker of Otago University, Dunedin, who willingly put his considerable expertise on tropical stratigraphy at the disposal of the Expedition; and to our friends and assistants Messrs. Nikom Sutbiragsa and Somchai Pums-ad; and to Mr. W. Paul Loofs of Trail, B.C., Canada, who sacrificed his holidays to collaborate ably in the excavations.

li.E.E. Lout's anJ William Vlat~on

west SW of the site of the 1966 trial excavation, which at that time was still covered with castor oil trees, led us to select this spot for the 1967 excavation. This mound is simply a prolongation of the shallow promontory-like spur of land surrounded by a stream on which the 1966 excavation took place, and it too is bordered on the west by that part of the stream which flows throughout the year, and on the east by a depression which is only filled with water during the wet season. Like the site of the trial excavation, this area also could have provided the ideal conditions for a neolithic settlement, and it was in the hope of finding such a habitation site that excavations were begun at this mound, named Kol~ Charoen 2, in early January 1967. By that time it was covered with partly harvested millet, in accordance with the crop rotation practiced by the new settlers. In addition to castor oil trees and millet, sweet corn is cultivated by itself or in combination with millet. All these crops involve the tilling of the soil, at places to a depth of 25 em. below the surface, which means that not only is this upper part of the topsoil thoroughly disturbed, but also that many finds are brought to the surface in the process. Like his fellows in the immediate neighbourhood, the tenant farmer working this particular field did indeed have in his possession a good collection of small ground stone adzes or adze fragments which he had found in the few years since he had settled there. Potsherds are rarely picked up, but a certain belief in the supernatural power of prehistoric stone implements means that these are eagerly collected, though apparently they are put to no further use. As it was planned to excavate a comparatively large area because of the expected size of the habitation surface, a 5 x 5 m. grid (4 x 4 m. cuttings separated by 1-metre baulks) was laid out over the entire mound and excavation started on seven cuttings in an L-shape branching to the south and to the east in about the centre of the mound. At circa 30 em. below the present surface, thus just under the disturbed topsoil, the first signs became visible of burials which were obviously similar to those found at the trial excavation the previous year. These were in the form of areas of whitish granular lime soil appearing in elongated patches on the surface of the rather

Tl!:\1-llfiiT!t;ll AHC:IIAIWLOl;[t:AL EXPE!JI'J'!Uf':

196 7

69

heavy and sticky "Upper Black" soil which could immediately be recognized as the tops of former burial mounds. Soon the first burial pottery (resembling that found in Kok Charoen 7) also appeared. It thus became clear that instead of a settlement we had discovered another burial ground. Later it was ascertained that in some graves pots were stacked in three layers on top of the corpse which explains their being at the very top of the burial mound just a foot or so under the present surface. It was also found out later that at least some of these burial mounds must have been eroded at some time still unknown and for an indeterminable period before new soil formed, exposing parts of the corpses (which were already at the skeletal stage by this time) and of course any pots put on top of them. The excavation was then completed to fill out into a square the whole area between the two Jines of the above-mentioned L-sbaped cuttings, i.e. to 16 cuttings of 4 x 4 m each; and later on it was further extended towards the east until 24 cuttings of this size were either fully or partly opened. The number of burials discovered in this relatively small area-42, with indications of more in the baulks and at the sides-was beyond all expectations and made the Kok Charoen burial ground a very important site indeed. With very few exceptions, the burials were in a supine position with legs outstretched and arms lying parallel with the body. Unfavourable soil conditions would seem the reason for the relatively bad state of preservation of the bones, which were sometimes found to be softer than the hard, and at times compact, lime soil in which they were embedded. The smaller bones of the skeletons bad mostly disappeared altogether, while even the long bones, skulls, pel vis, etc. were quite brittle and often incomplete. In one case an isolated nearly complete skull was found, in association with shells which had clearly been worked and may have formed part of a head adornment. As no other bones belonging to the same skeleton could be located, the possibility of a "skull burial" (perhaps in connection with bead-bunting practices) cannot be discarded; but it could also be that particularly destructive soil conditions might have existed in a limited area and the rest of the skeleton might simply have dissolved without leaving

70

H.E.E. Loufs anu William Watson

a trace. In these circumstances, determination of racial affinities, sex and age, or causes of death, can be attempted in very few cases only. The skeletal material from this excavation is being investigated by Professor Sood Sangvichien and his assistants in the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Thonburi, and not even tentative conclusions can as yet be drawn as regards the_question of who these people buried at Kok Charoen site were. All that can be said by the excavators at this stage is that, with one or two possible exceptions, the skeletons seemed to be of adult persons of a comparable size to that of most present-day peoples in mainland Southeast Asia. Nearly all the skeletons were accompanied by grave goods in the form of pots put at the feet or on the ankles, on the pelvis or chest, along the arms or, most commonly, near the bead, where a row of several pots stretched up from the shoulder by the side of the head, or started directly above the bead thus prolonging the body several feet. As mentioned above, a few burials had an especially large number of pots, even stacked one on top of the other, possibly denoting thereby some difference in social standing. One body, obviously that of a rich or otherwise important individual, as is also evidenced by a great number of finely polished stone bracelets and some tubular stone beads found with the skeleton, was literally buried under so many pots that the excavators had to go through the entire alphabet twice to designate all of them (letters being used to avoid confusion with the burial numbers). Some skeletons were found to be lying on a bed of comparatively large potsherds, possibly from pots broken up especially for this purpose, and to be covered at least partly (arms and legs) by other large potsherds. One rather intriguing feature was presented by the strange incisions on the leg-bones of several skeletons, which were at first sight very tentatively and hesitatingly interpreted as being somehow connected with the death of these individuals but which were later, with the kind help of Dr. I. W. Cornwall of the Institute of Archaeology, London, found to have a far more prosaic and quite natural origin, being rat-bites. Judging from the nature of these

TI!Al-BI\l'l'IS!l AJtl:liA!WLOC:!t:AL EXI'Eill'J'JON

1967

71

marks, it would seem that it was only after they had become skeletal that the bones attracted rats (which are nowadays very numerous in the area and even occasionally form part of the local diet). This would mean that at least parts of the skeletons must have been exposed at times, thereby giving support to the theory formulated primarily on stratigraphic grounds, that the site must have been at least partially eroded at a time when the bodies buried there were already in a state of considerable decay. This theory is further strengthened by one particular observation. The content of a footed bowl found tilted vertically on top of the lower part of a skeleton showed a clear distinction between a lower half consisting of the same lime soil as that filling the grave and constituting the grave mounds throughout the site as far as documented, the soil into which the graves were dug in fact, and an upper half consisting of the same sticky black soil as everything above it. No explanation can be accepted other than that this pot must at times have been at least partly exposed, presumably because of the erosion of the burial mound. Two main orientations suggest two different phases of burials separated by an as yet unknown period of time. But as there would seem to be no significant difference in the burial pottery accompanying skeletons of both orientations, this difference in time may in fact have been of a few generations or a few centuries only. All the burial pottery seems to have been made by hand in the manner already briefly described earlier (JSS vol. LV /2 pp. 251-2 ), and can clearly be divided into two groups: a) round-based, nearly globular, cord-marked bowls with relatively narrow to medium-wide mouths; and b) wide-mouthed, more or less shallow bowls with hollow conical pedestals added, some (both bowls and pedestals) with incised decoration. Representative items of both these groups are, however, as a rule found together in the same grave, including some vessel types already observed in Kol~ Charoen I (t'bid.J pp. 252-3 ). Provisionally, the first group can be divided into seven, and the second into eight, main types, some of which can be divided further into sub-types.

74

H.E.E. Loofs and William Watson

rim. A) Neck slightly inward turning; stem of ring-foot covered with five raised bands of triangular cross-section; base of ring-foot spreading widely. B) Body very shallow; neck concave and outward turned; stem of ring-foot covered with only two raised bands, base of ring-foot higher and slightly concave. C) Neck nearly straight and slightly inturned; body larger in comparison with base; one raised band where body meets pedestal, below which concave pedestal curves out to wide base. Type 5 Carinated pedestal bowls, with the parts above the carination and the pedestals quite high in relation to the lower part of the body, and covered with an incised decoration consisting of dotted areas bounded on the lower side by an incised wavy line (in the case of the neck and the lower half of the ring foot), or limited on both sides by a straight incised line (in the case of the upper part of ring-foot. A) Neck vertical; ring-foot rather straight and narrow. B) Neck slanting inward and slightly concave; ring-foot wider and also concave. Type 6 Heavy, thick-walled pedestal bowl with shallow rounded body and inconspicuous carination. Rounded rim. Neck is covered with incised triangles filled with dots, the body is cord-marked, and the ring-foot, which is nearly half of the total height of the vessel, also bears an incised decoration. Type 7 Pedestal bowls, carinated with high necks and high bases, both of which areas are covered with elaborate incised decorations. A) The section above the carination is nearly as tall as the body below and is covered with incised decoration, consisting of large, dot-filled overlapping triangles; the stem of the ring-foot is covered with incised crossed lines; just below this, where the base begins to spread out, there is a dot-filled band bounded by two incised lines. B) The section above the carination is lower, and slightly concave, but slanting inwards,

hiAl~BRiTISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION

i 967

7s

and is encircled by a pattern made by two incised intertwined wavy lit1es forming interstices which are filled with pricked dots; the base also has dotted and incised decoration. C) Similar to B), but incised decoration on inward slanting neck consists ofdot~filled rectangles, and that of the ring-foot of three wavy lines with dots. Type 8 Thick-walled bowl with heavy ring-foot, body nearly hemispherical and covered with cord-marking; transverse cut rim; upper covered with haematite slip; base concave and rounded at bottom. If pots were fairly evenly distributed as grave goods, with the exceptions mentoned above, this was not the case with other grave goods and personal adornments. A number of very small-ground stone adzes were found, but not always clearly associated with a burial. They were mostly trapezoid in shape, with a unilaterial bevelled cutting edge and a rectangular to lenticular cross-section. In several cases adzes made of soft limestone but having the same form as real stone adzes suggest that substitutes were given to the departed instead of real stone adzes which were presumably regarded as being too valuable to be wasted in this way. It is surmised that it was the scarcity of suitable raw material in the area rather than reluctance to spend time and energy in producing a new stone adze which accounted for this attitude. And indeed only very few and small lumps of natural stone suitable for the manufacture of adzes were to be found at the site or as surface finds in the neighbourhood, so the possibility that such lumps were in fact brought or traded from elsewhere cannot be dismissed. On some skeletons fragments of fully polished stone bracelets, or even complete bracelets, were found. In the burial with the unu~ sually large number of pots there were thirteen of these on the lower left arm. As in the case of the stone adzes, the raw material for the the manufacture of such finely grained bracelets does not seem to occur in the region in sufficiently large lumps, while the alabaster-like

I .. 76

1-i.E.E. Ldofs and William Watsbtl

calcite limestone used in the production of other bracelets may weit have been found locally. Bracelets made of sea shells also occurred, and in one case there were twelve of these bunched together on the lower left arm with a cowrie shell near the wrist. Here again trade would seem to be the most likely explanation for the presence of these shells as the sea is now more than 200 km. a way as the crow flies, and can hardly have been very much nearer then. Small shell disc beads about 5 mm. in diameter and approximately 1 mm. thick, with a hold of' about 1 mm. diameter in the centre, were associated with several skeletons, usually grouped together in large amounts in the pelvic region where they could have decorated a garment, but they also could have originally been worn on the wrists. Sometimes they were also found in patches near the head, and in this case were obviously the remains of a head adornment or decorated headgear. In one case disc beads were found lying together as if still on a string near the right wrist of a skeleton. The shells of the large land snails still common in the region today seem also to have been used for adornment, as examples of these which had clearly been worked were found near the heads or arms of some skeletons. On one skeleton, tubular beads of black stone were lying on the upper chest, while right by each side of the skull of another was an as yet unidentified object (possibly a worked bone) shaped like a golf tee which can only be interpreted as the remains of a very individualistic head decoration. A nail-shaped object of calcite limestone, about 10 em. long, with a cylindrical shaft approximately 1 em. in diameter, pointed at one end and topped by a flat "head" circa 4.5 em. in diameter and decorated with incised crossed lines, was found at the general level of the burials but was not clearly associated with any skeleton. The purpose of this object is still unknown*; Presumably it was also used as an ornament. An identical object was found some years ago near Lopburi (Nikom Suthiragsa, pers. comm.), but to the best of our knowledge has not so far been published. -;--Its rece-~t interpretation as a "chisel" (Archaeology vol. 1, no.2 Bangkok 1967, photograph after p.60) seems unlikely in view of the fragility of the material.

·hiAI-BlUTISH AilCIIAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION 1967

77

A special feature of this site, as of the entire region, is the surprising occurrence of a large number of tektites, tektite fragments or tektite flakes, both as surface finds and in prehistoric layers down as far as that of the burials, although again no unequivocal association with a grave is evident.

Surprising, because this part of Thailand

appears as blank on tektite distribution maps, even the latest, e.g. those of von Koenigswald or Barnes,* where the nearest tektite occurrences shown are at least 30 to 41 km. further east, these being regarded as the westernmost of the large distribution of tektites throughout the Indochinese Peninsula. Although the fact that tektites have been recorded in a place where they had not hitherto been known to exist may not in itself be of great archaeological interest, it becomes so when it is realized that most of the excavated tektite flakes bad unmistakably been intentionally flaked off, some of them even showing traces of use. It is still too early to formulate a clear theory as to why, when and by whom these flakes were fashioned and for what purpose they were used, but the scarcity of suitable raw material for the manufacture of cutting implements, which has been referred to above, points to a utilitarian use dictated by technological necessity.

Dating The suggestion was made in the preliminary report on the trial excavations at Kok Charoen 1 that comparison of the burial pottery with that of other prehistoric sites in Thailand, notably with that of Ban Nadi in the northeast, points to a date in the second millennium B.C. This suggestion, made mainly on typological grounds, has been corroborated by revised thermoluminescence dates of two potsherds from burial pottery of Kok Charoen 1, obtained from the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford, which

* Von Koenigswald, G.H.R., "Tektites in Borneo and Elsewhere", The Sarawak M.useumJournal, vol. X, nos. 17-18 (July-December 1961), p. 323; Barnes, (ed.), Tektites, Chicago,

,V E., "Tektite Strewn Fields", in O'Keefe, J.A. Chicago University Press, 1963, p. 34.

