The kings in the current
Chakri dynasty of
Thailand are often referred to as
Rama followed by Roman ordinal in English translation. The name Rama was adopted from the name of the
Hindu god
Rama, a
reincarnation of
Vishnu.
The use of the name Rama
nth is in line with Thai practice of giving number to the king in the current dynasty. However, the translation was not exact and can give rise to some confusion as to whether this was actually the name adopted by the king on coronation.
In fact, the only king in the dynasty who called himself Rama was
Phra Mongkutklao, who was the sixth to reign. His reigning title was
Phra Mongkutklao Chaoyuhua; later in his reign, he preferred to style himself as
Phra Ram ti Hok (
lit. Rama VI). It was presumed that he was influenced by the European practice of numbering the rulers with similar names while he studied in England.
This quite conveniently coincided with another practice of the Thais. Traditionally, the name of the king is sacred and would not normally be said. Instead people would refer to the king by other words — these days
Nai Luang or
Phra Chao Yu Hua. When King
Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke founded the dynasty, he was commonly referred to as
Phan Din Ton (แผ่นดินต้น
lit. 'The First Kingdom'); and when his son inherited the throne, he was referred to as
Phan Din Klang (แผ่นดินกลาง
lit. 'the Middle Kingdom'). This then became awkward when King
Nangklao, the third king, came to the throne, as the obvious referral would then be
Phan Din Plai (แผ่นดินปลาย
lit. 'the Last Kingdom') — which did not sound very auspicious. Instead he was referred to as
Ratchakal ti Saam (รัชกาลที่ 3
lit. 'the third reign'). Since then, all the kings in the dynasty are also known unofficially as
Ratchakal ti n
th ('the
nth Reign'). The present King is hence also known as
Ratchakal ti kao ('the ninth reign'). This has also been extrapolated back to the first two kings of the dynasty as well.
Since King Mongkutklao called himself Rama VI in English, the name was seemingly equivalent to the Thais'
Ratchakal ti hok. This rough translation is still in use these days, although no other king in the dynasty used the name Rama.
There are also several kings in the
Ayutthaya period who officially used the reigning name of
Ramathibodi (Rama + Athi + Bodi,
lit. 'the great ruler
Rama').
Kings of Thailand:
See also
