SIAM 



5366 



SIAM 



a partner. If a piece rests in a semicircular 

 place ten is taken from the score; those rest- 

 ing on the numbered squares give the player a 



score corresponding to the numbers. The game 

 is exactly fifty points, and if the score is higher 

 than fifty the excess is deducted from the total. 



I AM, si' am, popularly known as the 

 LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT, is the only in- 

 dependent kingdom of the Indo-Chinese penin- 

 sula. It is called by the natives Muang Thai, 

 or the Kingdom of the Free. Except on the 

 south, which borders the Gulf of Siam, the 

 greater part of the country is enclosed by the 

 English province of Burma, on the west and 

 northwest, and the French territory of Anam, 

 on the northeast and east. Lower Siam is a 

 long, narrow strip of land extending down into 

 the Malay Peninsula as far as the Federated 

 Malay States. The total area of the kingdom, 

 including Lower Siam, which is about equal to 

 that of the state of Pennsylvania, is 195,000 

 square miles, almost four times that of the 

 state of New York. 



The People. In 1910 the first full statistics 

 of the population were obtained, the total num- 

 ber of inhabitants being 8,149,487, about 400,000 

 fewer than in the state of Pennsylvania in 

 1916. Many Laotian peoples live in the north- 

 ern part of the kingdom, and Shan, Karen and 

 Kamoo tribes dwell in the uplands. Many 

 more northern Asiatics, chiefly the Chinese, 

 who are the business men of the nation, live in 

 the cities. One-third of the population of 

 Bangkok is Chinese. This beautiful green and 

 gold city, called the "Venice of the East," is 

 the capital and largest city of the kingdom, its 

 population in 1914 being estimated at 628,675. 



The typical Siamese is indolent, light- 

 hearted, submissive and hospitable. He is of 

 Mongolian stock, of medium height, olive com- 

 plexion, fairer than the Malay but having simi- 

 lar flat, ugly features. There is no great dis- 

 tinction of caste such as exists among the 

 neighboring Indian peoples. 



Religion. The Siamese are very orthodox 

 Buddhists, and their country is often called the 

 Land of the Yellow Robe, referring to the gown 



worn by the Buddhist priests. All educated 

 Siamese men at some time serve as teachers of 

 this religion. Since India and Burma have 

 been ruled by Great Britain, the King of Siam 

 is recognized as the protector of the Buddhist 

 faith. The natives observe many peculiar cus- 

 toms and ceremonies. Their regard for the 

 sacred white elephant has playe'd a prominent 

 part in their history and government, and this 

 accounts for the popular name of the country. 

 The national flag bears a white elephant upon 

 a scarlet ground. It is believed that the soul 

 of some great king or potentate, possibly even 

 that of Buddha himself, is embodied in the 

 white elephant. These animals are, therefore, 

 considered priceless. They are provided for by 

 the king, and their possession is considered 

 auspicious to his reign. There are countless 

 sacred legends concerning the white elephant, 

 among them being the story that Buddha's 

 mother in a vision saw Buddha embodied in a 

 white elephant; another, that one of the seven 

 gifts to the infant Buddha was 



" a snow white elephant, 



The Haste-Katna, born to bear his king." 



The temples, of which there are over 7,140, 

 noted for their beauty and rich decoration, all 

 bear the image of the elephant. 



Besides the Buddhists, there are many fol- 

 lowers of Mohammed and Confucius, and 

 though the number of Christian converts is 

 comparatively few, the remarkable advance of 

 Siam in its intercourse with other nations is 

 due to Christian missionaries. 



Education. Much of the education is in the 

 hands of Buddhist priests. All of the royal 

 monasteries, government schools, hospitals and 

 a Pasteur Institute are in charge of the Minis- 

 ter of Public Instruction. In Bangkok in 1914 

 there were 142 elementary, two secondary and 

 six English schools and a civil service college. 



