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

York, the British Crown Prince and his wife, Duke Connaught, Princess Juliana
of the Netherlands, and several emissaries with their wives, German emissaries
among them.
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One could say that all European states involved received the Siamese
King “officially” with great honours. Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and

Hungary invited the King of Siam to an official state visit, meeting the head of
state. The Czech government insisted on covering all expenses of the official and
incognito visit. Italy under Mussolini, Denmark and Belgium welcomed Their
22
Majesties officially and with great pomp. President Roosevelt, representing
US that was already a global superpower at the beginning of the 20 century,
th
invited King Prajatibok to the White House. The two heads of state had already
known each other since 1931, when the Siamese King underwent eye surgery
for the first time, and Roosevelt was mayor of New York City.

The complex nature of the overseas voyage in 1934 does not only
reflect the troubled relationship between the King and the government of the
revolutionary group. It also shows how King Prajatibok was under strict control
by the government, which decided what His Majesty was allowed and not
allowed to do. We also learn about the work of Siamese civil servants abroad
and about the relations between European courts/governments and Siam or
the Siamese King. Furthermore, it cannot be denied that the 1934 trip to Europe
took place two years after the 1932 revolution, which had turned the country from
an absolute into a constitutional monarchy. The fact that King Prajatibok was
extremely humiliated by Siamese government and some groups of people in
his own country was well known abroad.

General Phraya Vichitwong Wuttikrai (M.R. Sitt Suthat, secretary of the delegation to Europe
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in 1934), Diary of the Visit to Europe by King Prajatibok 1934/B.E. 2476-2477, 1983. The diary was
published with permission from King Bhumibol on the occasion of the cremation of General
Pracha Sirivorasan, Thepsirintarawas Temple, 12 November 1983, 137-138, 155, 164
22 Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, the Czech Republic, hand-written letter by
the Czech ambassador in London, Jan Masaryk, with reference to the letter from 25 Juli 1933.
Translated by Ph. Dr. Zdena Michálková, rceived 20 April 2015, translator and interpreter
at the Royal Thai Embassy in Prague

30 A Modern Siam with Constitutional Monarchy - King Prajatibok, The Siamese
“Honourary Diplomat” in Europe 1934

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