78

H.E.E. Loofs and William Watson

now are 1180 B.C. (probable limits of error 880-1480 B.C.) and 1080 B.C. (probable limits of error 780-1380 B.C.).* After an examination of the Kok Charoen 2 burial pottery it would seem that the possibility cannot be excluded of a still earlier date for the earliest phases.

In

view of the fact that several types of Kok Charoen 2 burial pottery are found elsewhere in Thailand in pre-bronze levels (although some do indeed continue well into the "metal age"), and that not one metal object was found either at Kok Charoen itself or anywhere in the vicinity, whereas typically "neolithic" stone objects abound, the excavators feel justified in calling this burial ground "neolithic". This, of course, is a preliminary conclusion only, but one which is supported by some clear evidence.

If accepted, it would mean that

the K.ok Charoen site is the largest purely neolithic burial ground so far excavated in the whole of Southeast Asia.

* For the previous uncorrected

dates see Zimmerman, D.W. and J. Huxtable, "Recent Applications and Developments in Thermoluminescent Dating", Archaeometry val. 11 (1969), pp. 105-8.

I

I

I

A COMPARATIVE NOTE ON THE THAI AND THE JAVANESE WORLDVIEW AS EXPRESSED BY RELIGIOUS PRACTICE AND BELIEF by J.A. Niels Mulder

Worldview, or Weltanschauung, is an abstraction from life experience; it is a style of thinking and feeling about values, social organization, behaviour, events, and other aspects of experience; it is a mental ordering and integration of these various aspects of experience, giving rise to a mentality and an attitude toward life. In most traditional, rather undifferentiated societies, religious practice and belief still provide most of the vital coordinates of a worldview. The sociological and psychological importance of a worldview is that it shapes the attitude to life of individuals; a worldview can therefore be studied as revealing the approach to reality of individuals and groups, which means that it can be analysed as the logic behind a social system and its dynamics. In this note I wish to make a few comparisons between the Thai and the Javanese world views, as expressed by religious practice and belief.

Thai and Javanese society share many of the same sources

of cultural inspiration, and formally they share many striking similarities.

Yet the practice and the daily life interpretation of the

common cultural heritage appears to be very different, especially nowadays.

It appears that the Javanese religious belief system and

its practice come closer to the enactment of a total worldview than Theravada Buddhism in Thailand.

Yet the very character of

Theravada Buddhism may allow for faster and easier social differentiation and de-traditionalization in face of the challenges of the 20th century.

To expound this argument I first offer a short comparative

80

J.A. Niels Mulder

analysis of the two religious systems as I observed themt. From each system I then abstract the attitude to life that it sustains. Each attitude is then viewed in terms of its consequences for social and economic modernization. Javanese Religion, a Style of Life

It is bard to say what exactly is the religion of Java. Although most Javanese will say that they are Moslirns, at least 80% of them are only nominal adherents of Islam. At best these nominal Moslims 2 have mixed a few Islamic lines of thinking and concepts into their view of nature and supernature. The basis of Javanese religion (Javanism) is the conviction of the essential unity of all Existence. That makes Javanism more encompassing than formalized religion: it views human existence within a cosmological context, making life itself a religious experience. In this conception it is not possible to separate the religious from the non-religious, the natural from the supernatural, the here and now from the beyond and timeless. Existence is conceived as ordered in a ranked and regulated Universe. It is the moral task of all that exists to be in harmony with that universal order. To oppose that order is at the same time disruptive and sinful. Therefore men carefully regulate their society to harmonize with the universal order and to sustain its own inner harmony. The rules of the Javanese etiquette (tatakrama) regulate interpersonal behaviour; the rules of the tradition (adat) regulate the inner harmony of society; the formal religious and animistic rules and practices regulate the relationship to supernature; the moral rules, that emphasize acceptance, patience, self -knowledge, modesty and simplicity, regulate the human drives and emotions. The people who respect all these rules, live in harmony with Existence, with God, and 1) For my observations on Javanism, see "Aliran Kebatinan as an Expression of the Javanese World view", Joumal of Southeast Asian Studies Vol. J, No.2 (September 1970 ); for those on Buddhism in Thailand, Monks, Merit and i'vlotivation { Special Report Series No. 1, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill., USA, May 1969 ). 2) This and subsequent remarks do not so strictly apply to the devout Muslims-the santri-as to the majority of the Javanese who are only nominal Muslims.

ACOMPARATIVE NOTE

ON Tim THAI AND THE JAVANESE WORLDVIEW

Si

lead the right life. Human existence should be in quiet equilibrium with the Universe; men should neither strive to conquer nature, nor to compete and to be ambitious, nor to achieve by an excessive interest in material things. The approach to life and reality is essentially one of resignation and surrender to the all-encompassing divine presence, to That Which Is Almighty. This belief is enacted in kebatinan or Javanese mysticism. Its general theory is simple, although its elaborations are many. Man should surrender to That Which Is Almighty by cleaning himself, by ridding himself of his impulses and bodily desires, by emptying himself so that he can be filled with the divine presence, so that God can reveal Himself within his heart (batin), so that Master and servant may become one. '

The source of the knowledge of cosmological reality is the inner-feeling (rasa) that resides in the inner man ( b.atin ). That knowledge is revealed knowledge to which man has to open himself by surrender. Not every man, however, is able to achieve this intimate contact with the Universal Existence. Those people who are believed to have received revelations usually become the teachers (guru) of all those who want to achieve a closer identification with the really Real. Because the revelations are an individual experience, the various guru tend to differ in their theories about mysticism and consequently they teach methods that relate to their own experience. Javanese mysticism clearly misses accumulated tradition in theory and method, since every guru starts anew. There are no theology, dogma, systematic tradition or commonly accepted written sources in Javanese religion. Mystical disciplin'e tends to be weak, since it emphasizes surrender and inner tranquility as the ways to achieve mystical experience. Meditation is often seen as yoga, or the power of the will over the physical self, and forms as such a practice that stands in the way of surrender. The kebatinan tradition is a culture of the inner man, emphasizing the development of the rasa; it is passive, not conquering and disciplining the body and the will in order to acquire ultimate insight, but in order to surrender and receive.

J.A. Nieis

82

Mulder

Theravada Buddhism, a Religion

.

In Thailand religion is a system among other systems to deal with nature and supernature.

Buddhism is not a style of life, although

there may be a Buddhist style of life.

In contrast to Javanism with

its syncretic and cosmological style of thinking, Theravada Buddhism is very explicit in separating this-worldly reality from ultimate reality.

This-worldly reality, although illusory, is a kind of reality,

and the ordinary housekeeper bas to, live in it and to make the best of it.

The monks may tread the path to ultimate reality, but they

are a class that bas been set apart for this purpose.

To go the way of

the monks is a way of discipline and study, of exercise and meditation.

It is certainly not a way of passive mysticism and surrender. On the contrary, Buddhism stresses rational understanding and objective experience.

It is by way of understanding that man can achieve

enlightenment.

That understanding and that experience are objectifi-

able, are a Truth that bas been discovered by The Buddha and that bas been elaborated and made clear in the Dhamma.

It does not

depend upon the individual insights and methods of guru, but it is the One Way leading to the Truth. In its course through history Buddhism bas accumulated a great tradition of systematic writings that have continuously been studit::d an:d elaborated. This continuity of the Dbamma is intimately connected to the continuity of the Sangha that forms the living embodiment of the Buddhist Teachings and tradition. When monks preach the Dhamma they will do it in a systematic, schematic and analytical way, while relating the Teachings to every day experience. Also meditation is taught and practiced along systematic lines, and it stresses discipline over the physical self and the senses to free the will to aspire to enlightenment. While the Middle Eastern religions emphasize belief and acceptance, and while Javanism stresses intuitive feeling and surrender, Theravada Buddhism stresses rationality, experience and discipline. Man does not depend but be can know and find out for himself.

A COMPARATIVE NOTE ON THE THAI AND THE JAVANESE WORLDVIEW

83

Truth can be aspired to, can be worked for, and is certainly not revealed because of the surrender of man. Buddhism is essentially a rational and active religion: it is the culture of the mind. The Concept of Karma In both Javanese and Thai societies the concept of Karma is important, but there exist cardinal differences in interpretation. To the Javanese Karma is vague. To him it is the product of the behaviour and wishes of his ancestors, and of his past and present behaviour. Moreover his karma is influenced by his Destiny, the will of God. His power over his karma is limited and unclear since be does not hold the sole responsibility for it. This is in marked contrast to the Thai cqncept of Karma. To the Thai karma is in full responsibility of its individual oearer. Although an individual karma is beyond the volition of a person as far as previous existences are concerned, it is clearly the working capital for this and future existences, irrespective of other forces, cosmic or social.

Attitude to Life The attitude to life may be heavily influenced by religious experience and religious concepts. The Javanese experience and view is totalistic, not separating the individual from his environment, from his group, or even from nature and supernature. Nor is it possible to separate the this-worldly from the other-worldly. Boundaries are unclear. Hence, causes are unclear, and the Javanese tend to mix ideasand objects. To him the two appear to be equally real. His reasoning is speculative and intuitive, and he has no indigenous tradition of systematic reasoning. Not clearly distinguishing between nature and supernature, he has not developed clear ideas in either. To pray for a thing may be as ,good as to achieve it. He does not master, he submits; he does not invest in the future and he accepts life as it comes to him; he does not separate his individuality from the primary group, and he accepts that the group, like the Universe, are superior forces to which he had better surrender. Individuality and initiative are potentially dangerous and even sinful. I

84

J.A. Niels Mulder

The Thai appear to live with their religion rather than to practise a style of life that is religious. Unlike the Javanese syncretism, they do not mix the Hindu, the animistic, and the Buddhist elements in their ways of dealing with supernature. Besides that, Buddhism stresses an analytical and experimental attitude and clearly distinguishes between the here and now and the beyond and timeless. It also stresses that man can find his way by experience and understanding. Because the ultimate religious behaviour is within the Monkhood, the ordinary housekeeper has the double responsibility to care for his own welfare and for the prosperity of the monks and religion. While a housekeeper he should work this world to the best of his ability; that is his basic task and it enables him to make merit by supporting the monks and to care for his dependents. Merit is expensive, and to make it a farmer or another person should be effective in this world. All this is an individual responsibility, and the strong emphasis on the collectivity, that is characteristic on Java, is clearly absent in Thailand. A Thai has pride in independence and is mentally able to separate himself from his group. He bas individuality, and that is tolerated and somewhat encouraged by his society 3 • He is less interested in cosmological speculation than the Javanese, and does not confuse ideas with objects. To him, as 'long as he is not a religious man ( Bhl'kkhu ), objects are clearly far more important than ideas, although a little magic may help to achieve success in the world of things.

Consequences for Modernization I would like to define modernization as a process of increasing mastery over the physical and social environment, a mastery that can be expressed in terms of objects and effective organization. A worldview with its consequent attitude toward life will reflect mental potential for modernization. That I am no advocate for a straightforward and simplistic relationship between the world of ideas and 3) For elaboration, see Hans-Dieter Evers (ed.), Loosely Structured Social Systems: Thailand in Comparative Perspective ( Cultur"al Report Series No. 17, Yale Univer~ity, Southeast Asia Studies, 1969 ).

A COMPARATIVE NOTE ON THE THAI AND TilE JAVANESE WORLDVIEW

85

the world of things and behaviour has already been documented in a previous contribution to this Journal (JSS LV/1, 1967). Yet on Java this relation appears to be far more direct than I ever dreamt to be possible, to the extent even, that people on Java appear to mix ideas with things without making clear distinctions. Neither of the two seems to prevail, the this-worldly is not separated from the otherworldly. The Thai have a clearer approach to the world of things. Things have an autonomy and are interesting, are sanug. In Thailand I often beard, that to do SOJI,lething, to engage in activity was worthwhile, sanug. When an individual is able to separate himself from his group or a situation, and when the world of objects bas acquired an autonomy, modernization can proceed. On Java activity bas no purpose, is not sanug: man has to be active to eat, but people are not fascinated by life or by things per se. The good life on Java appears to be acceptance and passivity, while the Thai appreciates activity in the world of objects and does not enjoy speculation for its own sake. The Thai is a practical man when compared to the mystically inclined Javanese. In 1940 Java was a highly productive place, industrially as well as agriculturally. Colonial administration was reasonably efficient and effective and there was fair amount of regularity and security. These Western traditions, this mastery of environment, have now all but disappeared. Population has grown, efficiency and productivity have declined, and there are no indicators that the Javanese will soon enjoy economic independence or a rising standard of living. The contrast to developments in Thailand is striking. The Thai response to the challenge of the 20th century, especially during the past few years, seems to be very positive indeed. There appears to be an intensive interest in this world and its possibilities. I think that it is not too speculative to associate Thailand's progress and rising standard of living with the world view of its people as expressed by its religion, especially when I compare these to my observations on Java.

a

I wish to express my gratitude to Professor James L. Peacock for his helpful comments and for his straightening out of my odd usage of the English language.

/

.' .

' !

'

. .

'

'

.

THE KHALO OR MAE RIM LAWA A REMNANT OF THE LAW A POPULATION OF NORTHERN THAILAND by

Gebhard Flatz

In northern Thailand there are several populations who are linguistically affiliated with the Moo-Khmer or austroasiatic group of , languages. The most important of these groups are the La w a, called Lua 8 in northern Thai, a group of several thousand people settling on the high plateau west of Hod 8 (Chiang Mai Province), the K ham u and Tin (Khatin) in Nan Province, and small groups of K ham e d (Lamet) in Chiang Rai Province who are part of the large Kharned population in the Hua Khong Province of Laos. Due to the preservation of ancient cultural characteristics and linguistic relations with austroa~iatic groups in Burma (Wa) the Lawa have received much attention 2 ,4, 5 • In addition to the main group southwest of Chiang Mai there are a few Lawa villages 5 in the district of Viang Papaos. During a recent visit (1968) by the author no speakers of the Lawa language were found in these villages although they are still called La wa villages ('Ban Lua') by the Thai population. It seems that their assimilation to the Thai community has been completed in the present generation.

