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

On 3 October 1934, a letter by the Siamese delegation to the Foreign
Minister in Bangkok reported on a cable from a secretary of King Prajatibok's
delegation from 17 September 1934, stated that the King and Her Majesty the

Queen were undertaking a second trip to London. The Siamese delegation in
London had reserved rooms in the Claridge Hotel. The Siamese envoy in London
pointed out that there was no fixed end for this trip, which was unusual.

This was the beginning of the final negotiation between King Prajatibok
and the Siamese government. We all know that he would stay in England
indefinitely.
On 7 March 1935 at 1:45 p.m., the Siamese people heard about King
Prajatibok's abdication on the radio. None of them had learned about it
beforehand.

Three months later came the official announcement by the Siamese
government.

King Prajatibok made His trip to Europe in 1934 possible for Siam to
prefigure Siamese international relations with European nations. For the
first time in the history of Thailand, the Siamese King was abroad with his
wife, Her Majesty Queen Rambai Barni. Their Majesties both succeeded in
presenting the new democratic and “modern” Siam and contribute to its acceptance
in the world after the revolution of 1932 as “Honourary Diplomat”. The tour
strengthened the preexisting links between the Siamese court and western
countries, while paving the way for new official relations with European
nations, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, that had emerged after the First World
War.

The activities by King Prajatibok, namely his visiting many places in
Europe, show his serious attempts at emulating his father King Chulalongkorn
and pushing the modernization of Siam - a mission that he had already started

when accessing the throne in 1926.

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