Thailand

Thailand was previously known as Siam.

The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 provided rights for British subjects in Siam, including the right of property the right of residence and travel. As part of this treaty, the Siamese government transferred to the British government the states of Kelantan, Tringganu, Kedah, Perlis, and adjacent islands. These areas areas became part of the Unfederated Malay States.

A rubber plantation industry developed in Thailand. For general information about this industry, see Malaysia.

There was a Norwegian community in Thailand.

Records

• See General Register Office for general sources which may be relevant.
• British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA) has published

Bangkok : the Protestant Cemetery, & notes on other cemeteries in Thailand by Justin Corfield. 1997. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01008881252

BACSA have put indexes to the majority of their cemetery books online, including this book, and these indexes are free to browse. For more details, see the Fibiwiki page British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia.

There were many Danes buried in the Bangkok cemetery, as there was a substantial group of Danes who came to Thailand to train the Police and Customs Services. See Danish.

• De Mortuis : the story of the Chiang Mai Foreign Cemetery [Northern Thailand] by R W Wood 2nd edition 1986 is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01010636249 . HathiTrust Digital Library files are searchable, although not viewable. 2nd edition 1986; 3rd edition 1988; 4th edition, 1992.

Note: this publication appears to be part of the BACSA database, see previous item above.

• The FamilySearch catalogue of microfilms/digitised microfilms includes the following

"Extracts from St. Andrew's Outlook, quarterly messenger of the Presbyterian Churches in Malaya, Sumatra, Burma and Siam : marriages and deaths, March 1914 - July 1951" catalogue entry film 87992. See the Fibiwiki page FamilySearch Centres for information about microfilms and digitised microfilms. Currently (2021/04/05) the access is at FamilySearch Family History Centres and at FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries.

• For online editions of the publication The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c, and similar publications, which may contain birth, marriage and death notices, see the Fibiwiki page China.
• The London and China Express, published in London, with target readership those outside the Indian Empire, including Siam, is available on Findmypast, category "Newspapers & periodicals"/"British newspapers", with the same contents also available on the British Newspaper Archive, both pay websites. The date range is from November 25, 1858 to July 2, 1931. For more details see Newspapers and journals online.
• Bangkok Recorder (1865 - 1867) is available on the free site Trove (Australian digitised newspapers). Searchable, or to browse the issues Trove: Newspapers & Gazettes, then click on "All newspaper and gazette titles"/Browse (top left hand side of webpage)/Title/Letter B/Bangkok Recorder (Thailand : 1865 - 1867). Use the calendar to access multiple editions which are available for the date range. trove.nla.gov.au .
• Some incidental records relating to Siam, especially BMDs for the 19th century, may have been collected by the Anglo-Burmese Library. Refer Burma - External links
• The National Archives of Singapore has in its collection, viewable in Singapore, a microfilm of records from Church of England, Diocese of Singapore catalogued as "Baptisms Solemnized At Christ Church, Convent Road, Bangkok from 01.05.1905 - 27.02.1949" Microfilm Number: NA 2349 catalogue entry.
• The book In Memoriam Burma-Siam 1942-1945, published in Bangkok in 1946 (Dutch language) in respect of Dutch war graves is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01011257081 , and also at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah - catalogue entry with details of contents.

Also at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah catalogue entry for [List of deceased World War Two-era Dutch military personnel in Burma and Siam], 1946, Dutch language, source Nederlandsch Hoofdkwartier Bangkok, Kantoor Personeele Zaken Afd. Inlichtingen Overledenen (Dutch Headquarters Bangkok, Office Personnel Affairs Dept. Information Deceased).

• Check the free online Singapore newspapers. 4 Bangkok deaths in 1906 were noted in one article, also a 1915 death.

External links

• Bangkok Protestant Cemetery bangkokcemetery.org. Site currently under construction.

Bangkok Protestant Cemetery findagrave.com.

