Royal Etiquette of Siam

Politeness and respect demand that in speaking to Royalty a special set of words be used - a custom which seems to be due to the common feeling that the use of a foreign or unusual word to express a vulgar object makes the object appear less vulgar. In other words, as the Royal ears might be shocked at hearing a spade called a spade, it is necessary to call it an agricultural implement. – Public domain image of Vajiravudh (Rama VI), King of Siam (now Thailand) in 1915

SIAM'S ROYAL ETIQUETTE

Only Specially Polite Talk Allowed at Court Functions

The King’s person is by far the most sacred thing in Siam. Court etiquette is exceedingly strict, and the ceremonies connected with the throne, such as coronations, are all of a religious nature and are strongly imbued with Brahman influences.

Twice a year the Princes and the noble, or official classes, throughout the country make oath of allegiance to the King. This ceremony is called “Teu Nam,” or “The Holding of Water,” and is of ancient origin, having been observed at the Court of the Kings of Brahman India more than 2,500 years ago. 

In Bangkok the rites are observed in the presence of the King in a temple adjoining the palace. Within the precincts are gathered together the Princes and the leading officers of state, while beyond, upon the wide lawns of the outer palace inclosure, detachments of cavalry, artillery and marines, battalions of infantry and white elephants are drawn up in the panoply of glittering accouterments.

To the sound of drums and the blare of the Royal trumpets the King appears from the inner palace, seated upon a gilded throne carried shoulder high. A thousand bayonets flash to the Royal salute, guns thunder and the massed bands play the national anthem as his Royal Majesty is borne along the front of the troops.

Arrived within, the King seats himself and watches the Court and officers of state walk in, two by two, take from a table a small cup of water specially prepared for the function by powerful Brahman charms, touch it with their lips and retire through an outer door. In the provinces this same ceremony is enacted before the official representatives of the King, and thus the whole country binds itself to the loyal observance of the Royal commands.

Politeness and respect demand that in speaking to Royalty a special set of words be used - a custom which seems to be due to the common feeling that the use of a foreign or unusual word to express a vulgar object makes the object appear less vulgar. In other words, as the Royal ears might be shocked at hearing a spade called a spade, it is necessary to call it an agricultural implement. 

This so called “palace language” is so complete that not only are the crow, dog, cat and other common animals expressed by special words, but the actions of Royalty, such as eating, sleeping, walking, speaking, bathing, dying, are spoken of in words much more distinguished and polite than those used to describe similar actions of ordinary people.–From Exchange, 1915

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette in Siam

The Royal Slippers, Sword of Victory, the Great Crown of Victory, the Royal Staff, Royal Fan and Flywhisk – 

The Royal Regalia of Siam - Public domain image

On Hands and Knees Before the King Was Long the Custom There

Perhaps the most revolutionary reform carried out by the late King of Siam was the abolition of the arbitrary rule of etiquette which forbade an inferior in rank to raise his head above that of a superior, or even level with it. The inferior must not even pass over a bridge while a superior was underneath it, nor must he enter a room in an upper story while a superior was occupying a room beneath it. Servants approached their master on hands and knees. This custom is by no means obsolete today, in spite of the Royal edict, for many of the powerful Nobles who live far away from the Court still enforce it. 

In 1874 the King held a large Court, at which no one present presumed to appear otherwise than on hands and knees. It was at this audience that the edict forbidding the custom was read to the prostrate multitude. They there and then rose and stood like men in the presence of their Sovereign for the first time on record. Since then there has been no prostration at the Royal audiences. But if a superior stops to speak to an inferior in the street, the latter will still bend or lower his head in some way, as a mark of respect. - London Saturday Review, 1911

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia