Somdet Chaophraya Borom Maha Sri Suriwongse

Somdet Chaophraya Borom Maha Sri Suriwongse (Thai: สมเด็จเจ้าพระยาบรมมหาศรีสุริยวงศ์, RTGS: ... Si Suriwong, IPA: [sǒm.dèt t͡ɕâːw.pʰrá.jaː bɔː.rom má.hǎ: sǐː sù.rí.woŋ]; also spelled Suriyawong, etc.; 23 December 1808 – 19 January 1883), whose personal name was Chuang Bunnag (Thai: ช่วง บุนนาค; RTGS: Chuang Bunnak; IPA: [t͡ɕʰûaŋ bun.nâ:k]), was a prominent 19th century Thai figure who served as the regent during the early years of the reign of King Chulalongkorn.

Biography

Chuang Bunnag (

Chuang began his career by entering the royal palace as one of the royal pages by around 1828. He was traditionally educated at Wat Pho. With his father being the Minister of Trade, Chuang became acquainted to royal trades and exposed to Western sciences. He was given title Luang Sit Nai Wen (

Chuang was appointed Chameun Waiworanat, a high-ranking royal page. In Siamese–Vietnamese War (1841–1845), King Rama III commissioned Prince Isaret Rangsan and Chuang Bunnag to bring five Siamese rigged warships to attack Hà Tiên in January 1842. Prince Isaret Rangsan stayed at Phú Quốc and Chuang led the assault into Hà Tiên and sent Cambodian regiment to take Cô Tô mountain. After one week of bombardments, the reinforced Vietnamese did not yield. Prince Isaret Rangsan and Chuang Bunnag decided to retreat due to unfavorable winds.

Bowring Treaty and Rise to Power

The British had been granted trade permissions in the 1826 Burney Treaty but much of traditional royal monopoly was retained. Trade with Westerners had been monopolized by Phra Klang Sinka or Royal Storage Department since 1511. All Western cargoes were monitored by the Phra Klang Sinka who collected tariffs as the source of royal court revenue. The Burney Treaty of 1826 allowed British merchants to trade directly with the local Siamese but they were still subjected to the traditional tariff that measured on the width of the arriving merchant ship and the British residing in Siam were subjected to Siamese laws. After the First Opium War, the British was eager to demand free trade in Siam. James Brooke the governor of Labuan arrived in Bangkok in September 1850. King Rama III elevated Chuang to Phraya Sri Suriyawongse and assigned him to receive Brooke. However, as the king had been ill, no further agreement was reached.

Upon the coronation of King

John Bowring arrived in April 1855 and Sri Suriyawongse received him with pomp ceremonies. His father Prayurawongse strongly opposed British proposals on free trade issues but King Mongkut and Sri Suriyawongse had realized that Siam was in no position to resist British demands. The Bowring Treaty was achieved through Sri Suriyawongse's mediation with his father. The traditional ship-width tariff was abolished. The free trade and extraterritoriality was granted to the British and the four hundred years of royal monopoly on Western trade was ended.

Sri Suriyawongse's father Prayurawongse died in April 1855, one month after the Bowring Treaty. Sri Suriyawongse was officially invested as Samuha Kalahom the Prime Minister of Southern Siam and became de facto in charge of Siamese foreign affairs. Sri Suriyawongse was then called by the honorific Pana Hua Chao Than (

After the demise of his father in 1855 and the demise of Vice-King Pinklao in 1866, Sri Suriyawongse emerged as the most powerful courtier. After the solar eclipse event, King Mongkut was exposed to malaria and died in October 1868. Sri Suriyawongse held a council of royal princes and top ministers. The council affirmed that Prince Chulalongkorn, who was fifteen years old, would succeed the throne and Sri Suriyawongse was to be appointed Regent during the minority of the new king. However, Sri Suriyawongse wished Vice-King Pinklao's son Prince Wichaichan be appointed as the Front Palace or heir presumptive. Prince Vorachak objected this, saying that the rights of appointing an heir belonged to the king, but Sri Suriyawongse prevailed. Sri Suriyawongse was succeeded as Samuha Kalahom and as the Commander of Royal Navy by his son Won Bunnag who was made Chao Phraya Surawong Waiyawat in 1869.

In the 1870s, during his Regency, Sri Suriyawongse wielded a great power. King Chulalongkorn later described the situation to Crown Prince Vajiravudh in July 1893; "All of the princes were under Somdet Chao Phraya's power".^[7]

Retirement and Demise

At the end of his regency in September 1873 when King Chulalongkorn had reached maturity, Sri Suriyawongse was invested the Somdet Chao Phraya Borom Maha Sri Suriyawongse with honors equal to a prince, the same rank his father had previously received - the highest rank a Siamese noble had ever attained during the Rattanakosin period. Sri Suriyawongse retired to his new estate in Ratchaburi where he spent last nine years of his life.

The retired Sri Suriyawongse became involved in the politics again in an event known as "Front Palace Crisis" in December 1874. Stand-offs between King Chulalongkorn and Prince Wichaichan the Front Palace led to the latter taking refuge in British consulate. Thomas George Knox the British consul-general had been known to support Vice-King Pinklao's lineage and to prevent British intervention King Chulalongkorn requested Sri Suriyawongse for aid. Sri Suriyawongse arrived at Bangkok and managed to convince Prince Wichaichan to leave British consulate.

In January 1883, Sri Suriyawongse fell seriously ill at his estate at Ratchaburi. His eldest son Won Bunnag had him transported in a steamboat from Ratchaburi to Bangkok for treatment but Sri Suriyawongse died en route at Amphoe Krathum Baen,

Family and Issues

Sri Suriyawongse married Lady Klin Bunnag who was also his half-cousin (her father was Prayurawongse's half brother) and became his main wife. He had a son and three daughters with her including;

• Won Bunnag, later Chao Phraya Surawong Waiyawat (1828 - 1888), succeeded his father as Samuha Kalahom in 1869.

He had another two wives but did not have any more children.

Royal decorations

Sri Suriwongse received the following royal decorations in the

• Knight of the Ancient and Auspicious Order of the Nine Gems - B.E. 2412 (C.E. 1869–1870)
• Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao - B.E. 2416 (C.E. 1873–1874)^{[nb 1]}
• Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant - c. B.E. 2412-2416 (C.E. 1869–1974)^{[nb 1]}
• Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand - B.E. 2419 (C.E. 1876–1877)^{[nb 1]}

Notes

References