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The Top Thai Kings of the Chakri Dynasty

The monarchy has played an important part in the development and culture of Thai society for as long as anyone cares to remember.

The various dynasties have all been well-catalogued through history and some in recent times through cinema, with the majority of Thais still growing up being taught profound respect for their royals.

Since the 18th century, Thailand鈥檚 kings have belonged to the Chakri dynasty, signified by the fact they have all been known by the formal title Rama. This particular designation is derived from an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in the ancient Indian epic the Ramayana.

When considering some of the most popular and noteworthy Thai kings there are likely to be varying opinions. But one thing is for sure — they will all come from somewhere in the line of the Chakri dynasty, which has so far produced 10 Thai kings.

So the aim of this post is to run through the top ten Thai kings 鈥� all from the Chakri dynasty — and also to highlight those considered to be among the most significant and popular.

You鈥檒l see how it comes down to 3 out of the nine Thai kings listed here. Some Thais may have different opinions on who is the number one, but most would agree that Rama 4, Rama 5, and Rama 9 are the top 3 Thai kings from the Chakri dynasty of the last few hundred years or so.

Rama I — King Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1737-1809)

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This was the first Thai king of the Chakri dynasty 鈥� hence Rama I. He was responsible for establishing the dynasty and also added a few other notable markers to Thai history.

King Rama I ruled for 27 years in all and he is mostly remembered as the monarch who moved the Thai capital from Ayuddhaya. He established Bangkok as the new capital of Siam in 1782.

The king is also remembered as the Thai monarch who put paid to the advances of the Burmese on the kingdom by thwarting what turned out to be the last attack on Thailand by its long-term neighbouring adversary. This is catalogued in a series of battles known as the 鈥楴ine Armies鈥� Wars鈥�, which occurred between 1785 and 1786. He remains one of the popular Thai kings historically.

Rama II – King Phra Buddha Loetla Nabhalai (1767-1824)

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King Rama II, whose official formal title was Phra Buddha Loetla Nabhalai, ascended the throne in 1809 and ruled for almost 15 years.

He is not particularly prominent in the list of kings, and his reign was peaceful and more geared towards the arts than anything. Needless to say, during his time art and literature flourished in the kingdom, and the monarch himself liked to compose and perform music and poetry.

Under Rama II鈥檚 patronage, possibly the most notable Thai poet of all time flourished. His name was Sunthorn Phu, and he is commonly cited as the 鈥楽hakespeare of Thailand鈥� for his literary achievements.

Rama III – King Phra Nangklao (1788-1851)

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King Phra Nangklao 鈥� Rama III is remembered as being the Thai king who reformed the tax and treasury system. During his 27-year reign the nation experienced something of a boom in trade — especially with China in the early part of the 19^th century.

This was also a time when the Siamese kingdom reviewed and renewed official agreements with various western powers This was something that hadn鈥檛 been looked at since the late Ayutthaya period, and it went some way to supporting the British in their Burmese War in 1824.

Rama III was one of the Thai kings who never officially named a successor to the throne, and it went to his half-brother by default.

Rama IV – King Mongkut (1804-1868)

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Rama IV is in many ways one of the most-prominent and best-known kings of Siam 鈥� including in the West Mongkut was the king portrayed in the 1950s musical and film 鈥淭he King and I鈥�.

During his 17 years on the throne he was responsible for signing the Bowring Treaty with the British Empire, a step that effectively abolished a royal monopoly over foreign trade.

The king met an unfortunate end while on an expedition to see a total eclipse of the sun, on which he contracted a lethal dose of malaria.

Rama V – King Chulalongkorn (1853-1910)

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Rama V is another very prominent Thai king 鈥� definitely in the top three. King Chulalongkorn was the ninth son of Mongkut, and during his 42-year reign he was responsible for some very prominent changes to Thailand in terms of a drive for modernization, and not least of all for the abolition of slavery.

