Letter from King Mongkut to President Franklin Pierce

The letters from King Mongkut, King Chulalongkorn, and Second King Pinklao are windows into both royal court customs and early U.S.-Thai relations. With elaborate introductions and valedictions framing the dignity of the monarch’s words, these letters evoke the grandeur of royal court traditions, while also conveying each king’s personal sentiments. Between the regal and formal rhetoric of the court, the message is clear, as each king shares his hope for mutual esteem and goodwill between the Kingdom of Siam and the United States.

Letters written by a monarch or head of state were treated with great ceremony in nineteenth-century Siam, as the letters were regarded as embodiments of the sovereigns themselves. Thus, all necessary protocol for the proper conveyance of a monarch was afforded to these letters. King Mongkut wrote to President James Buchanan (1791-1868) explaining the reception for the president’s letter:

“It was received by us in full assembly of the royal princes and nobles of the highest rank, all in full court dress with their insignia of office in like manner as though they were receiving a visit in person from the president of [the] United States [of] America.”

Today, these cherished cultural artifacts have been carefully preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration, from which a selection is presented in this publication to illuminate aspects of Siamese culture and the early relationship between Thailand and the United States.