SIAM 



5367 



SIAM 



A university with eight departments is being 

 established. 



The Country and the Climate. Entrance into 

 Siam is usually made through the harbor at 

 Bangkok, the wide mouth of the Menam River. 

 This great waterway flows through central 

 Siam in a southwesterly direction, and to its 

 annual overflow 

 the fertility of its 

 great valley is 

 due. Almost as 

 much as in 

 Egypt, the wel- 

 fare of millions 

 depends upon 

 flooding by the 

 country's great 

 river. The Ban- LOCATION MAP 



T ^ , The small black area in 



Fa Kong and the Southeastern Asia makes 



Mptona a r P clear the relative sizes of 

 Mekong are giam and the other Asiatic 



other important countries, 

 streams of the rich lands of the central sec- 

 tion. This is the region of open grass and rice 

 lands, swamps, reed and bamboo jungles. As 

 one journeys up the Menam River, the coun- 

 try grows more hilly. Covered with dense for- 

 ests of teakwood, the hills rise to steep moun- 

 tains in the extreme north. The Mekong, the 

 largest of all the rivers of Indo-China, drains 

 this northern region. Lower Siam is moun- 

 tainous and wooded. The rivers are small and 

 shallow, and the coast is ragged and studded 

 with islands. 



Although the climate is tropical and its great 

 humidity is enervating and unhealthful for 

 Europeans, it has not the extreme heat of 

 India. In the dry season, lasting from October 

 until May, after the hot, glittering sunlight of 

 the day, cool nights descend with amazing 

 suddenness, "for there is no twilight within the 

 courts of the sun." During the wet season, the 

 excessive heat is made more intolerable by the 

 great humidity. The rainfall is heavier in some 

 sections than in others, but averages 240 inches 

 a year. 



Industries. Practically the whole population 

 of Central Siam, outside of Bangkok, is occu- 

 pied in the growing of rice, of which there are 

 forty or fifty varieties. The method of cultiva- 

 tion is very primitive, but effective, and Si- 

 amese unhusked rice is of the best in the world. 

 It is the national food and the chief export. 

 During the year 1914 the export amounted to 

 1,176,980 tons. Many fruits are abundant, in- 

 cluding the mango and mangosteen. Large 

 tracts of waste lands have been recently re- 



claimed by an irrigation company, and pepper, 

 tobacco, hemp, maize, coffee and cotton are 

 grown. Next to the production of rice, the 

 gathering of teakwood in Northern Siam is the 

 most important industry. It is controlled by 

 the Forest Department, which consists chiefly 

 of British officials. In the year 1914, the ex- 

 port of teakwood was 51,236 tons. Foreign 

 trade is carried on chiefly with Great Britain, 

 India and China. 



Siam's mineral resources are varied, but with 

 the exception of the mining of tin in Lower 

 Siam they are not extensively developed. Gold, 

 zinc, antimony and coal are found in some of 

 the provinces. Gold and silver handwork, rice 

 mill, saw mill and pottery products are the only 

 manufactured goods of Siam. 



Transportation and Communication. Modern 

 means of transportation are replacing the ele- 

 phant, coolie and oxcart as burden carriers. 

 In January, 1916, there were 895 miles of rail- 

 roads in Siam. In the year 1915, about 1,950 

 vessels entered the port of Bangkok. In 1909 a 

 Siamese company established a line between 

 Bangkok and Chinese ports in competition with 

 the North German Lloyd Orient Line. In the 

 interior the rivers are important commercial 

 highways. Mail is delivered through 255 offices 

 and agencies, and a parcel post service has 

 been established. In 1915 there were sixty- 

 seven telegraph offices, two telephone exchanges 

 and two wireless stations. 



Government. With the exception of China 

 and Japan, Siam is the only independent gov- 

 ernment of Eastern Asia. Many European and 

 American ideas have been introduced by the 

 American, British, French and Japanese ad- 

 visers of the king. The government is an abso- 

 lute monarchy, and the Crown usually heredi- 

 tary, the king having the right to appoint his 

 successor. A legislative council of forty mem- 

 bers shares the power of making laws with the 

 king and his cabinet, composed of the ministers 

 of the several departments. The kingdom is 

 divided into seventeen monthons, or districts, 

 ruled by high commissioners under the king. 

 Several tributary districts are under their own 

 chieftains. Since 1892 justice has been dis- 

 pensed by organized courts with qualified 

 judges appointed by the ruler. 



History. Much of the early history of Siam 

 is filled with fable. No coherent account of 

 events previous to 1350 is obtainable. That 

 date marks the founding of the city of Ayuthia 

 as the capital and the accession of the first true 

 Siamese king. The acquaintance of the Chris- 



