Editing Ayutthaya Kingdom (section)

====Contacts with the West====
[[File:Portuguese in Thailand.png|alt=|thumb|379x379px|[[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] in Thailand Gulf 16th and 17th century:{{ubl|Light Green – territories conquered or ceded|Dark Green (Allied) – Ayutthayan territories|Yellow – Main Portuguese factories}}]]
In 1511, immediately after having conquered [[Portuguese Malacca|Malacca]], the Portuguese sent a diplomatic mission headed by [[Duarte Fernandes]] to the court of King [[Ramathibodi II]] of Ayutthaya. Having established amicable relations between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of Siam, they returned with a Siamese envoy who carried gifts and letters to the King of Portugal.<ref>Donald Frederick Lach, Edwin J. Van Kley, "Asia in the making of Europe", pp. 520–521, University of Chicago Press, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-226-46731-3}}</ref> The Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit the country. Portuguese mercenaries would also play a major role in the invasion of Lanna in 1539 by King [[Chairachathirat]], and Portuguese soldiers would be considered a respected fighting force for the Kingdom across its existence.<ref name="Chakrabongse"/>{{rp|37}} Five years after that initial contact, Ayutthaya and Portugal concluded a treaty granting the Portuguese permission to trade in the kingdom. A similar treaty in 1592 gave the Dutch a privileged position in the rice trade.

Foreigners were cordially welcomed at the court of [[Narai]] (1657–1688), a ruler with a cosmopolitan outlook who was nonetheless wary of outside influence. Important commercial ties were forged with Japan. Dutch and English trading companies were allowed to establish factories, and Thai diplomatic missions were sent to Paris and The Hague. By maintaining these ties, the Thai court skillfully played off the Dutch against the English and the French, avoiding the excessive influence of a single power.<ref name="francethai">{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.go.th/web/117.php |title=The Beginning of Relations with Buropean Nations and Japan (sic) |year=2006 |website=Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021015173117/http://www.mfa.go.th/web/117.php |archive-date=15 October 2002 }}</ref>

In 1664, however, the Dutch used force to exact a treaty granting them extraterritorial rights as well as freer access to trade. At the urging of his foreign minister, the Greek adventurer [[Constantine Phaulkon]], Narai turned to France for assistance. French engineers constructed fortifications for the Thais and built a new palace at [[Lopburi]] for Narai. In addition, French missionaries engaged in education and medicine and brought the first printing press into the country. Louis XIV's personal interest was aroused by reports from missionaries suggesting that Narai might be converted to Christianity.<ref name="conphal">{{cite book|last=Smithies|first=Michael|title=Three military accounts of the 1688 "Revolution" in Siam|publisher=Orchid Press|location=Bangkok|year=2002|pages=12, 100, 183|isbn=974-524-005-2}}</ref>

The French presence encouraged by Phaulkon, however, stirred the resentment and suspicions of the Thai nobles and Buddhist clergy. When word spread that Narai was dying, a general, [[Phetracha]] (reigned 1688–1693) staged a [[coup d'état]], [[Siamese revolution of 1688|the 1688 Siamese revolution]], seized the throne, killed the designated heir, a Christian, and had Phaulkon put to death along with a number of missionaries. He then expelled the remaining foreigners. Some studies said that Ayutthaya began a period of alienation from European traders, while welcoming more Chinese merchants. But other recent studies argue that, due to wars and conflicts in Europe in the mid-18th century, European merchants reduced their activities in the East. However, it was apparent that the Dutch East Indies Company or VOC was still doing business in Ayutthaya despite political difficulties.<ref name="conphal" />

<gallery>
File:Dutch East India Company Merchant Ship.jpg|Dutch East India Company merchant ship.
File:Lopburi King Narai plate.jpg|Memorial plate in Lopburi showing King Narai with French ambassadors.
File:Audience with Narai, 1685-10-18 (b).jpg|The French ambassador [[Chevalier de Chaumont]] presents a letter from [[Louis XIV]] to King [[Narai]]. Constance Phaulkon is seen kowtowing in the lower left corner of the print
File:SiameseEmbassyToLouisXIV1686NicolasLarmessin.jpg|Siamese embassy to [[Louis XIV]] in 1686, by Nicolas de Larmessin.
File:Françoise Foliot - Eclipse de soleil au Siam en 1688.jpg|French Jesuits observing an [[eclipse]] with King [[Narai]] and his court in April 1688, shortly before the Siamese revolution.
File:OkKhunChamnan.JPG|[[Ok-khun Chamnan]], a Siamese ambassador who visited France and Rome on an embassy in 1688
File:Kosa Pan, Charles Le Brun, 1686.jpg|A portrait of [[Kosa Pan]], a Thai ambassador accredited by King [[Narai]] of Ayutthaya to the court of King [[Louis XIV of France]], by [[Charles Le Brun]], 1686
</gallery>