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The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XII, 2020

3. The Itinerary of the Visit to Europe in 1934

Many changes were made to the itinerary, both in terms of the time and
the places. The trips to the US and Austria were cancelled. King Prajatibok did not
travel to America for his eye and tooth operations, because those were to take
place in the London Clinic and Nursing Home in May and at the beginning of

June. The invitations from Canada and Portugal were not feasible. The visit to the
Netherlands was scrapped as well, due to the sudden death of the Royal Consort
of Queen Wilhelmina and the request to cancel the visit came from the Queen. ,
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while it was King Prajatibok himself who decided to forgo the trip to Austria, as
the Austrian Prime Minister, Dollfuß, had been murdered by the Austrian Nazis
when His Majesty was in Hungary. The King of Siam had made acquaintance
with Dollfuß in Italy in March 1934. His Majesty instead went to Switzerland,
a country that had not been part of the original plan.

In 1934 King Prajatibok and Queen Rambai Barni were accompanied
on their travel to Europe by only a small entourage, 9 “official suite” and 5
“unofficial suite”. The Danish government provided the ship Meonia for the
voyage, free of charge. The route went from Bangkok to Medan in Indonesia.
In his report to Berlin, the German envoy commented that this was because
His Majesty wanted to visit his brother, Prince Nakorn Sawan Vorapinit, who
had been living with his family in exile in Bandung (Java) since the 1932
revolution. Thus, the trip to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, which was a
Dutch protectorate, was seen as unproblematic. 13

4. On the Preparation for the Visit to Europe in 1934

The preparations for the visit to Europe had to be carried out by Phraya
Apibal Ratchmaitri, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Siam, Siamese envoy in
London, Phraya Subarn Sombati (พัระยาสุุพัรรณสุมบูัติิ- ติ้น้ บูุน้น้าค), and the envoy in

12 Archive of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangkok, 7.3.3/20, Letter from the Siamese
legation, Phraya Subarn Sombati from Berlin to Phraya Apibal Ratchmaitri, 5 July 1934 with a
copy of the French letter from 4 July 1934 from Limburg Stirum, Dutch envoy in Berlin, Ministre
des Pays-Bas. Also, Archive of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangkok, letter 28/7542
from Foreign Minister Phraya Apibal Ratchmaitri, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Saranrom Palace,
9 August 1934 to the personal secretary of the King
13 Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes, Berlin, R 86066, 10 January 1934

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Pornsan Watanangura

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