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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 Sukhothai Kingdom ( th, สุโขทัย, , IAST: , ) was a post-classical Thai kingdom (mandala) in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thailand. The kingdom was fo ...
, the
Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...
, the
Thonburi Kingdom The Thonburi Kingdom ( th, ธนบุรี) was a major Thai people, Siamese kingdom which existed in Southeast Asia from 1767 to 1782, centered around the city of Thonburi, in Siam or present-day Thailand. The kingdom was founded by Taksin ...
and the Early Rattanakosin Kingdom in chronological order. The army was one of the major military forces of
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. With a reform into a new Western-style army in 1852, the Royal Siamese Army became a new European-trained military force. The
Royal Thai Armed Forces The Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF) ( th, กองทัพไทย; ) are the armed forces of the Kingdom of Thailand. The nominal head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย; ) is the King of Thailand. The armed forces are ...
are the contemporary military of Thailand.


Organization

The Royal Siamese Army was organized into three general tiers: the
Palace Guards A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular ar ...
, the Capital Defense Corps, and the field levies. Only the first two were the standing military. They protected the sovereign and the capital region, and formed the nucleus of the armed forces in wartime. The third, the field levies or conscripts, were usually raised just prior to or during wartime, and provided manpower to resist attacks and project power beyond the boundaries of the empire. Most of the field levy served in the
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
but the men for the
elephantry A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephan ...
,
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
,
artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
and
naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
corps were drawn from specific hereditary villages that specialized in respective military skills.


Special branches

The infantry was the backbone of the wartime Siamese army, and was supported by special branches—the elephantry, cavalry, artillery, and naval corps. These special branches were formed by the men from certain hereditary villages that provided the men with specialized skills. In a typical Ayutthaya or Rattanakosin formation, a 1000-strong infantry regiment was supported by 100 horses and 10 war elephants.


Elephantry

The main use of
war elephants A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...
was to charge the enemy, trampling them and breaking their ranks. Although the elephantry units made up only about one percent of the overall strength, they were a major component of Siamese war strategy throughout the imperial era. The army on the march would bring expert catchers of wild elephants. Image:War elephant in national museum Bangkok.jpg, War elephant and traditional Thai weapons in
Bangkok National Museum The Bangkok National Museum ( th, พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติ พระนคร, ) is the main branch museum of the National Museums in Thailand and also one of the largest museums in Southeast Asia. It featu ...
. Image:Queen Suriyothai elephant combat.jpg, A Thai painting depicting
Queen Suriyothai Suriyothai ( th, สุริโยทัย, , ; Burmese:သူရိယထိုင်း) ), date=June 2019 was a royal queen consort during the 16th century Ayutthaya Kingdom, Ayutthaya period of Siam (now Thailand). She is famous for havi ...
(center) on her war elephant putting herself between King
Maha Chakkraphat Maha Chakkraphat ( th, มหาจักรพรรดิ, ; lit.: 'The Great Emperor'; 1509 – 1569) was king of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1548 to 1564 and 1568 to 1569. Originally called Prince Thianracha, or Prince Tien, he was put on the t ...
(right) and Viceroy of Prome (left). Image:WatSuvandaramMural.jpg, Elephant battle between
Naresuan King Naresuan the Great (( th, สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช, , ) or Sanphet II ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๒), ( my , နရဲစွမ် (သို့) ဗြနရာဇ်); 1555/1556 – ...
and
Mingyi Swa Mingyi Swa ( my, မင်းကြီးစွာ, or ; 27 November 1558 – ) was List of heirs to the Burmese thrones, heir apparent of Burma from 1581 to 1593. The eldest son of King Nanda Bayin, Nanda of the Toungoo dynasty, Toungoo Dynasty ...
as wall murals in Phra Ubosot, Wat Suwan Dararam,
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
. Image:Army-of-Yamada-Nagamasa-in-Ayutthaya-Kingdom.png, Pictured in this contemporary Siamese painting, the mercenary army of Japanese adventurer
Yamada Nagamasa was a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, which is on the Malay Peninsula in present-day Southern Thailand. ...
played a pivotal role in court intrigue during the first half of the 17th century.


