<Articles>The Documentary Administration in the Early Rattanakosin Period (1782-1868) : The Case of the Krom Mahatthai, Ministry of Civil Affairs

This article considers the actual situation and the nature of the political system of the central government of Siam during the early Rattanakosin period (1782-1868) through an examination of the documentary administrative system in the Krom Mahatthai, Ministry of Civil Affairs. The Krom Mahatthai, which was charged with administrating the northern part of the state, exchanged documents with provincial officials. The author examines procedures for dealing with reports from local officials and issuing written orders in the Mahatthai. Written reports such as the baibok and suppha-akson, submitted by provincial officials were received by minor officials in the Mahatthai, known as nai wen, and sent on to appropriate higher officials. The higher ranking officials informed the king of the contents of the reports by reading them out in the audiences held in the palaces twice a day. In pre-modern Thailand, to address a letter to the king directly was regarded as lese majesty. Thus, officials, and even ministers, could not send documents from the provinces directly to the king, but always reported to him through the central officials. The written orders issued by the Mahatthai and sent to provincial officials were written in two styles during this period. One style was that of the suppha-akson. In the Ayutthaya and Thonburi periods, this type of document was exchanged between the prime ministers (the chief minister of the Mahatthai or the Kalahom) in Siam and their counterparts in states that Siam considered its equal, such as Sri Lanka and Vientiane. From the 1770s to the 90s, Siam subjugated surrounding states, such as Chiangmai, Vientiane, Cambodia and so on, treating them as tributaries. As the political situation changed in this manner, the style of the suppha-akson was transformed into that of documents exchanged between the prime minister and kings of tributary states. Having supplanted the previous format, the suppha-akson issued by the Mahatthai in the early Rattanakosin period were issued by the prime minister and addressed to kings of tributary states. The other style was that of the documents bearing a governmental seal, which were called santra, tongtra, tra and so on. Documents on which a governmental seals was affixed were sent from the Mahatthai by the minister and addressed to provincial officials and tributary states. The bodies of text of most of the suppha-akson and documents with government seals took the form of royal orders or as replies that also took the form of royal orders. This suggests that the Mahatthai generally issued the documents as royal orders. By analyzing the colophons describing the process of their issuance which were written on drafts, the process of issuing written orders to provincial officials, such as the documents with government seals and suppha-akson, can be understood in the following manner. Officials in the Mahatthai, e.g. the palat banchi in the Krom Mahatthai Klang, Department of Central Mahatthai, the palat banchi in the Krom Mahatthai Fai Nua, Department of Northern Mahatthai, and the palat thun chalong in the same department, drafted written orders. After other officials read and revised them, the minister or acting ministers, who were the heads of the Krom, Mahatthai Fai Nua and the chief of the Krom Suratsawadi, Department of Registration, generally approved the issuing of the documents. As with written reports, the minister or the acting ministers ordinarily read out drafts in an audience in the palace and then sought the king's approval of their issuance. However, title king's approval was not always necessary. As the bodies of the texts of most of the written orders took the form of royal edicts, as noted above, this suggests that Mahatthai officials issued documents as the orders of the king without royal approval. After orders were approved, nai wens made fair copies of them. They put the minister's seal on the documents and made an entry in a ledger recording this fact. Th