The Palace Revolt of 1912 ( Thai: กบฏ ร.ศ. 130) was a failed uprising against the

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism (European history), Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute pow ...

Siam 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 ...

. Discontent in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during the reign of King Vajiravudh (or King Rama VI) led to the unsuccessful coup.

Background

In 1909, a group of soldiers got into an argument over a woman with a group of Vajiravudh's pages near the entrance to Vajiravudh's palace. At the time, Vajiravudh was 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 wi ...

and designated successor to

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� ...

(King Rama V). Six soldiers were arrested, and Vajiravudh petitioned Chulalongkorn to cane the soldiers. The practice of caning had recently been banned, and Chulalongkorn refused the petition. However, Vajiravudh threatened to resign as successor, and Chulalongkorn eventually consented to the caning. The incident caused much dissatisfaction within the army.

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 wi ...

Maha Vajiravudh succeeded his father as King of Siam on 23 October 1910. Vajiravudh set out in his

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

speech to modernize and westernize Siam in his role as its

absolute monarch Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...

. The new king spent lavishly on his

and lived a life of excess in a period when most of the kingdom's populace were

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

s and feudal serfs. Infatuated with

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

culture and practices and considering himself an

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

gentleman, Vajiravudh spent his time translating

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

into Thai, staging dramatic productions,

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

, and overseeing his Wild Tiger Corps.

Wild Tiger Corps

On 1 May 1911, Vajiravudh established the Wild Tiger Corps ( Thai: กองเสือป่า) ( RTGS: Kong Suea Pa). The corps was meant to be a nationwide paramilitary corps, answerable only to the monarch. At first a ceremonial guard, it became a military force of 4,000 within its first year. Filled with commoners, the king would often mess with them and socialize with them openly. Army officers were not permitted to join the organization. The corps eventually rivaled the

in strength and the civil service in influence. The king even went so far as appointing some to high

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

s in the army and

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

. While the king socialized with members of the corps, the

regular army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

and

aristocrats Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

were deeply dissatisfied. They saw these new appointments as a threat to their hold on power. Partially due to massive spending on new

palaces A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whic ...

and dramatic productions, the kingdom was deeply in

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

and was in danger of financial collapse.

The revolt that never happened

On 13 January 1912, dissatisfied with his

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-prince of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kings, the Franks, List of ...

and with the absolutist regime (especially his favourism towards the Wild Tiger Corps), a group of seven army officers decided to overthrow the king. The group's membership eventually reached 91 officers. The group were led by army Captain Khun Thuayhanpitak ( Thai: ร.อ.ขุนทวยหาญพิทักษ์) and included some members of the king's own bodyguard. Perhaps inspired by the successful overthrow of the Manchus and the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

in China that same year, they decided to move forward. Their plans were unclear and their goals were contradictory. Some wanted to replace Vajiravudh with one of his many brothers, others wanted a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

and some in the extreme wing, a republic. On 1 April 1912,

Thai New Year Songkran ( th, เทศกาลสงกรานต์, ) is the Thai New Year's Public holiday, national holiday. Songkran is on 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April. In 2018 the Thai cabinet extende ...

, the king was to preside over a merit making ceremony in public. Captain Yut Khongyu ( Thai: ร.อ.ยุทธ คงอยู่) was selected (by lottery) by the plotters to assassinate the monarch on that day. Filled with guilt he instead confessed all the plans and names of the conspirators to the commander of the king's bodyguard on 27 February, who, in turn, told the king's brother, Prince

Chakrabongse Bhuvanath Field Marshal Chakrabongse Bhuvanath, the Prince of Bishnulok ( th, จักรพงษ์ภูวนาถ; ; 3 March 1883 – 13 June 1920), was the 40th child of King Chulalongkorn and the fourth child of Queen Sri Bajarindra. Biograph ...

, The Prince of Bishnulok. The plotters were quickly arrested and imprisoned. At a

military tribunal Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bod ...

three were sentenced to death, 20 received life imprisonment, 32 received twenty years, six received fifteen years and a further 30 received 12 years imprisonment. They were tried for attempted

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, and attempted overthrow of the government. The failed uprising was the first revolt against the

House of Chakri The Chakri dynasty ( th, ราชวงศ์ จักรี, , , ) is the current reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Thailand, the head of the house is the king, who is head of state. The family has ruled Thailand since the founding of the ...

from the outside the nobility. Despite their actions, most of the plotters were pardoned or had their sentences lessened by the king himself in 1924. This included the death sentences (the king felt that no one had been hurt). However the lesson was not lost on Vajiravudh, who quickly stepped up vigilance against any such threats in the future.

Aftermath and legacy

The Wild Tiger Corps was disbanded soon after the revolt. In 1914, Vajiravudh determined that the act providing for invoking

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

, first promulgated by his father in 1907, was not consistent with modern

laws of war The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territor ...

or convenient for the preservation of the external or internal security of the state, so he changed it to the modern form that, with minor amendments, continues to be in force. Vajiravudh reigned until 1925, initiating many reforms with mixed success. Vajiravudh died of natural causes and was succeeded by his brother Prajadhipok (Rama VII). Prajadhipok inherited from Vajiravudh a massive fiscal deficit, made worse by the onset of the Great Depression. The absolute monarchy was eventually overthrown by the Revolution of 1932, the

leaders Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

of which openly confessed their inspiration to be the actions of the 1912 plotters.

Background

Wild Tiger Corps

The revolt that never happened

Aftermath and legacy

See also

References

Further reading