I

''

In contrast to this, a group of people who call themselves Khalo or Phalo, and who are referred to as Lua by the Thai settling in adjacent villages, was discovered in the western part of Mae Rim 8 district (Chiang Mai Province) in 1968. No reference to this group was found in the literature and it seems that this isolated remnant of the Lawa population has escaped the attention of ethnographic research. In order to facilitate a more complete study of these people

88

Gebhard Fiati

the location, and the results of a preliminary survey of their iangmige and of certain anthropogenetic characteristics will be described in this report. Discovery

The Doi Pui 8 massif west of Chiang Mai is mentioned as a stronghold of the La wa in old chronicles 6 • This prompted us to ask people whether they had any knowledge of persons speaking the Lawa language duringa survey of genetic traits in Tambol Pong Yaengs (Mae Rim District). This subdistrict is located in the hills north of the Doi Pui range. In Village No. 5 (Ban Pong Kai 8 ) information was received that a man described as 'Lua' had come to settle in this village. A language test showed that the native language of this man had a strong resemblance to the Lawa spoken in Bo Luangs (Hod District). He reported that in his own village, located beyond the mountain range north of Pong Yaeng, only Lawa was spoken and that there were two more villages with a substantial Lawa population. Questioned as to the name by which his people call themselves he stated that this was Khalo or Phalo. In view of the differences between Lawa and the language spoken in the Mae Rim villages (v.i.) the name Khalo, or the specifying term 'Mae Rim Lua' should probably be used for these people. In two excursions the three 'Lawa' villages- were visited in August and September 1968. Geographic location

The three villages are Ban Pang Hais, 98'50.1' E, 18'57, 7'N; Ban KaB, 98'49, 3'E, 19'00, 7'N; and Ban Iaks, 98'48. 8 E, 19'02. 3'N. These villages are located in the mountain range extending north from the Doi Pui massif as shown on the accompanying map. Topographically, this area is characterized by small valleys breaking off in a step-like fashion into the Mae Ping valley. This break-off creates waterfalls and rapids at the site of the steep incline, e.g. the Mae Sa falls west of Mae Rim. Tbe three Lawa villages are located in the valleys 300 to 500 metres above the base of the step-like rise from the Mae Ping valley floor. Probably, this location resulted in a relative

'i'HE KJIALcl OR MAE RIM LAW A

89

seciusion in which the ethnic character of the population was preserve...d~ntil today. The village group of Pong Yaeng to the south of the La wa villages bas a similar location but is less isolated due to its connection with the road from Chiang Mai to Samoengs. No autoch .. thonous Lawa speakers are present in Pong Yaeng today. Linguistic examination

In order to determine the nature of the non-Thai language spoken in the three villages a word list was presented to three different persons from two villages. All three stated that they refer to their own language as Khalo or Pbal6, and that they are called 'Lua' by the Thai in neighbouring villages. By questioning the village beadmen it was determined that the population is predominantly Khald in the villages Pang Hai and ManKa. Only a few Thai who migrated from the valley reside in these villages. The population of the larger village, Ban Iak, consists mainly of people speaking northern Thai. 'Pure' Khalo are rare in this village but many people state that one of their parents was 'Lua'. The result of the language tests is shown in Table I. Originally, the list contained 200 words. The words for which no Khalu equivalent was known by the test persons, or for which a Thai word was used, and a number of words revealing no additional information (e.g. pork=pig meat) were omitted, leav.ing the list of 140 words in Table 1. The Khalo words are compared with four austroasiatic languages spoken in northern Thailand. La wa ( Bo Luang), Kbamed and Khamu were transcribed from the word lists collected by Kraisri Nimmanaheminda3; Lawa (Urnphai) equivalents were taken from the list reported by Sanidh Rangsit4. The Lawa (Bo Luang) given by K.N.3 differs slightly from that collected by S.R. 4; this may be due in part to the time difference of 25 years. In order to facilitate comparisons only one version of Lawa (Bo Luang) is shown. A few conclusions emerge prima facie from an inspection of the word list. KhaU1 does not seem to be identical with either Bo Luang or Umpai Lawa or Khamed; but there is a great number of coincidences and similarities between these three languages. A calculation of

Gebhard Fiat:i

90

the percentage of coincident words shows that Khalo is intermediate between the Lawa and Khamed languages.

The percentage of iden-

tical or very similar words in Khalo is 39.2% when compared with Lawa, and 37.5% when compared with Khamed.

In contrast, there

are only 17.2% similar words between Khalo and Khamu.

With a

coincidence of less than 40% of basic words it is not expected that Khalo is interintelligible with Lawa or Khamed, although much information could probably be exchanged between the speakers of the three languages in slow, grammatically simple conversation. Several features deserve special mention: in Khalo, Lawa and Khamed there are a number of words exhibiting regular changes of vowels, similar to a German 'Ablautreihe'. in Table 2. relation

o:

Some of these are shown

The upper part of the table seems to establish a regular ua: e for Khalu: Lawa : Khamed.

The other series,

ai: ia: ai, a: tia: a, and ti: e: i, are not as well documented. With respect to these series Khalci seems to be closer to Khamed than to Lawa.

In contrast Khalo, as Lawa, lacks certain terminal conso-

nants, especially 'l ', that are present in Khamed, as shown in Table 3.

It is interesting to not'e that the short vocabulary of Viang Papao Lawa given by Sanidh Rangsit4 contains two words with terminal '1 ',one of which bas a similar form without the '1' in Lawa and Khalu (sa nga: cha ngal).

This suggests that Viang Papao Lawa may have been

even closer to Khamed, at least in some phonemes, and that there may have been a continuous linguistic cline from Lawa (Bo Luang) to Khamed.

Examples are 'sax'='wife', and 'jax'='shirt'. The conson-

ant 'x' does not seem to occur in Lawa or Khamed.

Another observa-

tion concerns consonant changes of the type 'r': '1': '-',e.g. in the word for 'forest' where Khamu and Khamed retain the probably original form 'bri' or 'pri', whereas Khalo has 'pli' and Lawa 'pi'.

This

could be inherent linguistic developments or changes mediated by similar developments in or assimilation to the northern Thai language.

THE KllALb OH MAE RIM LAWA

91

Anthropogenetic examinations

Morphological measurements were not taken because it is not expected that they differ much from the northern Thai population who has presumably absorbed much of the preexistent Lawa after migrating to the area of northern Thailand. It was of interest, however, to determine the distribution of certain genetic traits, in particular blood groups and abnormal baemoglobins, because these traits show a characteristic distribution in many populations of Southeast Asia!. Table 4 shows the distribution of ABO blood groups in the Khal6 people in comparison with Thai people from the same and adjacent villages, with Lawa from Bo Luang, and other populations of Thailand. In general, the distribution of blood groups in Southeast Asia is characterized by a preponderance of the blood group gene O, and a greater proportion of B than A. The distribution of ABO groups in the Khalo and in adjacent Thai villages is further evidence for the frequent local deviations from the general pattern. The relatively high proportion of group 0 in northern Thailand is exaggerated in the two village groups. There is evidence for selective forces acting on the blood group genes. In small groups chance effects play an additional role and may be decisive in groups numbering only a few hundred people. Only if it could be shown that the observed high proportion of group 0 is present generally in hill villages at the altitude of the Khalo villages, would this distribution of blood groups appear to be caused by selection in favour ·of group 0 rather than by chance ('genetic drift'). In general, the blood group distributions listed in Table 4 demonstrate the very limited usefulness of the ABO groups as markers of ethnic affiliation or race. Haemoglobin Anomalies

The findings concerning abnormal haemoglobins and betathalassaemia are listed in Table 5. Both anomalies are common in many tropical and subtropical countries. The most common abnormal haemoglobin in Southeast Asia is Haemoglobin E (HbE). The difference between the normal adult thaemoglobin, HbA, and HbE is an exchange of two aminoacids per haemoglobin molecule (two out of a total of 572 aminoacids). This gives the abnormal haemoglobin

92

Gebhard Flatz

differing chemical and physical properties which facilitate its detection (e.g. by electrophoresis). Abnormal haernoglobins are usually produced at a rate lower than normal HbA. Therefore, anemia is often present, especially when a persons carries two abnormal haemoglobin genes of a certain type (homozygotes). Thalassaemia is also characterized by an abnormally low haemoglobin production although no abnormal haemoglobin is formed in this condition. In view of the disadvantages (severe anaemia) conveyed by the abnormal haemoglobin genes it is surprising to find them in high proportions in many human populations. A selective advantage of the mildly affected heterozygotes, carriers of only one abnormal haemoglobin gene, has been mentioned as the most likely cause for these high gene frequencies. Haemoglobin E may be considered as typical for Southeast Asians. There is an association between high frequencies of HbE and ethnic affiliation with the austroasiatic group!. In contrast, beta-thalassaemia is common in all populations of the tropical zone. There is no or only very Little HbE in the different population groups of southern China whereas its frequency is high in Burma, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia with the exception of recent immigrant groups from southern China (e.g. Chinese, Thai Yong, Thai Ya and certain tribal groups in Thailand and Laos). It was, therefore, of interest to examine the haemoglobin types of the Khalo whose affiliation wilh the austroasiatic group is suggested by the language test, and compare the findings with those of Thai in adjacent villages and with the general population of northern Thailand. Table 5 shows a high incidence (16.2%) of carriers of HbE in the Kha16 group. The Thai living in adjacent villages at the same altitude have only 5.2~ HbE. In the Thai population of Chiang Mai and Lamphun 8.9% have HbE. The differences between the Khalo and the two Thai groups are statistically significant. The probability for a chance deviation as a cause of the difference is less than 1 in 1000 for the comparison Khald : Thai in hill villages, and less than 1 in 100 for Khalo : Thai Chiang Mai/Lamphun. Because of the strong selective forces acting on the haemoglobin genes a 'drift' phenomenon, likely in case of the

THE KHALO OR MAE RIM LAW A

93

blood groups, is improbable as a cause of the high frequency of the HbE gene among the Khalo. This is additional evidence in favour of the hypothesis that HbE was present in high proportion in the original austroasiatic population of northern Thailand and was acquired by the Thai, immigrating from the present southern China, by mixing with the local population. In order to demonstrate the association between HbE and austroasiatic language the following list of percentages of HbE carriers is shown: Austroasiatic groups :

Kha16 Lawa Bd Sali Moo Pasang Khamu Nan Tin Nan

Thai gmups :

16.2% 12.8% 13.5% 17.2% 19.5%

Thai, northern Thailand 5 to 9% Thai, Chiang Tung 4 to 5% Thai, Sipsong Panna 0 to 1%

Acknowledgements

The antbropogentic examinations were supported by a grant from Stiftung Volkswagenwerk, Hannover, Germany. I thank Miss Barbara Voss, Miss Sybille Voss and Miss Wanida Chaimongkol for their assistance.

REFERENCES

1 FLATZ, G., C. PIK and S. SRINGAM, Haemoglobin E and beta-thalassaemia: their distribution in Thailand. Ann. bum. Genet. 29, 151, 1965.- FLA TZ, G., Hemoglobin E: distribution and population dynamics. Humangenetik 3, 189, 1967.

2 HUTCHINSON, E.W., The Lawa in Northern Siam. J. Siam Soc. 27, 173, 1935. 3 NIMMANAHEMINDA, KRAISRJ, Notes on the Mrabri language. J. Siam Soc. 51 183, 1963. 4 RANGSIT, PRINCE SANIDH, Beitrag zur Kenntnis der LawaSprachen von Nord-Thailand. Antbropos 37-40, 688, 1942-45.

5 SEIDENFADEN, E., The Thai peoples. Siam Society, Bangkok, 1958.

I

"

94

Gebhard Flatz

6 STEINMANN, A. und SANIDH RANGSIT, Denkmalformen und Opferstatten der Lawa. Z. Ethnol. 64, 163, 1939. 7 YOUNG, G., The hill tribes of northern Thailand. Society, Bangkok, 1962.

Siam

8 Annotations concerning the transcription of Southeast Asian languages are contained in Table I. Transcription of geographical names with exception of the most common names (e.g. Chiang Mai) follow here: Ban Iak

~

"1

IJ11-l L'tWfl ~

w

Ban Ka Ban Pang Hai

!Jl\L flt u111

Ban Pong Kai

Lua

rf·u~

'

th~1~~

Mae Jaem Mae Raem

ILlJ LLllJ

u111

tJ~1ii

Mae Rim

LLlJ llJ

Bo Luang

u!l

1Hn•

Mae Sariang

LLlJ fftLltJ'

Doi Pui

l'l!ltJ

~v

Pong Yaeng

tJ~ LW~

Hod

IJ!l\11

Samoeng

fftLlJ~

'

LL~lJ

ILlJ I

'..,

~

I

..,

~

Viang Papao nu• Dr. Gebhard Flatz Human Genetics Laboratory Department of Pathology Faculty of Medicine Chiang Mai University Chiang Mai, Thailand

Postal address : P.O. Box 116 Chiang Mai

II ,, lJ1LIJ1

·ri-m

KHALb

oR

~~

MAE RIM LAw A.

Table 2 List of words with i:eglllar vowel changes No.

Khalb

Law a

Khamed

English

30 31 44

jong ' yong

138

gong ko hok ngom ko long ko

juang yuang (muan) (kao) huak nguam (yong king) luang kua

jeng yeng geng tim ke (hek) (ngi:id) ke leng kel

foot home pillow tree to go up to sit to wake up high ten

79 14 117

kha wai ba ngai sa ngai

a wia to ngia sa ngia

kha wai ngai sa ngai

tiger eye far

nya (nyai) yam

nyU a nyi.ia nyU am

nya ka nya yam

house to laugh to cry

72

li.ik

94

Iu

lek, leik le

lik (ju)

pig to go down

55

93 97 99 108

----·-----···--

32 103

104

----·~-----------

Words lacking vowel correspondence are set in parentheses The numbers refer to the list of 140 words.

