I once was was told by a Thai scholar that when King Mongkut offered President Lincoln a gift of
elephants during the Civil War and that gift was refused by Lincoln that the King was some what
offended. As the story was told to me a gift is never refused from a King. Would the King have been
offended by such a refusal?
Thailand & USA Community Forum » General Topics & Discussions
looking for King Mongkut historian
(3 posts)-
hkb
MemberPosted 1 year ago # -
Interesting Question that has been neglected for seven months. Ouch. Lets see if we can get the Thailand University Network on this one. Apologies for the delayed response.
Posted 5 months ago # -
In my scholarly opinion, A King in any right should and would be expected to uphold the highest possible level of reason which humanity allows
According to the apparent response from the administration was the reason for refusing the Siamese offer of War Elephants was because North America is not the natural habitat of Siamese elephents, and winters, particularly weren't ideal, Not to mention the torture and slog of the long sea journey in those days.
Therefore, a King of reason, which H.M. King Mongkut most presumably was, would not have taken offense.
In fact it is due to His Magesties King Mongkut, Rama IV, and his kin and processor, King Rama V, Chulalongkorns' 'levels of reason and communication intents' that Siam was the first of all the nations that the United States signed trade treaty with.
Posted 5 months ago #
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