Page 102 - A History of Siam

ioo A HISTORY OF SIAM

majority of those liable to military service were never
called but were to their lives in
up, permitted spend
civil The of universal service
occupations. principle
The of Rama
was, however, recognised. system King
T'ibodi II remained in with modifications, until
force,
the when a new law for
year 1899, compulsory military
service, drawn up on European lines, was introduced.
In a book on tactics was issued. This
1518 military
work has since been and its exact nature is
long lost,
not now knbwn.
In the a for
year 1518 canal, navigable sea-going
was the and
vessels, dug, connecting Samrong Tapnang
canals and near the town of Paknam.
debouching present
In some kind of was
1524 conspiracy discovered,
resulting in the execution of several officials. In 1526
there was a severe famine. In the same Prince
year
Noh the eldest was
P'utt'angkun, King's son,
Maha and sent north as Governor
appointed Uparat,
of P'itsanulok.
In Rama T'ibodi II was
July 1529 King suddenly
taken and died the same at the of
ill, day, age fifty-
seven, after a reign of forty years. His was a note-
Its chief features were successes
worthy reign. : Striking
against Chiengmai, the reorganisation of the Siamese
and the of relations with the Western
army, opening up
world.
The next Noh bore the
King (named P'utt'angKun)
title of IV. The event known to have
Boromoraja only
occurred in his was the of to
reign despatch envoys
a with This died of
negotiate Treaty Chiengmai. King
smallpox in 1534, leaving the throne to his son, Prince
Ratsada, a child of five.
did not for in Five
Baby Kings reign long Ayut'ia.
months after his Ratsada was made
accession, King