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The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand

Volume XVI-2024 (Special Issue)

The Chakri Kings and Their Kap He Poetry

Three monarchs of the Chakri Dynasty-King Rama II, King Rama V, and King Rama VI-
contributed significantly to the development of Kap He poetry.

King Rama II

King Rama II composed Kap He Chom Khrueang Khao Wan in 1800 when he was
Prince Itsarasunthon in the reign of King Rama I, his father, during the time when his consort,

Princess Bunrot, one of King Rama I’s nieces, was separated from him as a result of having

violated palace rules. From 1799 to 1800 Prince Itsarasunthon and Princess Bunrot had secretly
engaged in sexual relations on the royal premises. After two years, their trysts were revealed
because Princess Bunrot became pregnant. Upon learning of the matter, King Rama I ordered

that the princess be immediately banished away from the palace. Therefore, the lovers had to

face separation. King Rama I also forbade Prince Itsarasunthon from attending the royal audience
convened by the monarch. In his grief, the prince created this Kap He poetry to relieve
himself of the intense sadness of being apart from the princess. After three months of separation,

the prince’s uncle, His Royal Highness Prince Maha Sura Singhanat, the Front Palace, successfully

persuaded King Rama I to forgive his son and the lovers were therefore reunited and could
live together. Since the subject matter that caused the prince’s grief was not appropriate to be
revealed, Prince Itsarasunthon cleverly devised a plot in the work to hide its real meaning.

Readers had to study the prince’s life and love history in order to search for hidden meanings in

Kap He Chom Khrueang Khao Wan. It was noteworthy that Prince Itsarasunthon ended his work
with descriptions of his peak suffering because at that time, he still did not know how he would
be able to find fulfillment in that forbidden romance.

King Rama V

King Rama V composed Kap He poetry which consisted of four chapters without including
the date of composition. His work included He Chom Suan (praising the beauty of gardens),

He Chom Nok (praising birds), He Chom Mai (praising trees), and He Chom Chom (praising

feminine beauty).
Prince Damrong assumed that it might be possible that King Rama V, from the time he was
Prince Chulalongkorn, had created this work for the purpose of chanting when King Rama IV,

his father, floated his krathong in the Royal Krathong Floating Ceremony. Later on,

King Rama V’s this Kap He poetry was used to be chanted in the Royal Barge Procession during
the Royal Kathin Ceremony as well.

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