"The Protestant Cemetery Bangkok: a memorial to the early pioneers" by Eric Lim. Some members of the Jewish community in Bangkok were also buried there.

British, German and Danish graves are the most common.

• Deanery of Thailand, The Diocese of Singapore [Anglican].
• "Christ Church Bangkok: the English Church in Convent Road" by Eric Lim

[Other] "Bangkok Churches: religious harmony in the land of temples" by Eric Lim

• First World War: The Siam Expeditionary Force
  • Why did Siam join the First World War? by Pad Kumlertsakul 2 August 2017. Blog from The National Archives, England.
  • "The Inscriptions On The First World War Volunteers Memorial, Bangkok" by Brendan and Suthida Whyte. Journal of the Siam Society 2008 Vol. 96 page 175-192. siamese-heritage.org

Maps

• Bangkok, Town Plan (North), Bangkok, Town Plan (South) 1945. War Office maps, British Library Online Gallery.

Historical books online

• The voyages and adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto ... during his travels for the space of one and twenty years in the kingdoms of Ethiopia, China, Tartaria, Cauchin-China, Calaminham, Siam, Pegu, Japan, and a great part of the East-Indies. Done into English by H C [Henry Cogan] 1663 edition, 2nd edition, corrected and amended 1663 First Portuguese edition 1614.

The voyages and adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, the Portuguese (done into English by Henry Cogan) with an Introduction by Arminius Vambery. A volume in The Adventure Series. Abridged and Illustrated edition 1891, Popular edition 1897 All Archive.org.

The Travels of Mendes Pinto Edited and translated by Rebecca D Catz 1989. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library

Fernão Mendes Pinto Wikipedia. He made three voyage 1537-1558.

• English intercourse with Siam in the seventeenth century by John Anderson 1890, with a Map Archive.org. The province of Tenasserim was then part of the kingdom of Siam.
• Peter Floris His Voyage to the East Indies in the Globe 1611-1615 edited by W H Moreland. Printed for the Hakluyt Society Second Series No LXXIV 1934. Originally translated from a manuscript in Dutch. Includes a chapter on Siam.
• "Early Trade Relations between Denmark and Siam" by His Highness Prince Dhani Nivat and Major Erik Seidenfaden page 1 The Journal Of The Siam Society 1939 Vol XXXI Archive.org.
• The history of Japan, giving an account of the ancient and present state and government of that empire : of its temples, palaces, castles and other buildings, of its metals, minerals, trees, plants, animals, birds and fishes, of the chronology and succession of the emperors, ecclesiastical and secular, of the original descent, religions, customs, and manufactures of the natives, and of their trade and commerce with the Dutch and Chinese : together with a description of the kingdom of Siam by Engelbert Kaempfer [1651-1716], translated by John Gaspar Scheuchzer. Published 1727. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org

Reprint edition The history of Japan, together with a description of the kingdom of Siam, 1690-92, published 1906. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III Archive.org.

Engelbert Kaempfer (Wikipedia), also Engelbert Kämpfer or Engelbertus Kaempferus. C 1685 Kaempfer joined the fleet of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the Persian Gulf as chief surgeon and in September 1689, arrived in Batavia. In May 1690 he set out for Japan as physician to the VOC trading post in Nagasaki. He was also the author of Amoenitatum exoticarum (Latin language) concerning Japan, published 1712 in (modern) Germany.

• "The Management of the Dutch in India" page 309 An account of the trade in India: containing rules for good government in trade, price courants, and tables: with descriptions of Fort St. George, Acheen, Malacca, Condore, Canton, Anjengo, Muskat, Gombroon, Surat, Goa, Carwar, Telichery, Panola, Calicut, the Cape of Good-Hope, and St. Helena... To which is added, An Account of the Management of the Dutch in their Affairs in India by Charles Lockyer 1711 Archive.org. Contains a brief reference to Siam.
• "Siam" page 51 The New Universal Traveller: Containing a Full and Distinct Account of All the Empires, Kingdoms, and States, in the Known World by J Carver 1779 Google Books
• Journal of a Voyage from India to Siam and Malacca in 1779 by Dr J G Koenig. Journal Of The Straits Branch Of The Royal Asiatic Society No. 26, January 1894 and No.27, October 1894. Archive.org (in one digital volume). Translated from his manuscripts in German and Danish in nineteen volumes at the British Museum. Koenig came to India in 1768 where he acted as doctor to the Danish Missionaries at Tranquebar and afterwards was appointed Naturalist to the Nabob of Arcot.

