On 15 August 1874 he appointed a Privy Council of 49 members to be his personal advisors and also to perform some state functions such
as investigation, attendance at meetings of the Council of State and so 6
o n .
But both the Council of State and the Privy Council did not work 7
as successfully as he hoped, so he wanted to reform the bureaucracy
by selection of aspects of traditional Thai administration and of
g
foreign administration (English patterns). As he explained the
6 8
.
samuhakalahom was not suitable for the growing administration:
...some krom (department) had too much work, some krom had no work and some krom had much interest
but some krom had no interest. Because of this
unbalance in the amount of work and interest, the
administration had been performed without efficiency...^
The other reasons were overlapping, red tape, lack of responsibility
and overwork in some places which caused d e l a y . ^ He had seen that the imperialists would take advantage of the backwardness of
administration to colonize Thailand; if Thailand did not improve its administration, it might lose independence.^
The evidence of his policy of accelerated development of the country appeared in his letter in 1895 to Prince Damrong, Minister of
Interior, asking him to explain the King's policy in administrative reform at the first meeting of the tesaphiban commissioners.
...In the past, Thailand was surrounded by the countries which had the similar administration and similar amount
of soldiers. Today we have Britain at our left and
France at our right. Our country is in the middle of
the countries which were strictly governed and had more
power. We can no longer live in isolation as once we
did. In our protection of the country measures can be
taken: friendly diplomatic relations, the maintenance
of defensive forces and orderly administration. We will
administer the country well if we foster opportunities for the people to earn a living so that they are
benefited by the government. Then they will pay the
taxes which are the economic foundation of the government. Consequently, an effective administration and a
fostering of the ways of providing for the livelihood of the people are the most important, the final
purposes of the Kingdom...12
The major reform in the bureaucracy came in the 1870's under Rama V,
and has become known as the Chakkri Reformation. Phase 1 ended in 1892
with a sweeping reorganization of governmental structures. Revenue
collection was modernized and a start made on the phasing out of the
6 9
.
was established under the Horasadadornphiphat Act (1873 A.D.), staffed
for the first time in the Siamese bureaucracy by officers working fixed 13
hours and receiving regular pay. Similar working and payment reforms
were effected in parts of other ministries, and even extended beyond
officials to conscript workers. A modern inducements system was thus
slowly introduced. Telegraph and telephone services were begun, and
departments established and combined as Posts and Telegraphs on 5 August 14
1883. By 1897, the Royal Survey Department having been set up 12 years
15
earlier, was able to publish a general map of Siam. Chulalongkorn drew
freely on Western skills in these formative years, importing a number
of British, European and American experts. He was also assisted by
the talented Royal Princes, Devawongse, Damrong and Raphi. The former
reported on British ministry and cabinet structure following a visit
overseas in 1887. This report formed the basis of the King's plans for
bureaucratic reorganization. Prince Damrong who had studied educational
systems abroad, was selected by Chulalongkorn to head his most important
Ministry, that of the Interior. Prince Damrong used this position to
develop a new pattern of provincial government in the country, and
was so successful that the bureaucracy in general looked to the Ministry of Interior as a model when innovative measures were required.
In total, the ministries established under the 'Radical Reorganization of 1892', published in RTGG, Vol. 5, 1892, were as follows:
Ministry of Justice Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Lands and Agriculture Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Public Works Ministry of the Capital
70
.
Ministry of the Privy Seal Ministry of Education Ministry of the Palace Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Military Strategy^
On 1 April 1892 there was a Royal Proclamation to appoint 12
ministers to administer these 12 ministries and to abolish the Chief
Minister positions Samuhakalahom and Samuhanayok.^ The 12 ministers
were constituted as a Council of Ministers, all with equal rank.
Due to overlapping in the services in 1892 the Ministry of
Military Strategy was transferred to become a department in the Ministry
of Defence. In 1894 the Ministry of Defence was made responsible for
military affairs alone and the Ministry of Interior was responsible
for solely civilian matters (except the Kwang of Bangkok under the 18
Ministry of Capital) as in the Trailok regime.
On 14 March 1896 the Minister of Lands and Agriculture resigned,
whereupon King Chulalongkorn reorganized this Ministry to be a
Department in the Ministry of Finance. Three years later (1899),
believing that the Ministry of Finance could not cope with the workload 19
he established a Ministry of Agriculture.
In 1896 King Chulalongkorn observed the light workload in the
Ministry of Privy Seal so he transferred some functions of this Ministry
to the Secretariat of the King, with the other functions going to the
Council of Ministers, established on 10 January 1894 as his legal 20
advisors. At the end of King Chulalongkorn's reign, there were
71