Table 3 Words with terminal '1' in Khamed No.

Khalo

Lawa

26

ka til

(wiak)

45

0

60 91

127 138

..,.

ngd -hu nga

ko

Khamed

English

ka till

abdomen pot fire to walk green, blue ten

61 ngo heo, heu sa nga kua

ngol b61 sa ngal kel

Words lacking correspondence are set in parentheses. The numbers refer to the list of 140 words

IQ.

a.·

Table 4.

Distribution of A.BO blood groups in several populations of northern Thailand

Population

Khalo

Number examined

A

Blood B

156

27

39

groups AB

3

0

87

Blood group gene frequencies 3 r q p

0.1016

0.1456

0.7528

Thai in the same and in adjacent villages of the

C) 0

same altitude Lawa

Bo Luang

244

55

41

12

136

134

31

45

16

42

0,1475

0,1147

0.1930 0.2584

0.7378

g: ...,

"'

0.5486 ~ !?..

Northern Thai Chiang Mai

N

and Lamphun 1

3785

781

1047

195

1762

ThaiBangkok2

421

75

148

42

156

1 from FLATZ, G., and CH. SAENGUDOM, Humangenetik 3, 319-327, 1967. 2 from PHANSOMBOON, S., J. Siam Soc. 45, 55-64, 1957. 3 p, q, r stand for the frequency of "blood group genes A, B, 0.

0.1384 0.1802 0.6814 0.1484

0.2566

0.5950

Table 5.

Distribution of Haemoglobin E and Beta-Thalassaemia

Population

Number examined

Haemoglobin E Heterozygotes Number Percent

Beta-Thalassaemia Heterozygotes* Number Percent

...,

Khalb

136

22

16.2

5

3.7

::c

i:'l

:>'::

::c

Thai in the same and in adjacent

>

1""'

0·

villages at the same altitude

289

15

5.2

25

8.7

Thai Chiang Mai and Lamphun provinces

0

"';;;::

> i:'l

995

89

8.9

68

6.8

"'§: 1""'

*

> :i'l >

identified by elevated haemoglobin A 2 Statistical comparisons by the chi-square test: Khalo with Thai in hill villages Khalo

chi 2 =

with Thai Chiang Mai/Lamphun chi 2 =

14.02, P smaller than 0.001 7.06, P smaller than 0.01

'10

"-l

\0 00

Table 1. No.

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10

11 12 13 14 15

l

16 17 18 19

20

English

Khalo (Mae Rim Lawa)

human man (male) woman child adult father mother elder sibling younger sibling husband wife grandfather grandmother eye nose mouth tooth ear hair head

pui ta ma ya bun khan yom pui tung nyen rna i0 po pa nya sah ida i nya ba ngai jot muan muan peng yak htik king

Comparative word list

Lawa {Bo Luang)

pui pia mai pia pong kun dao pi kuat po rna iak pu pia mai nytiang pia pong nytiang ta ylia to ngia mah ampbm piang ba suak hak kain

Lawa (Umphai)

phui para mi para pon kuan do

Khamed

a i a ui a ne khon ngal

-

ita

phtia rna

ui ne

iak phii para mi para pon ta ylia ngai rna ram born biang suak hak kain

ak yo ka rna ka pon ui ktin ya ngai muh mon ken

yo ki

do

Khamu

khon* jam ro jam khtin khon na ta yong rna tai bam kre kam bra teng ya mat muh ta no rang ra mei kro kam pong

0 0 o-

t:r"

.,"'

0.. "!]

-

"'N"

21

22

23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

32 33

34 35

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

neck arm hand finger breast

ngbk di di

rna di mem

abdomen ka til penis kti vulva ka leg j6ng foot jong home, settlement ybng house, hut nya stairs b6ng door cba nya fire place hot ngo paddy ko rice ngo cooked rice op meat kana vegetable do shirt, jacket jah trousers pa toi blanket po pillow gong pot o du rice steamer hOng

ngok dua tai dua neng wiak tui ill I

jiiang juang yuang nytia pong a wiia tak ngb ngo a ko ap tao phak"" la pe wa pru muan dang huang

ngok thu te te fOl

tal wiak -

ko chuang la chuang -

nylia ra wlia -

ngo ra ko aup

kbb* pol tak ti ti pol kill pu ka ttil lok ta kan sa lu jeng yeng nya bong biing ta wang ngol ngu gang ngo sin -

Dl

tu

-

to Ia

a phi wa

tong ti tio*

-

tong geng

dong

-

ol

ka ang ko·

kan tuar ti ka to ti jak kill ti pu

lui lok ka brang jliang gang gang rong pra long tum bra hia ngo rong ko rna a phak"" wai t~p tio*, song trok kra nlias tra vai rna

~·

:r:

t'l

:::

>

!:""

o~-

0 !:::l

;;::

> t'l

~ !:""

> :

lo

\0• \0

No.

47 48 49 50 51

52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69

70

English

water jar pounder axe cross bow gun, rifle hoe forest mountain tree wind water earth stone fire path sun moon star rain day month year bird hen

Khalb (Mae Rim Lawa)

6 om btik mUl ak si na:t kha bok* pli gbng ku phi om ka de ta m6 ngu kha sa ngi khti mun la ngi khti num sim yai

Lawa (Bo Luang)

ung la om bok mao ak sa niH kho bok ri ctok

mb kao ka 5 a om taik sa maok ng6 kai khra sa nge keik sa bong raik sa nge keik nom sain

a

Lawa (Umphai)

-

ak -

kri mo pi rauk mo kbo kat ra aum te sa mo ngo kra sa ngi khe sa moin le sa ngi kbe neum saim 'iii kon

Khamed

-

Khamu

61 uam kong lu mlll ak si nat

tra 16om kual rnui mu sa nat

kho bok di pri muit tim ke rna om ta kh~ ang ng61 ka ting a pri ke kha muin sa Hi kot ke ntim sim

khU jok bn mok tut sa ong htin trei om pate klang pa ltia

a

0 0

00

cr" P"

...,"'

r:>-

~ ~

N

mat pri mong sil meng kam rna wan* mong

p_!-* sim hi iar

-~~"~=~~~.,.,--,-·.,·--

71

dog

so

72

pig rat horse cow

ltik kang mung muk kak

73

74 75 76 77

78 79 80 81 82 83

84 85 86

87 88 89 90 91 92

93

94 95

96

buffalo deer elephant tiger bear monkey mosquito bee landleech earthworm fish crab mango banana papaya to walk, go to run to go up to go down to come to stand

Jak ka sang ka wai kui wa pung pang pi yai prom wek ka ka dam bu: hi pu moi tam po hu ttin b..Jk lti lot ko

so lek ktiang brong mok krak jak sang a wia kre ftia yung* ha praom wak ngo ka tam pa a moi kwei t'et heo

-

tb

huak Ie iang jong

so leik kuang brong mi:ik kon krak jak sang ra wiajra kris ftia yung"' ha

ka tam pa ra mos

heu beu -

oin chong

so

so

lik ka nga bong bo tak kayak ka sang kha wai kbri wa pu sin pa prem wak iar ka ka tam la ngui pol ta mak hung Ml tang hek ju

stiang kana brang lam bo trak ta yak sa jang ra wai bual wa sang pok tra hai prliam wak ka katam pra ta loi ta lui si but yo tar ro jU! kai ttin

tu

khi

-

...,

::r: t=l

;;

;;:::

> t=l

,. ~ r

>

:a >

o-

No.

English

97 98 99 100

to to to to

101 102 103 104 105

to hear to speak to laugh to cry to fear

106

107 108 109 110

Ill 112

113 114

115 116 117 118 119

sit sleep wake up look

to eat to know high low bot cool cold salty big long near far up

down

Lawa {Umphai)

Khamed

ngaum a it a peu yo

ngt:it

ko len

nguam aik yang king nian

mong pong nyai yam lat

mong krong nytia ytiam tat

mong krong nyi:is nyiiam lat

Khalo (Mae Rim Lawa) ngom

it

sum, pa yang lung de kot pi long kuat pi ka tung lang da sa ngai ton le side

Lawa (Bo Luang)

som

som

yang luang diam la ak rong kuat sang ki ra lting dai sa ngia ka luang ka saik

laung thiam

-

eum ra

sa di sa ngai ka laung ka se

it

ke mi:ing

Khamu

0

tv

ten si ro yang

am

lo

kba ka nya yam Htt som tom leng tam puk tap kat jang Ia

Ieng da sa ngai do leng

do tam

lol kras yam ngo po nong jong hon te

wa1 ngal kat nyiap nam wang le ja

jong ante:

C'l 0 cr-

IT II'

a. :::1 II' N-

120

121 122

123 124

125 126 127 128 129 130

131 132

133 134 135 136 137

138 139 140

broad narrow sharp small red

ngai

di lorn pat kak, krak

black white green, blue one two three four five

long phan nga ti

six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve twenty

li a 1i

a oi bon ptin

di dim ko k6 ti ko a ngai

wiia kbiip* lorn tao sa krak

-

wo

tia sa khrak

ped ltip pet kang

na yim

long ping sa nga te la a la ui pa ong phuan

long pyain sa nga thi la a la ua paun phon

long pan sa ngal muei la a la pon phan

hiang kruak kio* muei par pe si* ha*

la ala sa taik sa taing kua kuala te kuala a nga

-

His a las sate sa taim kau kau ruh thi

nga

oi

wa na 0

t61 pill

hok* jet*

to

pat* kao* sip* sip et• sip song• sao*

tim kel kel muei kella a la a kel

Consonant and vowel equivalents : p, t, k = t.l, 1'1, f1 ; ph, th, kh = w, 1'1, fl ; j = 11 ; ch 'If ; ng = -1 ; 0 = 8 ; a = tlfl ; fi = ~' ~ ; 0 = L;, Lafl - indicates a long vowel; * indicates a word which is identical or similar to the equivalent in Thai.

:j

;; ;>;

:r: > t""

c· 0

::::: is:

>

t=J :;::l

~ t""

> ""l >

0

w

Gebhard Platz

104

~

'(.

I

" ~

-!

\ I.

"< .L .J.. ;... -.(.

/.

\.)..or

-
ers], [National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh]. 39) Rosebery to Kimberley, Private, 24 August 1894, RP, Letter Book, 1894-

95. 40) Kimberley to De Bunsen, No. 65, Most Confidential, 27 October 1894, F.O. 17/1225.

118

Chandran Jeshuruii

Meanwhile, Britain continued to be unacommodating to various Siamese requests for diplomatic assistance against the French in several disputes at that time. Prince Svasti was told that Siam's independence did not seem to be in danger and that Siam should not waste her resources in building up her armed forces as she could never hope to resist the French.41 Despite these rebuffs, Verney came to see Sanderson at the Foreign Office on 5 December 1894 and stated that the Siamese Government intended to request both the British and French Governments "to take Siam under their tutelage and guidance".4 2 The British reply was, of course, negative and Verney was warned that the Siamese Government should never make such requests to France without giving Britain prior notice. Nevertheless, the troubles between France and Siam made Kimberley more and more doubtful that the Buffer State would ever materialise on the Upper Mekong. Moreover he was very worried about what the Siamese would do if the French went on causing trouble and also by the persistent suggestions from the Siamese Legation that while Siam would object to being controlled in the same way as Britain controlled Egypt she would not mind being turned into a Belgium.4 3 Thus, both the increasing reluctance of Hanotaux to fulfill the Buffer State agreement and the thinly disguised threats of the Siamese Government made Kimberley decide on a deliberate and well-planned strategy. On 21 March 1895 the Indian Government was forced by Kimberley to send 130 Gurkha troops across the Upper Mekong to occupy the capital of Keng Cheng, Mong Sing, on the left bank of the Mekoog. 44 This secret military advance was formally announced to the French Ambassador in London, De Courcel, on 10 May.4 5 Thus, 41) "Interview between H.R.H. Prince Svasti and the Earl of Kimberley at Lord Kimberley's private house in London, 2 November 1894", F.O. 17/1226; Kimberley to Rosebery, Private, 3 November 1894 Kimberly Box, RP. 42) Note by Sanderson, 5 December 1894, F.O. 17/1226. 43) Note by Francis Bertie (Assistant Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office), 19 December 1894, F.O. 17/1226. 44) Lord Elgin (Viceroy of India) to H. H. Fowler (Secretary of State for India), Tel., Secret 21 March 1895, PSHC/156. 45) De Courcel (French Ambassador in London) to Hanotaux, Tel., No. 73, II May 189 5, Ang [leterre: Con·esjJondance] Pol [ itique Volume] 904, [Service des Archives du Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Quai d'Orsay, Paris].

