[Tlc] T-"Siam"

[justinm at ucr.edu]

 On the question of the origin of "Siam", I have
>>   checked that absolutely essential source,
>>   Hobson-Jobson. I quote: "This name [Siam] of the
>>   Indo-Chinese Kingdom appears to come to us through
>>   the Malays, who call it Siyam. From them we presume
>>   the Portugese took their Reyno de Sião as Barros
>>   and Couto write it, although we have in Correa Siam
>>   precisely as we write it. Camões also write Syão
>>   for the kingdom; and the statement of La Loubère
>>   quoted below that the Portuguese used Siam as a
>>   national, not a geographical, expression." H-J goes
>>   on to suggest that the Malay word was the origin of
>>   the Chinese Sien or Hsien and is identical with
>>   Shan. Refer to the whole entry (pp. 833-34) for
>>   further information.
>>
>>   In other words, the "Siam" that was officially
>>   recognized as the (foreign) name of the country
>>   during Mongkut's reign was the name the country had
>>   been known since at least the 16th century by
>>   Westerners. Prior to the mid-19th century the
>>   country had always been known internally as Müang
>>   Thai , but during Chulalongkorn's reign the
>>   designation of Prathet Sayam came to be employed
>>   for internal official purposes.
>>
>>   The name became a political issue in the 1930s when
>>   Phibul and Wichit Watthakan decided to promote a
>>   "pan-Tai" movement and "Thai"/"Tai" took on more
>>   racial connotations. Pridi's decision to reinstitute
>>   the name "Siam" represented an explicit rejection of
>>   the racial connotation of "Thailand" (in English),
>>   although Müang Thai or Prathet Thai were still used
>>   in Thai. When Phibul returned to power, the official
>>   foreign name again became "Thailand".
>>
>>   Some intellectuals from perhaps as early as the late
>>   1950s began to agitate to have the name "Siam"
>>   adopted as a sign of rejection of the
>>   rightwing/militarist character of the government
>>   since Phibul's return and of support for the more
>>   democratic ideal of Pridi. I recall personally that
>>   in the 1960s there was considerable advocacy for a
>>   the reinstitution of "Siam". The leading advocate of
>>   this position at the time was Sulak Sivaraksa who
>>   was then editor of Social Science Review. Sulak has
>>   never given up the goal of restoring the name
>>   "Siam."  I suspect Charnvit's proposal is linked to
>>   the earlier anti-rightist promotion of "Siam". I am
>>   intrigued, thus, by Jim Ockey's suggestion that some
>>   rightwing people are now advocating the adoption of
>>   "Siam" I would be interested in knowing who he is
>>   referring to.
>>
>>   Anybody want to discuss "Burma/Myanmar"?
>>
>>   Biff (Charles Keyes)

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu