This is a survey of the

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

and

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

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 ...

Pre-postal era

Before Siam issued its first stamp, there was a limited mail service, mainly for the royal family. Domestic mail travelled by messengers while international mail travelled by steamboat to post offices in nearby countries, such as the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

. The earliest recorded mail from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

dates back only to 1836 when American missionary

Dan Beach Bradley Dan Beach Bradley (18 July 1804 – 23 June 1873) was an American Protestant missionary to Siam from 1835 until his death. He is credited with numerous firsts, including, bringing the first Thai-script printing press to Siam, publishing the first T ...

sent a letter to his father in a

stampless cover Pre-adhesive mail, also called pre-stamp mail, are letters carried in mail systems before the issuance of postage stamps. A stampless cover is another description and generally also refers to any item of mail sent before the issuance of postage st ...

. The British Consular Post Office in Bangkok was established by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in 1858 as a consequence of a treaty signed between Great Britain and

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 ...

(now known as Thailand) on 18 April 1855, and in response to a demand by expatriate merchants and missionaries. Stamps, initially from India and later from Straits Settlements, were used. It ceased to provide service on 1 July 1885, the day Siam joined the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...

and started its own international postal service. During that time most of the mail from Bangkok was sent by diplomatic pouch to Singapore for forwarding. During 1875—1876, there was a daily newspaper named "Court" produced by 11 young princes of Siam. The publication started on 26 September 1875. In its early days, newspaper must be picked up at its office at Ho Niphetwitthaya in the

Grand Palace The Grand Palace ( th, พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. .) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Ban ...

. So Prince

Bhanurangsi Savangwongse Bhanurangsi Savangwongse, the Prince Bhanubandhu Vongsevoradej (11 January 1859 – 13 June 1928) ( th, สมเด็จพระราชปิตุลาบรมพงศาภิมุข เจ้าฟ้าภาณุรังษ� ...

, ภาณุรังษีสว่างวงศ์, brother of King Chulalongkorn and one of the 11 princes, set up postman in blue dress to deliver the newspaper. Stamps were sold and used for the delivery of the newspapers. The newspaper only published till 15 July 1876 and then stopped.

Postal system established

The first real postal service was established in Siam in 1880. Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse was appointed by 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� ...

in 1881 to set up and run the service, due to his earlier experience in running newspaper delivery services. The postal service was started on 4 August 1883 with one post office building, called ''Praisaneeyakarn'' ( th, ไปรษณียาคาร) on the bank of

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 ...

near Ong Ang Canal. The first postage stamps — the Solot Series — and a postcard were issued on the same day. The initial postal service area was limited to Sam Sen on the north, Bang Kho Laem on the south,

Talad Phlu 300px, Thoet Thai Road is the main thoroughfare of Talat Phlu quarter Talat Phlu or Talad Phlu ( th, ตลาดพลู, ) is a community and marketplace by the canal Khlong Bangkok Yai in Talat Phlu subdistrict, Thon Buri district, Thonburi sid ...

on the west, and Si Prathum on the east. Additional post offices were opened starting with Samut Prakan and Nakhon Khuen Kan (present day

Phra Pradaeng District Phra Pradaeng ( th, พระประแดง, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Samut Prakan province in Thailand. History Phra Pradeang was the original center of the area south of Bangkok near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. Originally na ...

) in July 1885. By 1886 there were 79 post offices throughout the country. Back then water was the main mode of transport. There were very few streets and most were not named. There were no surnames for Thais and letters were often addressed using nicknames. The first post office was demolished in 1982 to make way for Phra Pok Klao Bridge. A smaller scale reconstruction of the building was built nearby and is used as the Postal Museum.

Solot Series

The Solot Series ( th, โสฬส, ) was the first series of

definitive stamp A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in ...

s issued by Thailand, then known as Siam. It consisted of six face values, each of one ''solot'', ''att'', ''siao'', ''sik'', ''fueang'' and ''salueng'', currency units prior to the decimalization of the

baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...

. The series was printed by

Waterlow and Sons Waterlow and Sons Limited was a major worldwide engraver of currency, postage stamps, stocks and bond certificates based in London, Watford and Dunstable in England. The company was founded as a family business in 1810. It was acquired in 1961 b ...

in London, and was first issued on 4 August 1883, coinciding with the launch of Siam's postal service. Stamps in the series depicted King

in profile, facing the frame's left, and were neither marked with the country name nor values in an international script. This necessitated the series' replacement in 1887 to comply with the standards of the

, which Siam had joined in 1885. It is the only series to refer to each of the old currency units; subsequent issues had their values denominated in ''att''. The one-''fueang'' stamp never entered circulation as they were not delivered in time for the postal service's opening. 500,000 stamps were printed for each face value.

Gallery

File:1883 SIAM Yv 1.jpg, 1 solot, one sixteenth of a ''fueang'' File:Thai stamp 1st att.jpg, 1 att, one eighth of a ''fueang'' File:Thai stamp 1st sio.jpg, 1 sio, quarter of a ''fueang'' File:Thai stamp 1st sik.jpg, 1 sik, half of a ''fueang'' File:Thai stamp 1st fuang.jpg, 1 fueang, one eighth of a ''baht'' File:Thai stamp 1st salung.jpg, 1 salueng, quarter of a ''baht''

References

External links

Philatelic Museum Bangkok the history of Thai postage stamps.
{{Portal bar, Asia, Philately, Thailand Philately of Thailand