"Sansoen Phra Barami" ( th, สรรเสริญพระบารมี, ; ) is the current royal anthem of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. It was a

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

national anthem of

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

before 1932.

History

The first song to be used as royal anthem and de facto national anthem of Siam/Thailand appeared in the reign of King

Mongkut Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...

of Rattanakosin Kingdom. In 1851, two former British military officers named Captain Impey and Lieutenant

Thomas George Knox Sir Thomas George Knox, KCMG (1824–1887) was an Irish soldier and a diplomat, serving as consul-general in Siam from 1868 to 1879. Life He was the eldest surviving son of James Spencer Knox, D.D. (1789–1862), rector of Maghera, County London ...

served with the Siamese Army. They trained the troops of King Mongkut and the Second King

Pinklao Pinklao ( th, ปิ่นเกล้า) (September 4, 1808 – January 7, 1866) was the viceroy of Siam. He was the younger brother of Mongkut, King Rama IV, who crowned him as a monarch with equal honor to himself. Early life Prince Chutama ...

with British military tradition. So, they adopted the anthem "

God Save the King "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, b ...

" as honor music for the king of Siam. Phraya Srisunthonwohan (Noi Āchāryānkura) wrote Thai lyrics for this anthem later and named it as " Chom Rat Chong Charoen", which means "long live the great king". In 1871, King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

visited

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

(now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

) in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

; it appeared that Siam used the same anthem with Great Britain, who ruled over Singapore at that time. It was necessary that Siam must have a new unique tune for using as the royal anthem and de facto national anthem. A group of Siamese traditional musicians had selected a Thai song named " Bulan Loi Luean" ("The Floating Moon on the Sky") which was the royal composition of King

Buddha Loetla Nabhalai Phra Phutthaloetla Naphalai ( th, พระพุทธเลิศหล้านภาลัย, 24 February 1767 – 21 July 1824), personal name Chim ( th, ฉิม), also styled as Rama II, was the second monarch of Siam under the Chakri ...

(Rama II) for use as the new anthem. King Chulalongkorn later ordered Mr.Heutsen, a Dutch bandmaster who served in the Royal Siamese Army, to arrange the song in western style for performing by the military band. According to a research of Sugree Charoensuk, an associate professor from Mahidol University, the melody of this anthem may be the same tune with another anthem named " Sansoen Sua Pa" which had been used as the anthem of the Wild Tiger Corps since 1911. History about the royal anthem of Siam after 1871 are ambiguous, and evidence is rare to find. An evidence of music composition of the royal anthem of Siam appeared again in 1888 when a sheet music of the Siamese national anthem, arranged by the Russian composer Pyotr Schurovsky, was printed in Russia. The main melody of the song in that sheet music is the same tune of "Sansoen Phra Barami" in present time. According to a research of Sugree Charoensook, Pyotr Shchurovsky was the composer of the music of "Sansoen Phra Barami", to serve as Siam's national anthem. Prince Narisara Nuvadtivong later composed various lyrics of "Sansoen Phra Barami" for using in the

Royal Siamese Army The Royal Siamese Armed Forces (Thai: กองทัพหลวง) were the armed forces of the Thai monarchy from the 12th to 19th centuries. The term refers to the military forces of the Sukhothai Kingdom, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the Thonbu ...

, in all Siamese school and in Siamese traditional music bands. Prince

Abhakara Kiartivongse Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, Prince of Chumphon (19 December 1880 – 19 May 1923) ( th, พระองค์เจ้าอาภากรเกียรติวงศ์, , full title: th, พระเจ้าบรมวงศ์� ...

also composed a version of lyrics for used in the Royal Siamese Navy. In 1913, King Vajiravudh decided to relinquish all lyrics of "Sansoen Phra Barami" that mentioned before and revised it to current version only. "Sansoen Phra Barami" was the de facto national anthem of Siam from 1888 until 1932, when it was replaced by " Phleng Chat Siam"''.'' It still use as the royal anthem of Thailand today. In 1940, the Thai government under the administration of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram issued the 8th Thai cultural mandate, concerning the lyrics of "Sansoen Phra Barami", which were shortened and the word "Siam" replaced with "Thai" (see below). After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, these lyrics were quietly abandoned due its unpopularity, and reverted to the version that revised by King Vajiravudh in 1913. The sound recording of "Sansoen Phra Barami" was recorded for the first time ever on the Edison

wax cylinder Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...

Carl Stumpf Carl Stumpf (; 21 April 1848 – 25 December 1936) was a German philosopher, psychologist and musicologist. He is noted for founding the Berlin School of Experimental Psychology. He studied with Franz Brentano at the University of Würzburg ...

, an ethnomusicologist from the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. In that recording, the anthem was performed by Boosra Mahin Theater Group, a Siamese theater group visiting Berlin in 1900.

Usage of the anthem

The royal anthem is performed during state occasions, as well as when a high-ranking member of the royal family is present for a function. In addition, the royal anthem is still played before the beginning of each film in movie theatres, as well as before the commencement of the first act in plays, musicals, concerts, and most other live performances of music or theatre in Thailand. The anthem is also played at the

sign-on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exce ...

and closedown of television and radio programming; for example, in 2008,

7HD 7HD is an Australian television channel, owned by Seven West Media, originally launched on 15 October 2007 featuring unique breakaway programming from 10 December 2007 to 4 October 2009 and a HD simulcast of Seven until 25 September 2010. The ...

aired
video
with pictures of King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

from his birth to his 80th anniversaries in 2007. Radio Thailand (or NBT) also broadcast the sign-off with the anthem at 24:00 every night. In 2019, the

Royal Thai Government Gazette The ''Royal Thai Government Gazette'' (, ), frequently abbreviated to ''Government Gazette'' (GG) or ''Royal Gazette'' (RG), is the public journal and newspaper of record of Thailand. Laws passed by the government generally come into force after ...

has published the Royal Office Regulation on Performing Honors Music of B.E. 2562. This regulation is detailed about using the royal anthem and other honors music for the king and members of the Thai royal family in several occasions. According to this regulation, The royal anthem "Sansoen Phra Barami" should be performed for the following: * The

King of Thailand The monarchy of Thailand (whose monarch is referred to as the king of Thailand; th, พระมหากษัตริย์ไทย, or historically, king of Siam; th, พระมหากษัตริย์สยาม) refers to the c ...

* Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother * The Queen of Thailand * Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Princess Royal * Heirs-apparent to the throne * Royal remains * Some Thai Royal Standards when hoisted or shown:- ** Royal Standard of Thailand ** Standard of Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother ** Standard of the Queen of Thailand ** Standard for Senior members of the Royal Family (Standard of the Princess Mother) ** Standard of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Princess Royal ** Standard of the Crown Prince of Thailand

Lyrics

The following are the current lyrics of "Sansoen Phra Barami", which was revised by King Vajiravudh in 1913.

Official lyrics

Lyrics used by the Royal Thai Army

Ancient drama lyrics

Male and female school lyrics

Male school lyrics

Female school lyrics

Lyrics adopted by the Royal Thai Navy

Abridged lyrics during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Notes

References

External links

nationalanthems.info

Recordings of Thai honors music
fro
The Thai Government Public Relations Department

Sign off video of PRD's Television of Thailand (Present NBT Digital 2HD)

t-h-a-i-l-a-n-d.org
- A website dedicated to Thai national culture and the Royal Anthem (Thai language) {{Authority control Royal anthems Historical national anthems Thai monarchy Thai songs Asian anthems National anthem compositions in E-flat major