The king ceded various sections of Thai territory to Western elements, namely Laos and Cambodia to France, and various Malay sultanates that came under Thai jurisdiction to Britain.

Due to his outward interest in all things Western and modern, Chulalongkorn was notably the first Thai king to visit the west, also sending royal princes to study in Europe for the first time. Rama V made specific efforts to present Siam as a modern and progressive nation to Europe by way of his visits.

His approach apparently went some way towards avoiding the colonisation of Thailand as well as bringing into play what at the time seemed like far-reaching reforms as they were influenced by Western models..

From the mid-1880s he made continuous efforts to overhaul Siam鈥檚 somewhat antiquated administration, culminating in the establishment of 12 ministries responsible for various functions like provincial administration, defence, foreign affairs, law, education, and public works.

The king鈥檚 actions weren鈥檛 popular with everyone at that time, but they certainly laid the foundations of modern-day Thai life as it is today. The king is definitely appreciated by later generations of Thais who see the moves that he implemented as major factors in the development of the nation. This included compulsory primary education and military conscription for males.

Chulalongkorn had the longest reign in Thai history upon his death. His chosen successor to the throne — his son Vajiravudh 鈥� stepped into monarchy in a much more modern and independent kingdom than ever before.

Rama VI – King Vajiravudh (1881-1925)

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Vajiravudh鈥檚 reign is remembered as one driven by Siamese nationalism. The king modernized the military as it stood, and promoted this by sending his troops to join with the efforts of Allied forces in World War One.

His ideas and actions didn鈥檛 sit well with everyone though, and in 1912 there was an attempted coup on the king by disgruntled military officers. They disagreed with the king鈥檚 extravagance and sought to establish democratic rule — but ultimately they couldn鈥檛 find the necessary support and were quashed.

Rama VII – King Prajadhipok (1893-1941)

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King Prajadhipok was the brother of Rama VI, and is remembered as the last absolute monarch to reign in Thailand. He became the first constitutional monarch of the nation following the 1932 鈥楽iamese Revolution鈥�.

Rama VII ascended the throne in 1926 following his brother鈥檚 death. He was educated at Eton in the U.K., and funnily enough he ended up back there in 1935 after he had abdicated.

This followed yet another coup in 1932 initiated by a group of military officers and civil servants. The ex-king spent the rest of his days in exile in England with his wife, and they had no children.

Rama VIII – King Ananda Mahidol (1925-1946)

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King Ananda was a nephew of Prajadhipok who ascended the throne after the previous king鈥檚 abdication. His father was Prince Mahidol, who was actually one of King Chulalongkorn鈥檚 many sons.

Ananda was selected as the successor to the throne when he was just nine years old. At the time he was undertaking studies in Switzerland, although the monarchy turned out to be a short one.

Ananda was found shot dead in his bedroom inside Bangkok鈥檚 Grand Palace in 1946, aged just 20. The circumstances were considered mysterious, ad this came four days before his scheduled return to Swiss school. This was also around the time of Siam changing its name to Thailand.

Rama IX – King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927-2016)

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King Bhumibol came to the throne after his brother鈥檚 unfortunate demise in 1946, and turned out to be the longest-reigning Thai king ever — 70 years in all.

Rama 9 was actually born in the U.S. and he is commonly considered as the most popular king ever. He once again set about re-modelling the face of Thailand, this time blending tradition and culture with modernity. He was also a travelling king who again studied in Switzerland.

There was lots of change during his long reign — the country had 30 prime ministers, helped in no small part by no less than 10 military coups that all proved successful, and 17 constitutions. Although the monarchy had long since given over the reign of the governance of the land and political affairs to an elected ministry, he did intervene in several political crises which was considered a good thing by the majority.

The king was also responsible for initiating many royal development projects which were designed to promote development and self-sufficiency in various sectors of society. He was actually awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the United Nations after implementing more than 3,000 of these local community projects.