TilE ANCLO.FRENCH DECLARATION OF JANUARY 1896

119

the veteran Kimberley at last succeeded in outsmarting the French who had been taking advantage of the protracted negotiations for the Buffer State in Paris to improve their own position on the Upper Mekong and in Siam. Kimberley's next step was to inform the helpless and furious Hanotaux that he would like to have a frank exchange of views on the future of Siam.46 Kimberley also sought the approval of the British Cabinet for his proposed bargain with the French; that is, the British price for a military withdrawal from Mong Sing would be a joint Anglo.French guarantee of Siam's independence. Although the Cabinet was made aware of the great advantage in a joint guarantee for Britain, 47 it would cause some inconvenience "inasmuch as the guarantee will include the Siamese States in the Malay Peninsula, which some day, we may want to take".4B This statement definitely shows that Kimberley and the Liberal Cabinet did not intend to cast any doubts on the entire extent of the Siamese Kingdom as it existed in 1895 and that they did not envisage a limited guarantee as was eventually agreed upon between Britain and France. The responsibility for that part of the story, on the British side, lies with Lord Salisbury whose Party came into office after the defeat of the Liberal Government on 22 June-before Kimberley could com· mence formal negotiations with France. When Lord Salisbury took over the Foreign Office he asked his Parliamentary Under-Secretary, George Curzon, the young, ambitious and well·travclled politician who had visited Siam in 1892, to recom. mend a policy towards Siam. Sanderson, whom Curzon consulted, advised him to press for a joint guarantee and stated that the only disadvantage for Britain in such an arrangement was that she would be "debarred from any further extension in the Malay Peninsula". 49 But before Curzon could draw up his proposals for Salisbury De Courcel called on the Foreign Secretary on 14 August and Siam was 46) De Courcel to Hanotaux, Tel., No. 7 5, 21 May 1895, No. 20, DDF/XII. 47) "Memorandum upon Baron de Courcel's conversation of May 25, 1895" by Kimberley, Confidential, Printed for the use of the Cabinet, 28 May 1895, F.O. 17/1267. 48) Kimberley to Rosebery, Private, 12 June 1895, Kimberley Box, RP 49) SandersontoCurzon,Private, 6July 1894 C[urzon] P[aj,ers], MSS. Eur. F. Ill /87, [India Office Library, London]

120

Chandran Jeshurun

discussed. Salisbury formally proposed a joint guarantee ofSiam and the conversation ended there because De Courcel replied that he would have to consult his Government first. 5 0 Fortunately for both France and Siam, Salisbury more or less committed himself to the joint guarantee in this interview because Curzon later advocated an extremist policy against the French position in eastern Siam and the Siamese position in the Malay Peninsula. 5 1 Curzon received strong support for the annexation of large parts of southern Siam from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, one of the foremost imperialists of the time. 52 Hanotaux too was asking threat'ening questions such as "Quelles sont les limites du Siam?'' and saying privately to De Courcel that Bangkok will eventually fall into French hands. 5 3 At the same time the combined efforts of the Siamese Minister in London, Prince Svasti and Rolin-Jacquemyns, the Belgian General Adviser to the Siamese Government who was visiting Europe then, were exerted to obtain a favourable outcome for Siam in the Anglo-French negotiations. 54 These developments were largely responsible for Salisbury's somewhat rash proposal to de Courcel on 18 October that Britain and France should jointly agree not to penetrate into the valley of the Menam Chao Phya.ss Salisbury later admitted that such a limited 50) De Courcel to Hanotaux, Tel., No. 110, 14 August 1895, ANG/POL/906; De Courcel to Hanotaux, No. 162, 14 August 189 5, No. 128, DDF/XII; Salisbury to Howard (Charge d'Affaires at the Paris Embassy), No. 409, 13 August 1895, F.O. 146/3419 51) Memorandum on "Siam, France and China" by G.N. Curzon, 13 August 1895, Confidential, Printed for the use of the Foreign Office, CP, MSS. Eur. F. 111/87. 52) Chamberlain to Salisbury, Private, 4 September 1895, SF, Special Correspondence: Chamberlain, 53) Hanotaux to De Courcel, particu!iere et confidentiel, 27 September 1895, No. 157, DDF/XII. 54) Memorandum of an interview between the Marquis of Salisbury and tbe Marquis Maha Yotha, 19 July 1895, No.9, F[oreign] 0 [.ffice] C [onfidential] P (rint- Further Conespendence 1·especting the !l.jfah·s of Siam, Part) VII, [July- December 1895, University of Malaya Library, Kuala Lumpur; ] Salisbury to De Bunsen, 9 August 1895, No. 26; 12 August 1895, No. 27, FOCP/VII 55) De Courcel to Hanotaux, Tel., No. 123, 18 October 1895, ANG/POL/908; No. 223, Confidential, 18 October 1895, No. 177, DDF/XII; Salisbury to Dufferin, 18 October 1895, No. 85 FOCP/VII.

THE ANt;LO-FRENCH DECLARATION OF JANUARY

1896

121

guarantee "might give the Siamese the impression that all that it did not include was abandoned to the French '•.s6 On the other hand he pointed out that it would also leave Britain free to deal later with those parts of Siam in which British interests were involved as in the Malay Peninsula. These facts were equally appreciated by Hanotaux who was delighted to find that the valley of the Chao Phya would not include Siamreap and Battambang and various other places in which the French were actively interested. 57 There is some evidence that Salisbury had second thoughts about his proposal for when the Foreign Office prepared a draft agreement it referred specifically to Siam's rights in the area outside the valley of the Chao Phya. 58 But it was already too late as the French absolutely refused to consider any change in Salisbury's original proposal and by November 1895 when Hanotaux had been replaced by Berthelot as Foreign Minister, the British Government was more eager than ever to settle the negotiations. That, briefly, is how the Declaration came to be signed between Britain and France. Realizing that he had failed to obtain a full guarantee of Siam as it was then constituted, Salisbury attached to the English version of the Declaration a copy of a despatch to Dufferin. In it he took special pains to emphasise that although "it might be thought that we are throwing doubt upon the complete title and rights of the Siamese to the remainder of their Kingdom we fully recognize the rights of Siam to the full and undisturbed enjoyment, in accordance with long usage, or with existing Treaties, of the entire territory comprised within her dominions".s9 There is no doubt that this was done mainly for public consumption for Salisbury and De Courcel privately agreed that the two Powers bad entered into a moral obliga56) Memorandum on" Siam Negotiations" by Salisbury, undated but probably 18 October 1895. CP, MSS. Bur. F. 111/87. 57) Hanotaux to De Courcel, No. 461, 21 October 1895, No. 178, DDF/Xll. 58) Draft letter to Baron de Courcel, October 1895, Printed on 31 October 189 5, Enclosure in Sanderson to William Lee-Warner (Secretary-designate of the Political and Secret Department at the India Office), 31 October 1895, PSHC/16'3. 59) Salisbury to Dufferin, 15 January 1896, Sessional Papers. 1896 France, Despatches, p.l.

122

Chandran Jeshurun

tion not to encourage the enterprises of their subjects in those parts of Siam which were adjacent to the possessions of the other Power. 6 o The Siamese Legation in London also discovered the real meaning of the Declaration of putting Salisbury's assurances to the test. Early in February they advertised in the English newspapers for Englishmen to work as Siamese Commissioners in various parts of eastern Siam near the French possessions. 6! The Foreign Office immediately warned the Siamese Government that Britain would not allow its subjects to work in those parts of Siam and one British official asked, "What should we say to a French Commissioner in the Siamese Malay States?'' 62 So much for Salisbury's assurances that the Declaration did not cast any doubts on the integrity of Siamese territory outside the valley of the Chao Phya. Several years later Bertie was to say that the Declaration merely meant that Britain and France would not enter into an agreement with a third Power to intervene militarily or otherwise in the valley of the Chao Phya and that it made no provisions for the two Powers to jointly protect Siam within that area. 63 In the final analysis it is difficult to dismiss altogether the verdict of Rosebery who, having read the Siamese view of the Declaration in the London Times, "was unable to make head or tail of it" and concluded that "neither seems left to Siam",64 Less that ten days after the signature of the Declaration, Salisbury opened negotiations with the Siamese Government through De Bunsen to secure British interests in the Malay Peninsula south of Muong Bang Tapan, the western limit of the neutralized zone. The negotiations resulted in the Anglo-Siamese Secret Convention of 60) De Courcel to Berthelot, Tel., No. 22, 22 his, 22 ter, 15 January 1896, No. 273, DDF/Xll. 61) Verney to Bertie, Private, 7 February 1896, with enclosure; 14 February 1896, F.O. 69/171. 62) De Bunsen to Curzon, Private, 1 May 1896, CP, MSS. Eur. F. 111/81; Memorandum by Bertie, 7 February 1896, F.O. 69/169. 63) Minute by Bertie on W. Archer (Charge d'Affaires at Bangkok) to Lord Lansdowne (Foreign Secretary), No. 179, Secret, 29 September 1902 (Received 3 November), F.O. 69/281. 64) Rosebery to Verney, Priv~te, 31 January 1896, Copy, RP., Letter Book ( 1895).

'fHE ANGLO-FRENCH DECLARATION OF JANUARY 1S96

123

April 1897 whereby, in return for a Siamese undertaking not to grant any concession or cede any part of the Malay Peninsula without prior British approval, Britain pledged itself to come to the defence of Siamese rights in that region if they were threatened by any third 65 Power. The Colonial Office under Joseph Chamberlain found an excellent opportunity to obtain a hearing for the old anti-Siamese views of the local Government in Singapore during these negotiations and succeeded, for example, in eliminating any reference to Siam's suzerainty in the Malay States leaving only a bare mention of the King of Siam's "rights" in the final document. Salisbury was by no means inclined to adopt an overtly aggressive attitude towards the Siamese during the negotiations as his intention was mainly to obtain some agreement which would give a measure of security for British strategic interests in the Malay Peninsula. Moreover, he was rather concerned that if Britain appeared to be too coercive it would merely serve as a convenient excuse for the French to resume their pressure against Siam on the eastern frontier. But partly due to the delaying tactics of the Siamese Government which severely tried the Foreign Office's patience and also because of the decision to make the agreement a secret one, Britain was finally able to take advantage of King Chulalongkorn's much publicised European tour to bring about a speedy signature of the Convention just before the King left Bangkok. 66 The Secret Convention, however, created more problems than it was designed to solve and in the years that followed British concession hunters, the colonial authorities in Singapore, tbe Colonial Office, the Malay rulers, and the Siamese themselves all had a variety of grievances against it. Consequently, when the French began negotiations with Siam in 1902 and the Foreign Office became alarmed 65) On this see Thamsook Numnonda, "The Anglo-Siamese Secret Convention of 1897 ",Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. LIII, Part I, January 1965, pp. 45-61. 66) I am indebted to Professor W. Vella for this in:ormation which .h~ foun~ in the Thai National Archives in connection wtth a proposed vtstt o~ ~tng Rama VI soon after the First World War when it was noted at the Mtmstry of Foreign Affairs that the last time King Chulalongkorn h~d embar~ed. on such a visit Siam had been made to sign the Secret ConventiOn by Bntatn.

124

Chandran Jeshurun

at the prospect of a Siamese appeal for an international guarantee of the entire Kingdom by Britain, France, Germany and Russia, which the latter two Powers were suspected of being keenly interested in, the new Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, took steps to strengthen Britain's position in the Malay Peninsula. Once again, just as the Foreign Office and Lansdowne were on the verge of considering strenuous action to intimidate tbe Siamese into concluding separate agreements with the rulers of Kelantan and Trengganu for the appointment of British advisers in their states, the prospect of an Anglo-French understanding along the lines of the 1896 Declaration was immediately welcomed as a much better alternative to dealing directly with the Siamese. This, of course, was the beginning of the negotiations between Lansdowne and Paul Cambon, the French Ambassador in London, which led ultimately in April1904 to the Entente Cordiale agreements. It is often forgotten that the timing of these negotiations and the separate discussions that both Powers held with the Siamese was deliberate and not accidental. At that time there was much discussion of the terms of the 1896 Declaration at the Foreign Office and Lansdowne himself admitted that "the arrangement under which we guaranteed the Menam [Chao Phya) Valley, but not the rest of Siam, is unpleasantly suggestive of the idea that the outskirts are open to foreign encroachments."67 As in 1896-1897 the British were particularly anxious that some rival Power, such as Germany, would take advantage of the absence of any specific Anglo-French guarantee of the Siamese possessions in the Malay Peninsula and encroach upon that area in order to embarrass Britain.6s For Siam, too, 1902 was the real turning point in her relations with the two great Powers for it was to be her last opportunity to negate the dangerous implications of the 1896 Declaration by negotiating separate agreements with Britain and France for a reassertion of her influence in the region outside the 67) Lansdowne to Lord Curzon (Viceroy of India), 10 April 1902, Copy, Lansdown Papers, F.O. 800, [Vol.] 145 [Public Record Office, London]. 68) See Sir Arthur Godley (Permanent Under-Secretary at the India Office) to Lord Elgin (Viceroy of India), Private, 21 May 1897, Elgin Paj>ers, MSS. Eur. F. 84/136, India Office Library, London: Memorandum by Bertie, 9 November 1901, Lansdowne Papers, F.O. 800/115.

'!'IlE ANGLO-FRENCH DECLARATION OJ? JANUARY !S96

125

valley of the Menam Chao Phya. However, the territorial concessions which she made to France in 1903, despite the fact that she received other territorial compensation from France in return, pointed ominously to the extension of British and French political control into these outlying regions in the not too distant future. But the British did recognize that there was some chance of Siam trying to obtain an enlarged guarantee of her territorial integrity with the help of possibly Germany and Russia. 69 The idea of such an international guarantee was actually bandied about by Rivett-Carnac, the Financial Adviser to the Siamese Government, since February 1900 and by 1902 his public campaign was so serious that Lansdowne asked Curzon to "put a little water into his wine" as it did not seem to the Foreign Office "that his position as financial adviser justified him in writing official essays as to the international relations of Siam". 10 Finally, two further references during the initial phase of the Anglo-French negotiations which were to lead to the Entente Cordiale agreements of 1904 will suffice to show what the 1896 Declaration really meant for Siam. On 6 August 1902, Paul Cambon made overtures to Lansdowne for an understanding between the two Powers and, among other things, stated "that the effect of the Treaty [sic] of 1896 had been to assign to France and Great Britain respectively spheres of influence in those parts of Siam which were not included within the region guaranteed .... and he suggested that each Power might well recognize the privileged position of the other within the zone of territory which adjoined its own possessions." 7 ' At a more advanced stage of the Lansdowne-Cambon conversations, the Viceroy of India, Curzon, who had not been kept informed about the bargain that was being contemplated in Siam, objected strenuously to France being allowed a privileged position in eastern Siam 72 Lansdowne's 69) Memorandum by Bertie, 3 August 1902, F.O. 69/237. 70) Lansdowne to Curzon, Private, I 0 April 1902, Copy, J,ansdowne Papers, F.O. 800/145. Rivett-Carnac was an Indian Government official loaned to the Siamese Government. 71) Memorandum by Lansdowne, 21 October 1902, F.O. 69/239; Cam bon to Lansdowne, Privee 29 July 1902, Lansdowne Paj>ers. F.O. 800/126. 72) Curzon to Lord George Hamilton (Secretary of State for India), Tel., Private, 27 September 1903, Hamilton Papers, MSS. Eur. F. 123/67, India Office Library, London.