Pages 58-192 No.26 January 1894 which ends "Here ends the first part of Vol.2"; "Continuation Vol 13, from page 43" pages 193-201, No.26 January 1894; Continuation Vol 2, from page 1 page 57-133 No.27, October 1894.

• The View of India Extra Gangem, China, and Japan by Thomas Pennant 1800. Archive.org. Contents. Index. Volume III in a series Outlines of the Globe but sometimes catalogued as Volume III in a series The View of Hindoostan. Includes Siam.
• The Mission to Siam, and Hué, the Capital of Cochin China, in the years 1821-2. From the journal of the late George Finlayson, Surgeon and Naturalist to the Mission. 1826 Archive.org . A Mission sent by the Governor General of Bengal.
• The Modern Traveller: A Popular Description, Geographical, Historical and Topographical, of the Various Countries of the Globe: Birmah, Siam, and Anam 1826. With a Map of Indo-China. The author is catalogued as Josiah Conder. Archive.org.
• The Burney Papers. [Papers relating to Captain H. Burney's mission to Siam in 1825.] vol. 1-vol. 5, pt. 1. Publication Details: Bangkok : Printed by order of the Committee of the Vajirañāṇa National Library, 1910-1914. Henry Burney Wikipedia. He joined the East India Company in 1807.
  • Burney Papers Vol.1 To 5 (List Of Contents) 1915. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
  • Volume I. nla.gov.au. Consists of V.1, pt.1. Oct. 1825-Apr. 1826.--pt.2. May-June 1826.--pt.3. May-Sept.1826.--pt.4. Feb. 1822-Aug. 1825. However, paging is continuous.
  • Volume II nla.gov.au. Part I (January to June, 1825)

Part II (May 1824 to July 1826)

Part III (August 1825 to March 1825)

Part IV (November 1824 to June 1827

Part V (February 1825 to October 1827)

Part VI (January 1826 to February 1831)

Each part is separately numbered.

• Volume III nla.gov.au. V.3, pt.1. Mar. 1827-June 1833.--pt.2. Aug. 1830-June 1840. Page numbering is continuous.
• Volume IV nla.gov.au. Part I (February 1838 to March 1849)

Part 2 (March 1841 to December 1846)

Each part is separately numbered.

• Volume V nla.gov.au. Part 1 (Retrospect of British policy from the period of the first establishment of Penang 17th July 1786-1839). Only Part 1 was published.

The files from nla.gov.au are available to read online, or to download.

• Burney Papers Vol.2; Pt.1 To 3 1911. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Burney Papers Vol.4; Pt. 1 To 2 1913. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Burney Papers Volume I, Parts I, 2; Volume II, Parts 2, 4; Volume IV, Parts 1, 2, 4 are available at DSpace, National Library of Malaysia, as pdf downloads. Note this website may only be available at certain times and/or is often unavailable due to maintenance. Try again at another time.

