In memory of King Vajiravudh of Siam, Thailand today observes Vajiravudh Day Vajiravudh was educated in the Royal Palace in Siamese and English language. He continued his education in Britain, at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1898, and was commissioned briefly into the Durham Light Infantry upon graduation. He studied law and history at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1899, where he was a member of the exclusive Bullingdon Club. However, he suffered from appendicitis that barred him from personally graduating in 1901. On behalf of his father, King Chulalongkorn, he attended the coronation of King Edward VII on 9 August 1902. On 11 November 1911, Vajiravudhs coronation was held with royalties from Europe and Japan as guests – for the first time in Siam to host international parties. As king, even before his coronation, Vajiravudh swiftly passed several reforms. His first act following his accession to the throne was to build the Royal Pages College which was subsequently renamed Vajiravudh College by King Rama VII to honour his brother. It was built as an all boy boarding school in the same tradition as English public schools such as Eton and Harrow. The school was built instead of a royal monastery - a custom of Thai kings, as King Vajiravudh deemed that there were already too many temples in Bangkok. He also improved Siamese healthcare systems and set up some of the earliest public hospitals in Siam; Vajira Hospital and Chulalongkorn Hospital in 1912 and 1914 respectively. King Vajiravudh was one of Thailands highly renowned artists, writing modern novels, short stories, newspaper articles, poems, plays and even journals. Among his works were translations of three Shakespeare plays - The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet and many other writing pieces to promote the ideology of Thai nationalism. The King was one among those writers who introduced mysteries and detective stories to Thai literature circles. He translated Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot fictions into Thai language, and created the character Nai Thong-In as Siams first consulting detective, using Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes as a model. He also translated Sax Rohmers the Golden Scorpion. The King was also well-versed in Sanskrit and Hindu literatures, including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics. He translated many stories from the two epics into Thai and also wrote many plays with the inspiration from Hindu literatures. Indeed, he was quite influenced by Rama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and hero of the Ramayana epic, so much so that he systemized and promoted the use of the name Rama as the (English) reign names of all Thai Kings of the Bangkok (Rattanakosin) era. His own reign was dubbed as Rama VI. https://youtube/watch?v=lWEJJe8-O-Y
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 02:52:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015