126

Chandran jeshuniii

comment on that occasion is illuminating: "Lord Salisbury's deciara• tion [the 1896 Declaration] ... is constantly quoted as a charter of Siamese independence outside the Menam (Chao Phya] valley. I have however never been able to see any answer to the argument that when we jointly guaranteed the Menam (Chao Phya] valley, but did not guarantee the rest of Siam, we admitted by implication that foreign influence would make itself felt in the outskirts of the Kingdom".73 Thus, the tacit understanding that the French had prevailed upon a reluctant Salisbury to accept in 1896 was finally received with some relief by a Lansdowne who was tired of dealing directly with Siam and extremely worried of the intentions of Germany and Russia. No doubt, the 1904 Anglo-French agreements did state specifically that neither Power wished to annex any Siamese territory and it is equally true that the French only received additional territory in 1907 through a proper negotiation with Siam. But the British documents do not speak of a territorial advance into the Siamese Malay States at any stage after the Entente Cordiale agreements and it is clearly shown that it was on the offer of the American Strobel, General Adviser to the Siamese Government, of the Malay territories in the south that the Anglo-Siamese negotiations of 1907-1909 began. Perhaps Siamese sources might fill the other side of this general picture although there is some hope of further information on this final episode in some hitherto unused British private papers.

73) Memorandum by Lansdowne, 30 September 1903, F.O. (i9/251.

THAILAND'S ECONOMIC PROSPECTS 1 by Puey U ngpha korn

I

Introduction :

Present and future problems

In order to see whether and how far a nation has made economic progress, we usually consider two things: (a) the real income of the nation as a whole with the resulting average real income per head of the population; and (b) the distribution of wealth and income among the various sectors of that nation. In what follows, I shall concentrate primarily on the first consideration, i.e. the overall economic conditions of the country, although the second criterion of economic and social progress, the distributive side, will not be neglected and will be dealt with at some points.

I

have decided to do so because I understand that what is foremost in my

a~dience's

mind at the moment is the question of economic sur-

vival of Thailand as a nation. The questions often asked at present are the following: Our production and exports recently have grown at very low rates and our imports have grown at very high rates. Our trade deficits have widened and a deficit in our bal(lnce of payments has emerged in 1969 for the first time and is likely to continue. What shall we do about these? The green revolution i.e. the success in rice production everywhere will adversely affect Thai rice exports which are the main source of our foreign exchange earnings. Can anything be done about this ? What can be done to replace the loss in foreign exchange earnings as a result of sizeable reductions in U.S. military spending? 1) Paper presented at the Siam Society, 5th February 1970,

128

Puey Ungphakorn

Before answering these important questions, and in order to keep our sense of proportion, I find it necessary to quote a few facts and figures. 1>0ur

domestic product (at constant prices) grew at the average annual rate of 6.0% in 1958-1962, and 8.9% in 1963-1966. Then in 1967 the growth rate dropped to 4.6%, and recovered to 8.5% in 1968. It is estimated that the growth continued in 1969 at about the same rate as in 1968. The drop of the growth rate in 1967 is attributed to the drought and consequent poor harvest during the 1967/8 season. 2 >Tbe

deficit in the merchandise trade (exports-imports) has widened during the past eight or nine years from 269 run. Baht in 1961 to about 11,250 run. Baht in 1969. If we take goods and services together, the current account deficit in 1968 was about 4,425 run. Baht and in 1969 perhaps 5,280 run. Baht. 3 >Under

the heading of Services in the Balance of Trade, there are two items connected with the Vietnam War, i.e. R & R spending and U.S. military spending in Thailand. The estimated total receipts from these two sources increased from U.S. $3.7 mn. in 1961 to $256.6 mn. in 1968 and declined to $222.0 mn. in 1969. It is expected that the loss in direct income from these sources will continue at the annual rate of some $50 million over the next few years. >Since \959, Thailand's balance of payments has shown surpluses every year until 1968, at the end of which our net gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at nearly U.S. $900 million (official r~serves about $1,021 mn.) In 1969, the balance of payment deficit amounted to some $48 mn. with net international reserves now at $873.7 (official reserves about $985 mn.)* 4

* These figures do not take into account

the U.S. $17.1 mn. held by the Bank of Thailand in the form of Participation Certificates in the IBRD Loans to the Thai Government for the Pa-Som Dam Project and Third Phase Highway Project. If these are included, the net international reserves would be $891 mn. (official $1,002 mn.), a loss of $31 mn. over 1968. (Table E) 1) See Table A. 2) See Table B. 3) See Table C. 4) See Tables B & D.

TIIAILAND'S ECONOMIC PHOSPECTS

129

To summarize, the Thai economy before 1967 bad on the average grown by 7.396 annually. In 1967 the growth rate slowed down, but it had recovered in 1968 and 1969. Jn our external account, exports have recently stagnated and there has been some reduction in U.S. military spending, while imports remain on the upward trend although at a slower rate. We can expect the payment deficit to continue for a few years until our production and exports pick up. Our international reserves are equivalent to eight months' current payments and, incidentally, more than three times the amount of public external debt outstanding at the end of 1969. With the cessation of the U.S. war involvement in Vietnam, the current estimates are that the payment deficits will continue and that the international reserves will be drawn down by $250-$300 ron. during the next five or six years. These estimates are made on the assumption that nothing drastic is done during the next few years, in other words that production, exports, imports, private and government savings and investments follow the present trend. Meanwhile, there is the persistent problem of the growing gap of welfare between the rich and the poor, between Bangkok and the rest of the country.

I

I

'

'

II Proposals to restrict imports When income falls short of expenditure, it is natural for a person to try to (a) increase income or (b) reduce expenditure or (c) both. For a eountry as well as an individual, to increase income is much more difficult than to reduce expenditure. For bureaucrats wielding the power of control, is is also natural that the first thoughts are to control and restrict imports. One cannot very well pass laws and regulations forcing people to produce and export more; but it is easier to legislate and control imports. Assuming for the moment that restriction of imports is the objective, there are many alternative methods of achieving the same result, with varying consequences. The worst method in my mind is quantitative control of imports. A total ban on certain imports, if effective, will not be too bad; it will avoid discriminatory and unfair

~

130

Puey Ungphukorn

practices. But in a country like Thailand, anything as drastic as a total ban is usually rejected: we prefer to compromise. Hence restrictions by quotas have always been preferred. Past experience and practice indicate that quota restrictions eliminate the rule of law in economics and trading, breed corruption and open the door wide for the exercise of political and military influence. If and when it is found necessary to restrict imports, I would therefore advocate doing it by banking or fiscal measures, i.e. restricting the terms of credit granted to our importers by their overseas suppliers, or raising customs and other duties on imported goods. In this way, the rule of law can be maintained. We might remind ourselves here that any import restriction by whatever method will (a) raise the price of the goods under control, and (b) stimulate smuggling activities. !)The next point to consider is what kind of imported goods are we proposing to control and restrict. The growth of total imports, in this connection, has always been cited with alarming effects. In 1963 and 1964 total imports rose by 11.3% in each year; again in 1966 and 1967 the growth rate was 19.9%. (The fact that import growth rate in each of the years 1965, 1968 and 1969 was fairly normal at around 8% is usually not mentioned.) 2 >When

one looks more closely at the statistics, it becomes evident that the categories of imports which have risen spectacularly in recent years are: capital goods which rose by 2596 in 1963, 19.496 in 1966, 32.396 in 1967; and raw materials which increased by 26.5% in 1964, 25.8% in 1966, 20.8% in 1967. Fuel and automobile imports went up 26.3% in 1966. On the other hand, consumer goods imports have grown on the annual average of 6.7% between 1963 and 1968, reaching the maximum increase of 11.8% and 13.1% in 1966 and 1967. What then happened in 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1967, the years when imports rose the most? 1) See Table F.

2)

Se~ Tab~es

f & q.

THAIL\NIJ'S ECONOMIC 1'1\0SP"C:TS

131

!>First, the capital goods under the aid and loan projects which normally came in at the rate of some 1,000 mn. Baht reached the level of 1,600 mn. Baht in1962, nearly 1,700 mn. Baht in !963, then again 1,466 mn. Baht iri 1967 and 1,674 mn. Baht in 1968. Secondly, under the industrial promotion scheme, the government has been very successful-perhaps too successful-in encouraging the import of capital goods and raw materials by the private sector. Such imports are usually exempt from import duties. The value of such goods, under 250 mn. Baht in 1963 reached 2,000 mn. Baht in 1967, 2,400 mn. Baht in 1968 and is still rising. 2 lThirdly,

U.S. military construction in Thailand, starting with I 66 mn. Baht in 1963, reached 645 mn. Baht in 1966, 1,144 mn. Baht in 1967 and 1,165 mn. Baht in 1968. This particular item tapered off in 1969. What this analysis shows is that if we seek a substantial reduction in imports, we have to cut down capital goods and raw materials which, we were hoping, would help us increase agricultural as well as industrial production. Such a reduction would be a great pity. Restriction of consumer goods imports would not yield us much savings, would reduce our people's welfare, and would cause many other problems of various sorts. Of course, it would tJe extremely unwise for the government to reduce the import of producers' goods indiscriminately. What then could we do at all on the import side? We should rule out quantitative restriction and various forms of undesirable control. Even so, there are still many ways by which to reduce the growth of imports. First, the reduction and eventual disappearance of U.S. military spending on bases and on R & R bring some automatic adjustment. The presence of so many rich consumers in the guise of American troops and officers and families on vacation or on duty in various 1) See Table H. 2) See Table 11.

132

Pucy Ungphakorn

parts of the Kingdom directly and indirectly bas induced our own traders to accommodate them with goods to which they are accustomed, i.e. foreign goods. The departure of these customers, if unreplaced by other foreign tourists, will gradually reduce the growth of imports of consumer goods. Secondly, although the industrialization policy of the government should continue, it has become apparent that some categories of industries will not be as useful to us as we first expected. Automobile assembly plants and other factories with high import content and low domestic value added come in this category. The hotel industry also appears to have reached the limits of desirable expansion. For these industries, a reversal of policy from encouraging to discouraging imports by tariff measures will save us a few million dollars. I believe the Board of Investment Promotion is already looking into this matter. l)Thirdly, some categories of durable consumer goods imports have been encouraged by foreign exporters by means of long-term credit. I refer to the categories of motor cars, buses, lorries, TV sets, and refrigerators. The credit granted has covered larger and larger values of imports every year, rising from about 17 million Baht in 1960 to 925 million Baht in 1968. Some discouragement, particularly of private motor cars, will bring us substantial savings. Fourthly, Thailand as a whole can do with the virtue of economizing. I do not mean by this to preach austerity to which so many prominent people have paid lip-service. Thrift and buying Thai goods are indeed desirable; but preaching is usually futile, particularly when the preachers and prominent people do not practise what they preach. Economizing, in the macro-economic sense, means saving both by the private sector and the government sector. In the private sector, individual citizens may save and put their savings in banks, insurance companies, other financial institutions or government bonds. A great proportion of savings in the private sector however comes 1) Sec Table 1.

TllAILANlJ'H ECONOMIC: l'HOSPECTH

133

from corporate savings, i.e. the undistributed profits and providential funds of companies and partnerships, In the government sector, saving corresponds roughly to the surplus of government revenue over government current (non-investment or non-development) expeudittires. In the national economy, the greater the rate of saving, the greater the opportunities will be for investment or for development. At the same time, if the whole nation saves more and spends less, the reduction in spending will also cause imports to be curtailed. !)The record of Thailand in saving has been impressive enough, rising from 15% of the Gross National Product in 1958 to about 2796 in 1966, dropping to 24.7% in 1967 and dropping further in 1968 and 1969. While the rate of saving in the private sector remains consistently high, the same cannot be said of the government surplus, which dropped in 1967, 1968 and 19692> In order to help curb the growth of imports, the government itself has the solution in its own hand. The annual budget must be formulated so as to produce a reasonable surplus or saving of revenue If the government can economize on its over current expenditures. current expenditures, particularly on official cars and other fringe benefits for the few privileged officials, all the better. But if defence and security considerations make it difficult for current expenditure to be reduced, then government revenue ought to be increased. In blunt language, we must raise more money by taxation. In short, increased taxation will generally help reduce the growth of national imports. Incidentally, our present system of taxation leaves much to be desired from the point of view of social justice or the distribution of income. Not only is it true that the "rice premium" discriminates against rice farmers, but it is also true that we can tax the rich more in order to spend more on the poor. The reform of urban land tax, property tax, corporation tax and the reintroduction of death duties and inheritance tax will enable the government to spend more on farmers and other poor citizens, thus implementing the policy advocated by the government of closing the income gap. - - - - - - ----------------------..-------. ·--------------·----· 1) See Table K. 2) See Table J.

134

Puey Ungphakorn

To summarize, the growth of imports can and should be checked by the reduction of U.S. military spending, by scrutinizing our investment promotion policy, by the control of credit on imports and by wiser budgetary and fiscal action.

III

To increase 11roduction and exports

The really lasting solution of our economic difficulties lies in production and export promotion. But what shall we produce?

What shall we try to export?

In the short run we must concentrate on producing the commodities for which we have adequate skill and in which nature favours us. In the long run, we must develop and improve our skills in various directions in order to diversify our productive activities and find out what else we can do that will bring us higher income and better economic security. 1)For

the mass of Thai people at present, agriculture, especially rice growing, is the answer in the short run. Manufacturing bas grown at a satisfactory rate, but still yields only about 15% of our GNP and bas relatively few people engaged in it. Efforts at industrialization must of course continue, and promotion policy should be orientated towards export possibilities. Although the average money income of industrial workers is higher than that of farmers, I do not agree with some thinkers who advocate that our people should rush into manufacturing. For manufacturing to succeed in Thailand, without detriment to our people's economic welfare, two conditions must be satisfied: (a) our people must acquire more technical and managerial skills, and (b) the market for our products must be made large enough through international regional coordination and cooperation. Neither of these conditions can be fulfilled in the short run. Nature favours the mass of our people in agriculture, both in climatic conditions and in skill. We can also do a great deal to improve our natural blessings by way of research, extension service 1)

See Table L.