• Journal of a Nine Months' Residence in Siam by Jacob Tomlin, Missionary 1831 Archive.org.
• Narrative of a residence at the capital of the Kingdom of Siam : with a description of the manners, customs, and laws of the modern Siamese by Fred. Arthur Neale 1852 Archive.org
• Over five seas and oceans, from New York to Bangkok, Siam, and return. Some reminiscences by Thomas Miller 1894 Archive.org. He was in Thailand 1857-1862. Miller appears to have been an American with an engineering background who introduced the steam engine to several industries.
• The Bangkok Calendar for
  • 1862 includes "European and American Residents in Bangkok" page 112. Archive.org
  • 1865 includes American and European Residents at Bangkok, and other places in Siam page 138. Archive.org
• The colonial directory of the Straits Settlements, including Sarawak, Labuan, Bangkok and Saigon, for 1875 Includes a short section on Bangkok. BookSG, National Library of Singapore.
• The Land of the White Elephant: Sights and Scenes in South-Eastern Asia : A personal narrative of travel and adventure in Farther India, embracing the countries of Burma, Siam, Cambodia, and Cochin-China. (1871-2) by Frank Vincent Jun. 1874. With numerous illustrations. Archive.org. Also available at Cornell University Library - Southeast Asia Visions in an 1873 edition.
• Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China; or Ten Years Travels, Adventures and Residence Abroad by J Thomson 1875 Archive.org. Includes a chapter on Siam.
• A Narrative of Travel and Sport in Burmah, Siam and the Malay Peninsula by John Bradley 1876 Archive.org
• Temples and Elephants: the Narrative of a Journey of Exploration through Upper Siam and Lao by Carl Alfred Bock 1884. With images. South East Asia Visions, Cornell University Library. Note the digital file may be very slow to open. A trip commencing in Singapore in June 1881. Also available British Library Digital Collection with Map
• Eighteen Hundred Miles On A Burmese Tat through Burmah, Siam and the Eastern Shan States by Lieutenant G J Younghusband, Queen’s Own Corps of Guides. 1995 reprint edition, originally published 1888. Archive.org
• To Siam and Malaya in the Duke of Sutherland's Yacht 'Sans Peur' by Florence Caddy 1889 Archive.org.
• Through the Buffer State : a record of recent travels through Borneo, Siam and Cambodia by Surgeon-Major John MacGregor, Indian Medical Service. 1896 Archive.org.
• Notes of a journey on the Upper Mekong, Siam by H Warington Smyth of the Royal Department of Mines and Geology, Bangkok 1895 Archive.org

Five Years in Siam, from 1891 to 1896 by H Warington Smyth, formerly Director of the Department of Mines in Siam. 1898. With Maps and Illustrations by the author.

Volume I Archive.org

Volume I, Volume II HathiTrust Digital Library

Volume I with General Index Map; Volume II British Library Digital Collection.

