Did The Corinthians Visit Chiang Rai?

[Limbo]

How is it possible that not only the people living in the metropolis Chiang Rai but even in the smallest villages seem to adore Corinthian and Doric building details?

Are the canalized columns and their capitals maybe found during excavations in this neighbourhood and without any respect used while building 'modern' houses? Were the Hellenians actually here?

Or are they copies taken from the examples of ancient Greek history? We are talking about the time the Acropolis in Athens was erected (425 before Christ), about the time of the Tholos at Epidaurus (350 before Christ), so not directly about yesterday.

Once I was naive enough to point at a Corinthian column of a house and complimenting the owner of it: 'must be almost 2400 years old!'

His response was to bring me a glass of water

No, a better explanation would be to refer to the Italian architects (Gelli c.s.) who were invited by the Great King Rama V to Bangkok to build palaces and government buildings (around 1900+).

Soon everybody who wanted to be 'en vogue' had his house built by an Italian architect, often in neo-clasisistic style.

And now, more than hundred years later, some details of it found their way to our province.

We just have to wait: Soon we will be dancing the sirtaki again!

Limbo

[buddhafly]

you're absolutely right.

with a few exceptions. what a mess the architecture is in thailand.

you should read ayn rand's The Fountainhead if you havent.

people think its elegant and european and hi-so to have these ugly columns. especially when theyre added to a building and environment that looks out of place with them.

slap the columns on any crap concrete building and suddenly its supposed to be "nice" ?

it doesnt cost much more to build a tasteful looking house.

there are some great thai architects though, but there work isnt seen enough.

[Joel Barlow]

Yeah, but where else do you get to see those nice copulating rabbits on front gates?

[Limbo]

When we are talking about Greek influences (even in Chiang Rai) and gates, we have to mention Constantine Gerakis

('gerakis' is the Greek word for falcon).

His name appears in many versions: Falcon, Faulcon or Phaulkon.

He was First Counsellor at the Royal Court of Ayuddhya, Vichayen, a title bestowed on him by King Narai, during the eighties of the seventeenth century.

He is said to be the 'inventor' of the Thai tax-office, which might be the reason that the falcon became symbol, call it the logo, of the Thai tax departement.

The Sala Klang Kao, built by Dr. Briggs a little bit more than hundred years ago, now housing the Provincial Cultural Council and a little museum, originally had the function to be the most Northern administration building in Siam (under jurisdiction of Payao?).

Those among us who have been staying a little bit longer in Chiang Rai, will without doubt remember the building as the place where one had to get a tax-clearence before leaving Thailand.

I guess it was tax-office of Chiang Rai until about 14 or 15 years ago .

Going towards the building the gate infront of the left door remembers us about this:

It clearly shows the falcon!

Efcheriste!

Limbo

[Rinrada]

Was a bit of a lad....from memory didnt he eventually draw the Short Straw and was.....

Our fault again...

from..wiki..

Born on Cephalonia (Greece) of Greek and Venetian parentage, Phaulkon came to Siam (today's Thailand) as a merchant in 1675 after working for England's East India Company.

He became fluent in Thai in just a few years and began to work at the court of King Narai as a translator.

Due to his experience with the East India Company, he was soon able to become a counsellor of the king.

Phaulkon's closeness to the king naturally earned him the envy of some Thai members of the royal court, which would eventually prove to be his undoing.

When King Narai became terminally ill, a rumor spread that Phaulkon wanted to use the designated heir, Phra Pui, as a puppet and actually become ruler himself.

As unlikely as this was, it provided an excuse for Pra Phetracha, the foster brother of Narai to stage a coup d'etat. Without the king's knowledge, both Phaulkon and his followers as well as the royal heir were arrested and executed on June 5, 1688 in Lopburi. ...YEAH.. Thought So...

When King Narai learned what had happened, he was furious -- but was too weak to take any action. Narai died several days later, virtually a prisoner in his own palace. Phetracha then proclaimed himself the new king of Siam and began a xenophobic regime which expelled almost all foreigners from the kingdom.

The different interpretations of Phetracha's motivation for ordering the arrest and execution of Phaulkon have made the Greek's position in Thai history somewhat controversial. Supporters of Phetracha's actions have depicted Phaulkon as an opportunistic foreigner who sought to use his influence to control of the kingdom on behalf of Western interests.

More skeptical historians believe that Phaulkon was a simply convenient scapegoat -- a means for Phetracha to seize the throne from the rightful heir by capitalizing on the envy and suspicion Phaulkon had engendered.

[Limbo]

Yes, it's funny, the first foreigner who entered the class of nobles in Siam (or Ayudhaya), Phaulkon the Greek or Vichayen Gerakis, did his best to strengthen the influence of the French, effectuated by its Jesuits and later even the 600 men strong French army under General Desfarges. It was his dream to make 'Thailand' the first Catholic country in Asia and, if possible, under French supervision.

The second foreigner, granted the noble title Chao Prya Aphai Raja, the Belgian Gustave Rolin Jaquemijns did all he could to keep the French out.

He was Minister of State (minister plenipotentiary) and was the first advisor of King Rama V concerning the negotiations after the Pak Nam incident (considered a pretext for the French to annex Siam to their Indo-China). It is for sure that a lot of Thai people would have been speaking French now, if it wouldn't have been for this very remarcable person.

If you look at the present situation in some neighbouring countries, which used to be French 'protectorates', we all, Thai and foreigners living here, can be grateful that Gustave succeeded in his mission.

The rumour that the Dutch would have provided Petracha's army with firearms, which resulted in the fact that the Dutch were the only foreigners allowed to stay in Ayudhaya after the 'coup' is absolutely not true.

We Dutch don't do things like that .

Limbo