T!IAILANil'S ECONOMIC PIWSJ>Er.TS

135

and financial help. Though still illiterate, our farmers are smart enough to respond to any changes in the relative prices of products and to the leadership and counsel of officials. Government leadership and service, including infrastructural services, and also including the prevention of crime by the police, are crucial in this matter at this particular time. For some time, the government has rightly concentrated on the building of roads to give the farmers better access to markets. I believe that maximum efforts have already been made on roads. I believe the government has spent too much time and money on too many simultaneous big projects in its efforts to bring water to the farms. This should be remedied by changing the policy and trying to make water available to farmers as quickly as possible: ditches and dikes rather than big dams. The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives was recently born, about ten years late. Although it is working well and with great benefit to the farmers, it will have to make up for lost time. The Department of Agricultural Extension Service has just started, also after long delay; and it suffers from the acute shortage of qualified personnel. Technical and higher education in agriculture need therefore to be improved both in quality and quantity to provide people for research and extension. The cooperative movement, in the true sense of the word, must be promoted in great earnest, to enable the farmers to have better control over their own products and activities. These are the main tasks of top priority confronting us. Our policy on rice, up till now, is to keep the domestic price much lower than the world price. Domestic consumption bas been the first and foremost criterion. With the advent of the green revolution, this policy must change : it must be orientated more towards exports. Hence the "rice premium" must be adjusted downward in order to make our rice more competitive in the world market, provide more monetary incentive to the rice farmers, and enable them to invest more and to raise production. A consequence of this new policy will be to improve the distribution of income in favour of the millions of rice srowers. Tbe loss of ~overnment revenl)e in so doing will

136

Puey Ungphakorn

not be as terrible as might be thought. There is wide scope for fiscal measures to replace the rice premium, especially if the latter is to be gradually reduced over several years. Rubber, kenaf and cassava all need special attention. In the case of rubber, the replanting programme should be reorganized and made more effective; some relaxation of the forest conservation policy in the South might help to facilitate new planting. Better water service and more rigorous regulation and incentive to encourage the production of high quality kenaf will go a long way towards solving the export problem of this product. Improvement of quality is ninetenths of the solution of the marketing problem.

Earnest promotion

of the livestock industry and the animal feed industry will put Thailand in a better position regarding the production and sale of cassava maize. The experience acquired by maize farmers and the reorganization in the cultivation of maize between the left bank of the Chao Phya and the western fringe of the Korat plateau should greatly facilitate the improvement of production. What possibilities are there for diversification? I believe there are great possibilities; all-out promotional and technical efforts need to be made. The promise of livestock farming has already been mentioned: take politics and private gain out of it and it will flourish. Cotton, tobacco, sorghum are all good potential crops for exports. The Gulf of Siam (upon which hangs our petroleum hope) provides us with fish, prawns and lobsters which need to be scientifically bred in order to provide us with long-run sources of income. Our fishermen have improved their tools and skill over the years: but the progress in their ability has only taken them as far as the neighbouring territorial waters where their poaching often causes a great deal of trouble. Let us help them venture further afield and reap the rich harvest of the wide ocean. By raising the productivity of our farmers and fishermen, we snall be far on our way to solvin~ the problem of the income ~ap.

TI!AlLAND'S ECONOMIC PROSPECTS

IV

137

Can we do it ?

The answer to this question depends mostly on whether and bow far we are determined to do it. Looking back to our records of the past ten years, we find that Thailand's economic progress has been impressive. Even before 1965, i.e. before any substantial American military spending started, our At the end of 1964, growth rate was already as high as 696 to 896. our international reserves were more than double those of 1959. These facts and figures repudiate the prediction of doom by those who declare that Thailand, having got rich out of the Vietnam war, will now be ruined by the cessation of that war. Let us also go back further to the year 1950 when the Korean War came to an end. There are several points of similarity between the economic difficulties of 1950 and those of 1970. During the Korean War boom, we were riding on the crest of the high prices of rubber and tin. We enjoyed virtual monopoly in the world rice trade. Our international reserves were rising. Suddenly, the War ended and rubber and tin took a deep plunge. Burma also reemerged in the early fifties as a stronger supplier of rice than Thailand and regained her pre-war status as the leading exporter. Our foreign exchange earnings then dropped sharply and threatened to drop further. The difference is that in the early 1950's, our exchange rate structure was in a mess; there were all sorts of controls over imports and exports; rice trade was under government monopoly; there were then only four main export products to rely upon; government finance was chaotic, treasury bill and bond holdings mounted up at the Bank of Thailand, which was then the only buyer of government papers. Budgetary and exchequer accounting was very poor and ten years behind time. International reserves in 1954 amounted to only $289 mn. But out of all this chaos we emerged to prosper for more than ten years. And we did so without any defensive action such as quota restrictions of imports. We acted boldly: we abolished controls, abolished the Government Rice Bureau, abolished controls on rubber and tin, abolished controls on car imports, abolished multiple exchange

138

Pucy Ungphakorn

rates and abolished categorizing types of imports. We improved our financial system, budgetary system, tax system, and we made them more efficient. We improved the welfare of the people by building We developed agriculture and suproads, railways and harbours. pressed banditry to give the people security for their lives and wealth. We instituted the rule of law in our economic and trading systems. Can we now repeat this success story? There is one important condition to fulfil before we can succeed, i.e. the economic machinery of the government must be streamlined. At the moment the responsibility for the economic and financial matters inside the government is widely diffused. Economic planning and operations are out of focus. Measures to improve, say, rice productivity, involve four ministries (National Development, Agriculture, Interior, Prime Minister's Office) and perhaps eight departments. In the newspapers one recently read a statement by the Undersecretary of State for Agriculture to the effect that the improvement of agriculture is not the responsibility of his ministry because the Ministry of Agriculture has no control over soil or water ! The organization of government thus needs drastic reform and the need is urgent. A senior cabinet minister, trusted by the Prime Minister, ought to be put in charge of the coordination of all economic activities of the government and he should be given adequate authority as well as responsibility. This problem is well known to us all, and the leading members of the government are well aware of it. In Parliament recently actions to improve the economic machinery of the government were discussed and promised by the government. We should all bid the government not only good luck, but good speed. Once this reform is accomplished, I see no reason for gloom about the economic prospects of Thailand. We have been in difficulties before with inuch less to fall back upon, and we got out of those difficulties with some friendly foreign help, but with most of the spade work done by our own Thai people. I am sure we can do it again. I submit that Thailand's economic prospects should be bright and that with real determination by the government, Thailand's economic prospects are bright.

l

TIIAILAN!l'S llCONOMIC PHOSPllCTS

139

Tables A. Rate of growth of gross domestic product (constant prices)

Year --··"-··-···-~----··

Annual growth rate ------

------------

1958- 1962

(average)

1962- 1966

(

6.0%

, ,

)

8.9%

1967

4.6%

1968

8.5%

B. External Balances (Millions of Baht) 1961

1968

1969

Exports-Imports (merchandise)

-269

-10,573

~11,250

Services (net)

+ 320

+ 6,148

+ 5,970 ______ ____ .,

---·----·-·-··---~·-

+51

-4,425

-5,280

+1,655

+ 447

- 997

Current account balance Balance of payments (deficit-)

C. U.S. R & R and Military Expenditure (Millions of Baht) 1961

1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 366

213

R&R

420

416

Military 77

205

361

439

922

2,582 4,107 4,918 4,200

Total

77

205

361

439

922

3,795 4,473 5,338 4,616

(in U.S.$ million)

3.7

9.8

17.3

21.1

44.3 182.4 215.0 256.6 222.0

Expenditures

1

Puey Ungphukorn

140

D. International Reserves (Millions of U.S. dollars)

Commercial Total End of Official banks period (net) net

End Commercial Total of Official banks period (net) net

225

1959

319

-10

309

n. a.

n. a.

1960

371

- 18

353

361

n. a.

n. a.

1961

454

- 21

432

1952

351

+2

353

1962

523

- 28

495

1953

307

+5

312

1963

576

- 36

540

1954

282

+7

289

1964

660

- 51

609

1955

304

+5

309

1965

739

- 48

691

1956

318

-2

316

1966

924

- 74

850

1957

324

--3

321

1967

1,008

" 108

900

1958

309

-7

302

1968

1,021

- 99

922

1969

985

-Ill

874

1949

221

1950

292

1951

E. International Reserves Changes in 1969 (Millions of U.S. dollars)

(Including IBRD Participation Certificates in the official reserves) End of 1968 End of 1969 Changes between period Official

1,021

1,002

-19

Commercial banks (net)

-- 99

--.111

--12

922

891

-.31

Total net

F. Rate of increase of imtJOrts (percent)

Classification

1963

1964

1965

1966

1.3

8.2

5.6

11.8

10.8

26.5

16.6

Capital goods

24.9

4.6

12.6

Other imports

9.4

14.7

0.2

Consumer goods

1967

1968

13.1

0.2

25.8

20.8

3.4

19.4

32.3

12.8

10.3

17.1

I

Intermediate products and raw materials

26.3 ..

Total

11.3

11.3

I

8.3

-·--·--

19.9

19.9

- 8.6

TllAILANil'S ECONOMIC l'UOSPECTS

141

G. Imports by Economic Classification (Millions of Baht) 1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

Consumer goods i 3,624 3,971 3,847 3,896 4,215 4,444 4,968 5,619 5,631 Intermediate

'

I

products and

raw materials

I

Capital goods

1,577 11797 11787 1, 980 II 2, 504 2,929 3,687 4,453 4,606 I 2,367 I 2,548 3,248 4,056; 4,242 4,775 5,701 7,543 8,511

Other imports

12, 147_ 2,149 2,622_ 2,870 13,29~ _3,28~ 4,148 4,573 5,355

i

l

Total

,9,625

10,2871~,054112,803114,25415,433~,504~~~-824,103

H. Capital goods imports in connection with aid, loans, und U.S. military construction (Millions of Baht) 1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

673

326

520

813

468

482

601

766

829

559

744

1,107

871

863

686

567

700

855

-

-

-

248

325

1,202 1,451 2,012 2,407

-

-

166

166

270

Imports under aid prog rams Imports under loans

Imports under industria 1 promoti on Imports~or

U.S.

military construe tion

.....---·

Total

645

1,144 1,165

- - - - - - - · - - --- - - - - - - - -

1,232 1,070 1,627 2,098 1,822 2,640 3,264 4,622 5,256

- - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -

As percen t of

capital goods and raw material s

31.2

24.6

32.3

34.6

27.0

34.3

34.8

39.0

40.3

Puey Ungphakoru

142

I. Imports on credits (private) 1 (Millions of Baht)

1960 1961

1962 1963 1964

1965 1966 1967 1968

·--··---

Lorries, buses, motor cars

73

172

161

297

211

328

481

925

4

4

36

78

99

142

258

202

46

91

129

3

232

67

81

146

80

24

6

20

6

6

57

119

121

17

I

Tractors Machinery and parts Others

I

- - - - - - - - - -----

Total

87 I 174

326

206

613

4 ----

381

--· - - - -

608

1,004 1,328

J. Government surplus (Millions of Baht)

1960 1961

1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 I

Revenue

6, 7781 7,449 8,002 8,818 9,957 11,344 12,901 14,780 16,890

Current expenditure

5,506 6,143 6,548 7,326 8,177

- - - - - - - -- Surplus

8,859 9,827 11,536 14,485 ------

--

1,272 1,306 1,454 1,492 1,780 2,485 3,074 3,244 2,405

- - - - - - - - --- - - - - - -- -

%Rate of growth of surplus l)

65.4

2.7

11.3

2.6

19.3

39.6

23.7

Excluding goods imported on credits under the industrial promotion scheme.

5.5 -25.9

143

THAILAND'S ECONOMIC PI\OSPECTS

K. Savings (Millions of Baht) 1958

GNP

1959

1960

1961

1962

1963

1964 1965

1966

1967

4 ;,o;~i;;~;;~vs·, 717 59,876-~5,209 68,921 73,730 81,274 96,803105,634

Savings

7,039! 8,287 9,92010,67612,33512,79814,28917,60926,364 26,133 1

Savings as percent of GNP

15.0

16.5

17.8

17.8

18.9

18.6

19.4

21.7

27.2

24.7

1966

1967

L. Manufacturing and Agriculture (Constant prices, Millions of Baht)

Manufacturing Growth rate

1965

1961

1962

1963

1964

7,073

7,437

8,617

9,780 11,467 12,468 13,903

2.8

5.1

15.9

13.5

17.2

8.7

11.5

11.4

11.4

12.0

12.9

13.9

13.6

14.4

Manufacturing as percent of GNP

Agriculture Growth rate

23,748 24,307 26,473 26,645 27,409 30,907 28,423 -8.0 12.8 2.9 0.6 8.9 2.3 4.5

Agriculture as percent of GNP

GNP

38.4

37.3

37.0

35.1

33.2

33.7

29.5

61,875 65,209 71,634 75,951 82,662 91,802 96,269

REVIEWS Darunowat (Mtinmn), published on the occasion of the cremation to Police Colonel H.S:H. Prince Manunsiri Kasemsan, Phrae Kan Chang Press, Bangkok, 1969. The traditional memento for the the occasion of the cremation of Police Colonel H.S. H. Prince Manunsiri Kasemsan in June 1969 was a reprint of the first fifteen numbers of Danmowat, the first political newspaper in the history of Thai journalism. This was indeed most welcome for up till then this extremely valuable primary printed source for the earlier part of King Chulalongkorn's reign was available .only at the National Library in Bangkok or on microfilm in the possession of the more specialised libraries in Europe and America. The importance of Darunowat cannot be overemphasized. It was a weekly newspaper which first appeared on Tuesday, 7th July 1874. In the history of Thai journalism, although it was not the very first Thai-language newspaper for both Bradley's fortnightly Bangkok Recorder and the irregular and then quarterly official Ratchaldtchanubeksa (the Royal Gazette) antedated it, it was ,the first Thai-owned and non-official Thai-language newspaper. The clue to its political significance lies in the fact that its editor was II. H. Prince:Kasemsansophak (later Krommaluang Pbromwaranurak), the father of the cleceased, who was one of King Chtilalongkorn's half~brothers. -Prince K asemsan founded Darunowat during a very tense political period. After five years ofSomdet Cbao Phraya Borommaha Sisuriya wong (Chuang Bunnag )'s Regency, King Cbulalongkorn came of age in 1873. The dissolution of the Regency took place symbolically and actually at the King!s second coronation. In the following year, the King promulgated a number of .edicts in rapid succession whieh were intended to change the political, financial, judicia'! and social situation of Siam. These reforms were so fundamental that they were, bound to affect the interests of those politiealleaders,thei·r kinsmen and clients who had gradually taken over the administrative machinery during the Third and Fourth Reigns and bad .consolidated their power during the Rege-ncy. On his side, the King's supporters

