Siam lies in what was formerly known as “Farther India.” Shaped
somewhat like a long mutton-chop, the northern portion is an
irregular-oval, approximately six hundred by five hundred miles
in reach, from which a long narrow leg extends some five hundred
miles southward down the Malay peninsula. Within the fold of these
two portions lies the Gulf of Siam. The main portion of the land
lies between 12° and 20° 40′ north, and is confined on the east by
French possessions and on the west by British Burmah.
Northern Siam occupies almost the entire drainage system of the
Menam River, and a part of the western watershed of the Mekong
River. The central part abounds with swamps, jungles and briny
wastes, intersected by many branch streams and canals. The bulk
of the population live along these watercourses. Bangkok is the
largest city, and is both the commercial and political capital.
Chiengmai is the principal city of the northern province, which was
formerly known as Laos but is now a political part of the kingdom.
The relations of Siam with the nations of the west date back to
the days of the Portuguese adventurers in the early part of the
sixteenth century; relations which were not diplomatic but purely
commercial. About the middle of the seventeenth century the king of
Siam entered into relations with the English, French and Dutch, but
only to the extent of an exchange of royal courtesies, which after
a time became quiescent. Intercourse with the west was renewed by
Siam when, upon her solicitation, a treaty was made with Great
Britain in 1826. Doubtless fear was the motive which prompted King
Phra Chao Pravat Thong, who reigned from 1824 to 1851, to propose
this treaty, for England had just compelled the neighbouring state
of Burmah to open her doors to trade as the result of war.
The volitional act of the Siamese monarch was apparently a shrewd
stroke of diplomacy, for having granted the right of trade
admission and inland travel, the king adopted a policy of ignoring
the few foreigners within his domains and thereby discouraging
his people from having intercourse with them. At the same time he
held a monopoly of Siamese shipping and levied heavy impost and
expost so that what trade there was served to enrich his private
treasury. In 1833, Honourable Edmund Roberts, who had been sent
by President Andrew Jackson to explore the possibilities of trade
with the native states of Farther India and Cochin China, succeeded
in effecting a treaty only with Siam. The privileges granted
under this treaty were not exercised to any great extent and were
almost allowed to lapse because no consular representative was
appointed. The early American missionaries relied chiefly upon the
privileges kept alive by the “factories,” as the foreign trading
establishments in Bangkok were called.