628 



SIAM. 



tiers on the ground that the neighboring popula- 

 tions over which they rule are disquieted, so the 

 French claim a sphere of influence and a right 

 of intervention in the parts of the Siamese Em- 

 pire inhabited by Laotians, Cambodians, and the 

 Shan tribes of the northeast. In April, 1902, 

 troubles occurred on the upper Mekong, and the 

 Siamese Government sent troops into the dis- 

 turbed region. The French Governor of Indo- 

 China at the same time made a military demon- 

 stration on the lower Mekong on account of 

 some infringement by the Siamese in Battambang 

 of the treaty obligations forced upon them in 

 1893. The Siamese rebels in the north crossed 

 the Mekong and came into collision with the 

 French forces posted there. These Shan rebels 

 captured Muang Pray and held it against the 

 Siamese troops, having put to death all the Sia- 

 mese officials. The uprising became more formi- 

 dable and extensive. \V hen the French complained 

 of the invasion of their territory the Siamese 

 Government disclaimed responsibility for the acts 

 of rebels and freebooters over whch Siam has 

 no control. The French Government had often 

 to complain of the violation of the frontier by 

 the Siamese and of their disregard of treaty obli- 

 gations in the neutral zone. One of the condi- 

 tions of the Anglo-French agreement of 1896 

 guaranteeing the inviolability of the Menam val- 

 ley against either French or British encroachment 

 was that the King of Siam should employ within 

 it no British nor French troops. Yet he had 

 engaged 1,500 Sikh soldiers as police in Bangkok. 

 When the French objected the Siamese reply 

 is said to have been that they were necessary 

 for night patrols because the Siamese police could 

 not be depended upon to keep awake. The rebel- 

 lion in the north, caused by the exactions of 

 Siamese officials, was quelled in the end by the 

 troops. The rebel chiefs and many of the in- 

 habitants took refuge in French Laos. 



New Treaty with France. Since the bom- 

 bardment of the Paknam forts by the French 

 and other hostilities that ended with the treaty 

 of Oct. 3, 1893, the French have been excluded 

 from all influence at Bangkok and from the com- 

 mercial and other favors shown to the nationals 

 of other powers, while British influence, which 

 the French then sought to counteract, was not 

 impaired. The French annexed at that time the 

 territory of Luang Prabang that was claimed by 

 Siam east of the Mekong; they have occupied 

 the town of Chantabun, and though the occupa- 

 tion was declared to be temporary they have ex- 

 pended 15,000,000 francs there; they forced Siam 

 to agree to keep no troops in a zone of 25 miles 

 on the right bank of the Mekong; and the police 

 rights of Siam were restricted, and she was for- 

 bidden to maintain troops or build fortifications 

 in Battambang and Angkor, old Cambodian prov- 

 inces. 



The British expansion in Burma was the occa- 

 sion of French aggression. In January, 1896, 

 the grounds for a forward policy on the part of 

 France were taken away by an agreement be- 

 tween France and England by which they mu- 

 tually guaranteed to Siam the integrity of the 

 Menam basin and the coast from Muong Bang 

 Tapan to Muong Pase. 



On Oct. 7, 1902, a treaty was signed at Paris 

 by which Siam ceded to France the province of 

 Meluprey, a part of the province of Angkor, and 

 a part of the Laos territory west of the Mekong 

 river. The boundary between Siam and Cam- 

 bodia starts on the left bank of the Great Lake 

 from the mouth of the Stang Rolnos river, runs 

 westward to the Prek Kompong Tiam river, 



northward to the Pnom Dang Rek mountains, 

 thence along the Nam Sen-Mekong and Nam 

 Moun watershed to the Pnom Padang chain, and 

 along the summit of the mountains eastward to 

 the Mekong. This is the old Cambodian province 

 of Meluprey, and it includes also a slice of Ang- 

 kor with the best part of the fisheries on the lake. 

 The Laos boundary west of the Mekong starts 

 from the mouth of the Nam Huong, follows the 

 crest of the mountains separating the two valleys 

 westward to the watershed of the Menam basin, 

 and this watershed northward to the source of a 

 tributary of the Nam Ngoum, descends it and 

 the Nam Ngoum to the Ban Luak, ascends the 

 latter river to the Menam watershed, runs along 

 the watershed westward to the Nam Kop river, 

 and follows the course of this river down to the 

 Mekong. This is the Laos province of Bassak. 

 The traditional relations between the King of 

 Siam and the inhabitants of this province are 

 not altered. France agrees to evacuate the town 

 of Chantabun. The King of Siam will be free to 

 maintain troops on the right bank of the Mekong, 

 but binds himself to keep in the whole Siamese 

 part of the Mekong basin only Siamese troops, 

 commanded by Siamese officers, and if he wishes 

 to construct ports, canals, or railroads, unless 

 they shall be constructed with a Siamese staff 

 and Siamese capital, he must first come to an 

 agreement with the French Government. France 

 abandons the clause of the treaty of 1893 requir- 

 ing Siam to recognize as under French protec- 

 tion and subject to French consular jurisdiction 

 all persons of Laotian, Cambodian, and Annamite 

 descent and all Chinese coming from French ter- 

 ritories, which has been a source of constant fric- 

 tion. In the new treaty it is stipulated that per- 

 sons of Asiatic origin born on territory under 

 the direct rule or protection of France since it 

 became French and the children of such persons, 

 but not their grandchildren and remoter descend- 

 ants, shall enjoy French protection. Chinamen 

 already inscribed in the lists of the legation and 

 consulates will continue to be French proteges, 

 but are amenable to Siamese law and can be 

 judged by Siamese courts, a representative of the 

 French legation or consulate having the right 

 to be present at the trial and to demand a copy 

 of the indictment and evidence. As regards the 

 admission to French protection of persons not 

 born'on French territory, France will enjoy equal 

 rights with any that may be accorded to other 

 powers. As regards the use of harbors, canaK. 

 and railroads in any part of the kingdom no dif- 

 ferential tax can be established. The French 

 Government expected by restoring Chantabun 

 and removing the causes of rancor to receive as 

 good treatment as regards official appointments 

 given to foreigners and the granting of commer- 

 cial concessions as any other nation, to develop 

 a French influence at Bangkok equal to that 

 of the English, and to promote the trade of 

 French Indo-China. The cession of territory em- 

 braces only a part of the provinces that were 

 once Cambodian and were conquered by Siara, 

 but in the treaty Siam recognizes French rights 

 to a special position in the Siamese part of the 

 Mekong basin, to which before she would not for- 

 mally agree. 



After the conclusion of the treaty the Siamese 

 Government asked that a Frenchman be ilc-i.L.'- 

 nated for a high official position and intimated 

 a willingness to establish a department of hy- 

 giene and sanitation with a French staff. A 

 French engineer was engaged to superintend pub- 

 lic works at Bangkok. The mail subsidy to 

 French steamers running between Bangkok and 