146

rmvmws

were his brothers, half-brothers, younger members of the Royal Family (excluding that of the Front Palace), members of the Bunnag family who for one reason or other disliked the former Regent, and members of the nobility and lesser nobility outside the political establishment. These young men formed themselves into the Young Siam Society and one of them, Prince Kasemsan, who was only eighteen years old, founded Darunowat. As the organ of the Young Siam Society, Daruno~vat was therefore the first political newspaper in the history of Thai journalism. In his very first editorial, Prince Kasemsan revealed that he and his backers had presented the idea of founding the paper to the King who gave his approval and encouraged them to make a success of it "for the future benefit of the country". {p. 2) The Prince explained that the word Dartmowat meant "the teachings of the young" (p. 1) and announced that the paper's contents would be local and foreign news, articles on science and the arts, stories, proverbs and fables, poetry and drama, advertisements. In general, Dm·unowat's choice of news inevitably reflected the preoccupation of the King and his supporters with reform and "progress". In local news, the first fifteen numbers of the paper gave prominence to the appointment of the first ten judges of the newly· created Court of Appeal, the ceremony of taking the Water of Allegiance by newly-appointed Councillors of State, the appointment of Privy Councillors, their Oath of Office, and the King's speech to them. Other signs of "progress", such as the revision of an unjust tax, the planting of trees in the new Saranrom Gardens, the collection of antiquities and curios in the Royal Museum, and a ball at a great nobleman's house were also reported. In foreign news and science, readers were give a general knowledge of "progress'' in the outside world. There were articles on geology and the Suez Canal, and a list of the monarchs and leaders of the world and a life of George Stephenson were serialized. It is interesting to note than the position of the President in the constitution of the United States was discussed and the pacification of the southern part of the Malay Peninsula by Sir Andrew Clarke was much praised. In the arts 1 some of the seeds

IUWJEWS

147

of a national consciousness were sown. One of the chronicles was serialized and stories of Sithanonchai, verses from the Chindamani, the Ramaymza and other works were published. As a political paper, Darunowat did not of course only try to stir national consciousness and report local reforms and international progress but also attack the other side. But even though it was under royal patronage, this role was strictly limited by the circumstances of the time. One of the contributors explained that this was "because it was still not possible to criticize or to praise in newspapers within the traditional Thai context." (8 Sept. 1874, p. 149). In an earlier editorial, Prince Kasemsan complained that people wanted to contribute but wished to remain anonymous and were afraid that their identity would be revealed. He in turn announced that, in spite of the contributors' anonymity, he must exercize his authority as editor to leave their contributions out if he saw that "the substance would in one way or other raise objections." ( 18 Aug. 1874, p. 89). One man did, however, try to break this reluctance and fear to express political opinions openly. Phraya Phatsakorawong (Phon Bunnag), the King's Private English Secretary and one of the most ardent members of the Young Siam Society, asked the editor to publish an unsigned letter which a certain monk had written to him complaining of corrupt practices by a judicial official in the Department of Religious Affairs. Phraya Phatsakorawong wrote that it was "improper" of the monk to have written the unsigned letter. He should have appealed directly to one of the Privy Councillors whose job it was to present it to the King for consideration and to respect its confidential nature. In spite of Pbraya Pbatsakorawong's effort, however, Darunowat's political criticism ranged from the indirect to the obscure. An anonymous writer, for instance, asked pointed questions about the composition of the Privy Council. He noted that there were only two Ministers in it and asked what bad happened to the others. He wondered if the King had not invited them to become Privy Councillors because they were too old and unwell or if he bad invited them and they had refused because either they were too modest or they did not

l\EVJI\1\G

want to swear the Ofrth of: Office for fear of not being able to live up to it. 'Fhe anoriymous writer thought that the other Ministers would have been in the wrong if the King had invited thetn to join and' they had refused. He ended by asking for" enlightenment". (1 Sept. 1874, p. 129). A week later, the queries were indirectly answered. In an article entitled "Praises", an anonymous author, who signed himself "Keeper of the Liglit", wrote that "the way of enlightenment and progress would appear to the young" for the King was righteous and beloved by the princes and the noblemen, and because secrecy and arbitrariness could be revealed and good could be praised in Daruuowat. (8 Sept. 1874, p. 149). On other occasions, Darunowat's political criticism could be even more oblique and obscure. There was, for instance, a story about a group of "children" baiting a "grown-up" who turned out to be an old soldier. ( 11 Aug. 1874, p. 81). This "grown-up" figure reappeared later on. In an article entitled "A Dream", for which the anonymous contributer invited interpretations, a retired soldier turned businessman was taunted about his knowledge of warfare, courage in battle, and unending avarice by a visitor to his house. (22 Sept. 1874, pp. 185-186). Apart from its historicaL i.mportat1Ce and literary interests, Darunowat is also a valuable source for the compamti ve study of Thai jol:lrnalistlll. As shown above, although it was a political paper whose patron was the highest authority in the land:, Darunowat's political criticism stiH hacl to be extremely indirect for fear of "objections" from the political establ'ishment. But apart from this, the paper also faced other difficulties. It suffe~ed from what even then was an absurdly limited circulation. By only the tenth number, Prince Kasemsan was already bemoaning the fact that only "aristocrats" bought Darunowat and "commoners" did not buy it all that much because some of them did not want to learn an)1thing new and some of them could not even read while in more or less "civilized" countries there were several newspapers because the people had been educated and loved to increase their knowledge. l-Ie revealed that when all the printing costs had been added up, the circulation of only 130 copies per number of Darunowat left him with no profit; but added

1\b:VIEWS

149

that, aLthough near to despair, he would continue to publish it "for the sake of progress." (8 Sept. 1874, p. 138). Prince Kasemsan did try, however, to add interest to the contents and presumably gain readership by reporting crimes, giving social news, aud printing advertisements. But difficulties seemed unendililg. Contributions never arrived on time and the printing press constantly broke down. Advertisements probably helped offset costs but somet.imes served merely to underline the paper's remoteness. Ramsay Wakefield and Company once advertised the arrival from England of silk stockings which were for sale at six baht a dozen. (p. 86 ). The lack of readership combined presumably with the tense political atmosphere of the time eventually forced Darunowat to close down in June 1875. The heirs of Police Colonel H.S.H. Prince Manunsiri Kasemsan are to be heartily thanked for reprinting these first fifteen numbers of Darunowat. The original copies were made available by Mrs. Maenmas Chavalit, the t.ibrarian of the National Library and a former Honorary Ubrarian of the Siam Society, whose insistence on reproducing the original spellings and punctuations is wholly admirable. Khun KachomSukhapanijhas provided a useful introduction. It is sincerely hoped that, on preferably happier occasions, the remaining nun1bers of Darunowat will in time also be reprinted. Tej Bmmag

Hans Penth, Hilwjat Atjeh, Die Erz'dhlung von der Abhunjt u,nd den }ugendjalmn des Sultan Iskandar Muda von Atjeh (Sttmat1'a) (Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden) 1969 207 pp. C'est avec grand plaisir que nous signalons ici la traduction de M. Penth. Trop lotlgtemps differee (nous en annoncions Ia prochai11e parution des 19671), elle parait enfin au uombre des pt.lblications de l'Ostasiatische Seminar de l'Universite Francfort s/Main (tome 2 de la 1)

Dans notre etude intitulee Le Sultanat d' ,1/jeh au temps d' Islumdar Mud(!, 1G07 -1636, in Public. Ecole Fran~·aise d' E:r:tr~me Orient, LXI, Paris, 1967,297 p. (cite dans ce qui suit comme Sultanat); la reference au travail de M. Penth est a lap. 21 (note 3).

150

1\EVH'WS

premiere serie, consacree aux etudes sur 1' Asie du Sud-est). Elle vient heureusement s'ajouter a Ia liste, encore trop courte, des sources malaises accessibles en langues occidentales et permettra de preciser plus d'un point de cette histoire sumatranaise, qui, longtemps negligee, semble faire !'objet depuis quelques annees d'un renouveau d'interet. Le Hikajat Atjeh, ou "Histoire d'Atjeh" est un long texte en prose malaise, non date, mais a peu pres certainement redige a Atjeh m~me, par un des courtisans du Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607-1636). Seulle debut du texte nous a ete conserve, et encore avec des lacunes, par deux manuscrits actuellement conserves a Leyde; i1 comprend en gros trois parties: a) origines mythiques d' Atjeh; b) histoire de ses premiers Sultans (ce qui correspond en gros au XVIeme s.); c) recit des enfances du jeune prince, qui devait monter sur Ie tr6ne en 1607 (cette troisieme partie representant a elle seule les 2/3 du total). La suite du texte, desormais perdue, devait sans doute traiter de !'accession au pouvoir et du debut du regne. Il s'agit en fait d'une eulogie ou d'un "panegyrique", visant essentiellement a chanter les louanges et la valeur extraordinaire d'un monarque qui parvint a etablir Ia suprematie d'Atjeh dans la region des detroits et qui est bien connu dans l'histoire comme dans les traditions atjihaises sous le nom d'fskandar Muda, c'est-a-dire d' "Alexandre le Jeune". Comme les themes mythologiques se m~lent ici aux elements historiques, M. Penth propose (p. 5) de designer ce genre d'oeuvres litterairesdont on retrouve d'autres exemples en Asie du Sud-est, au Siam notamment-du nom de Mythenchronik. Le texte du Ilikajat Atjeh a ete etabli et Jatinise des 1958 par !'eminent erudit indonesien (d'origine atjihaise) Teuku Iskandar (actuellement directeur de la commission chargee d'etablir a Kuala Lumpur un dictionnaire officiel du malais). C'est de cette edition (V erh.Kon.Inst, 26) que M. Penth nous donne aujourd'bui la traduction allemande integrate. Son introduction (p. 5 a 60) aborde successivement trois points particuliers. 1) La premiere question est celle des mytbes relatifs a l'origine d'Atjeh qui figurent dans la premiere partie du texte. M. Penth

mwmws

151

souligne avec pertinence Ia variete des influences qui viennent se meier dans une tradition qu'on pourrait s'attendre a ne voir marquee que du sceau de l'Islam. "En donnant comme ancetres it Iskandar Muda, ~~ la fois une princesse nee d'un bambou, Ie dieu bindou Vi~l}U et Iskandar Zulkarnain (une forme islamisee d' Alexandre le Grand), l'auteur le mettait du meme coup en relation avec les trois principales traditions spirituelles de la region" (p. 11); et permet M. Penth d'analyser les divers elements qui relevent de ces trois traditions: religion primitive, hindouisme et Islam, insistant notamment (p. 7-8) sur le succes connu par l'bistoire d'Iskandar dans le monde malais (on sait qu'il existe une version malais du Roman d'Alexandre); on aurait pu signaler ici qu'on montre encore a present son "tombeau", dans un des "hauts-lieux" de Sumatra, sur le Mont Siguntang, pres de Palembang, ou ont ete retrouves par ailleurs plusieurs temoignages archeologiques d'epoque Srivichaya. On s'etonne seulement que M. Pentb n'ait pas voulu rappeler tct le rapprochement deja propose par Teuku Iskandar entre Ia structure du Hikajat Atjeh et celle du Al?bar Nameh, autre panegyrique redige un peu plus tot a la gloire du grand Mogol Akbar par Abii'l Fa~l (mort en 1602). Sans doute n'est-il pas besoin d'aller invoquer le temoignage d'une statue de Ga.qesa, trouvee a Sumatra par Schnitger (et representee "avec une Iune sur le front") (p. 9), pour expliguer le reve premonitoire de Ia mere de Iskandar Muda, qui avant de mettre au monde son fils, voit descendre Ia lune sur sa tete. Le motif se trouve deja dans le modele indien (ed. Beveridge du Akbar Nameh, t.I, p. 48). Le parallele qui existe en ce point entre les deux textes est evident (cf. Sulianat, p. 158). 2) M. Penth aborde ensuite la question des donnes proprement historiques (p. 13-25). En bonne methode, il confronte les indications du Hikajat avec les autres sources malaises (surtout le Bustan us-Salatin, ou "Jardin des Sultans", vaste encyclopedie composee sous le successeur d'Iskandar Muda, en 1638), les donnees epigraphiques (inscriptions des pierres tombales des Sultans, etudiees par Moquette en 1914, mais qui meriteraient bien une nouvelle etude), les sources europeennes entin, portu~aises (Couto), ans;Iaises (Davis~ Best) ou

152

franvaises (Vitre, Beaulieu). La chronologie ainsi restituee est~~ peu de chose pres semblable acelle que nous proposions en 1967 (Sultanat, p. 185-186 et tableau genealogique cl'Iskandar Muda). M. Penth insiste aussi de son cote sur les bouleversements de ce que nous twions appele la '\;rise" de 1579. Un seul regret peut-etre: M. Penth s'en tient ici it cette analyse de Ia chronologie et n'evoque aucune des autres ricbesses du texte. Est-ce une conception trap "evenementielle" de l'histoire qui lui a fait ecrire, dans sa preface (p. 2) que l'interet de son texte, en tant que source historique se trouvait "limite" ( ... als historische Quelle 11ur von beschriinl~tern Wert ist)? Nous serions inversement tent€~s de voir dans le Flilwjat Atjeh une source d'une extreme ricbesse pour tons ceux qui s'interessent aussi a l'histoire des societes et des mentalites, car les descriptions de ceremonies (mariages, receptions