Cavalry

From the 17th century onward, cavalry troops made up about 10% of a typical regiment. The men of the cavalry were drawn mainly from hereditary villages. Image:Naresuan_life_-_Wat_Suwan_Dararam_-_Section_09_(2129_BE).jpg,
Naresuan King Naresuan the Great (( th, สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช, , ) or Sanphet II ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๒), ( my , နရဲစွမ် (သို့) ဗြနရာဇ်); 1555/1556 – ...
, the
Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
of
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
, defeating Lak Wai Tham Mu (ลักไวทำมู), a military general of
Taungoo Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industry ...
, during a battle in 1586/87.


Artillery

During the 16th century, the Siamese artillery and musketeer corps were originally made up exclusively of foreign (
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an and
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
) mercenaries.


Navy

The naval arm of the army consisted mainly of river-faring war boats. Its primary missions were to control the
Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Et ...
, and to protect the ships carrying the army to the front. The major war boats carried up to 30 musketeers and were armed with 6- or 12-pounder cannon. By the mid-18th century, the navy had acquired a few seafaring ships, manned by European and foreign sailors. Image:Naresuan life - Wat Suwan Dararam - Section 02 (2116 BE).jpg, An Ayutthaya era war boat


Military history of Thai armed forces


Reform

In 1852, the Royal Siamese Armed Forces came into existence as permanent force at the behest 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 ...
, who needed a
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an trained military force to thwart any western threat and any attempts at colonialisation. By 1887, during the next reign of 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 ...
, a permanent military command in the ''Kalahom'' Department was established. However the office of ''Kalahom'' and the military of Siam had existed since the days of the
Sukhothai Kingdom The Sukhothai Kingdom ( th, สุโขทัย, , IAST: , ) was a post-classical Thai kingdom (mandala) in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thailand. The kingdom was fo ...
in the 13th entury.The Royal Thai Army. Brief History
rta.mi.th{{failed verification, date=November 2020


Types of uniforms

File:Siamese General Uniform.png, Siamese general uniform File:Siamese infantry uniform.png, Siamese infantry uniform File:Wat Suwan Dararam wihan - inside - 2017-02-13 (030).jpg, Siamese infantry during
Naresuan King Naresuan the Great (( th, สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช, , ) or Sanphet II ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๒), ( my , နရဲစွမ် (သို့) ဗြနရာဇ်); 1555/1556 – ...
's reign, depicted in a mural painting in the wihan of Wat Suwan Dararam


See also

*
Military history of Thailand The military history of Thailand encompasses a thousand years of armed struggle, from wars of independence from the powerful Khmer Empire, through to struggles with her regional rivals of Burma and Vietnam and periods of tense standoff and confl ...
*
History of Thailand The Tai ethnic group migrated into mainland Southeast Asia over a period of centuries. The word ''Siam'' ( th, สยาม ) may have originated from Pali (''suvaṇṇabhūmi'', "land of gold") or Sanskrit श्याम (''śyāma'', "dark ...
*
Burmese–Siamese wars The Burmese–Siamese wars also known as the Yodian wars (), were a series of wars fought between Burma and Siam from the 16th to 19th centuries.Harvey, pp. xxviii-xxx.James, p. 302. Toungoo (Burma)–Ayutthaya (Siam) Konbaung (Burma)–Ayutth ...
*
Siamese–Vietnamese wars The Siamese–Vietnamese wars were a series of armed conflicts between the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom and Rattanakosin Kingdom and the various dynasties of Vietnam mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Several of the wars took place in moder ...


References

Royal Siamese forces 1238 establishments in Asia 1852 disestablishments in Siam