• A Padre in Partibus: being notes and impressions of a brief holiday tour through Java, the Eastern Archipelago and Siam ... Reprinted from the “Singapore Free Press.” by G. M. Reith, (George Murray), 1897. Cornell University Library - Southeast Asia Visions. Also available in the British Library Digital Collection
• An English-Siamese Pronouncing Hand-Book. Prepared from the manuscript of the late WH McFarland by the late E H McFarland, revised and enlarged by Geo B McFarland 2nd edition 1900. Archive.org.
• Jennings' guide to Singapore, Penang, Malacca, Johore, Deli, Bangkok, etc 1900 Archive.org
• European Settlements in the Far East; China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, etc by DWS [catalogued as D Warres Smith] 1900 Archive.org. The author appears to have been the publisher of/associated with the annual publication Directory and Chronicle for China, Japan…, see further above for online editions.
• Siam in the Twentieth Century: Being the Experiences and Impressions of a British Official by J G D Campbell (John Gordon Drummond) , one of His Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools, and recently Educational Advisor to the Siamese Government 1902. Archive.org
• Siam in the Malay Peninsula: a short account of the position of Siam in the states of Kelantan, Patani, Legeh and Siam by R D Davies 1902 Archive.org
• French Indo-China by A Cotterell Tupp. Originally published in Proceedings of the Central Asian Society May 1906. Archive.org. Contains some references to Siam. With a short bibliography at the end.
• Twentieth century impressions of Siam: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources, with which is incorporated an abridged edition of Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya edited by Arnold Wright 1908 Archive.org
• Bibliotheca Indosinica: Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs à la péninsule indochinoise [Biblioteca Indosinica: Bibliographic dictionary of books on the Indochinese Peninsula] by Henri Cordier 1912 Archive.org. "Siam" Volume I, page 713-714 digital file page 357. Includes English publications. Contents; Index of authors; Alphabetical Index all volumes.
• Chequered Leaves from Siam by Eric Reid 1913 Archive.org. Some of the sketches first appeared in the newspapers Singapore Free Press, Siam Observer, Ceylon Observer and the Bangkok Times. The author elsewhere is stated to be a former British vice-consul of Siam and editor of the Siam Observer.
• Directory for Bangkok and Siam 1914 "Twenty-Fifth year of publication". Published by The Bangkok Times. Archive.org. Catalogued as "Bangkok and Siam, directory"
• The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c. For a range of editions to 1941, see China.
• List of Protestant missionaries in China, Japan and Siam for 1874, 1881, 1884, see China.
• Siam by Josiah Crosby, the British consul-general in Bangkok. HMSO 1920. Number 74 in a series of more than 160 studies prepared by the British Foreign Office as background information for British delegates at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. World Digital Library, Library of Congress.
• Where the strange trails go down; Sulu, Borneo, Celebes, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Straits settlements, Malay states, Siam, Cambodia, Annam, Cochin-China by E Alexander Powell 1921 Archive.org
• From Golden Gate to Golden Sun: a record of travel, sport and observation in Siam and Malaya by Hermann Norden 1923. Archive.org, Ministry of Culture/National Library of India Collection.
• Guide to Bangkok: with Notes on Siam by Major Erik Seidenfaden 1927. Link to a pdf download, STOU Digital Repository Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand. Note, this website has been noticed to be unavailable at times, possibly it may only be accessible during "office hours". Archive.org mirror version including Plan of Greater Bangkok and Plan of Bangkok.

Third Edition 1932 With illustrations. Archive.org. Note, to view, select single page option, as the book has been scanned two original pages to one digital page.

• Bangkok its life and sport, with some account of Siam's coastal and island game areas by C H Forty 1929. Thammasat University Library. Registration required.
• Siam Guidebook: Bangkok, Bang Pa-In, Ayudhya and Lopburi [1930] Archive.org
• From Siam to Suez by James Saxon Childers 1932 Archive.org. The author travelled to Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Burma and India.
• Malayan Symphony : Being the Impressions Gathered During a Six Months' journey Through the Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States, Siam, Sumatera, Java and Bali by William Robert Foran 1935. Pdf download, Repositori Digital, National Library of Malaysia. Probably sample pages only, and could be very few. Searchable, but not viewable, on HathiTrust Digital Library. About the author shakariconnection.com
• Pepper, Rice, and Elephants : a Southeast Asian journey from Celebes to Siam by Ruth Masters Rickover 1975 Archive.org Lending Library
• A Captive on a German Raider by F G Trayes 1918 Archive.org. The author, captured in September 1917, had been in government service for twenty years in Siam, and there is a brief mention of the decorations he had been awarded by the King of Siam page 104-105.
• Multiple editions of Journal of the Siam Society from volume II 1905 to vol XXXI, 1939 (broken range), also vol XLVI, Parts 1-2 June-Nov 1958. Archive.org.

Index Volume I to XXV Journal of the Siam Society 1935 Archive.org

Also available online, where articles may be downloaded, from The Siam Society website. A complete series, currently to 2016. (Journals are placed online three years after being published).

Vietnam

• On & Off Duty in Annam by Gabrielle M Vassal 1910. Archive.org. The author was an English woman married to a French Army doctor who was appointed in 1904 to the Pasteur Institute at Nhatrang, the “prettiest and healthiest spot in Annam” which was the European capital of the Province of Khanhoa, two days from Saigon by boat. The Institute conducted plague research and other bacteriological work, and the location was chosen for the availability of cattle and horses required for the research experiments.

1910 review of the book Nature August 25, 1910. Archive.org