Kosa Pan (, ; 1633 – 15 November 1699) was a Thailand diplomat and minister who led the second Siamese embassy to France sent by King Narai in 1686.[Rajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., ] He was preceded to France by the first Siamese embassy to France, which had been composed of two Siamese ambassadors and Father Bénigne Vachet, who had left Siam for France on January 5, 1684.[[1] Asia in the Making of Europe, by Donald F. Lach, p. 253]
Family
According to historian Edward van Roy, Pan was the son of Phraya Kiat, a
Mon people noble who sided with
Naresuan during the fourth Burmese-Siamese War, and Chao Mae Wat Dusit, daughter of King
Ekathotsarot and wet nurse for
Phetracha and Prince
Narai, both future kings of Siam.
[[2] The Diary of Kosa Pan: Thai Ambassador to France, June–July 1686, by Michael Smithies, p. 13][[3] Journal of the Siam Society, by Edward van Roy, p. 217] Through his son Khunthong, Pan was a great-great-grandfather of King
Rama I, the founder of the
Chakri dynasty. His older brother,
Kosa Lek (เหล็ก), held the post of foreign minister before him.
Early life
Pan was born in the Ayutthaya Kingdom around 1633. As his mother was a wet nurse for the young prince Narai, Pan was considered a foster brother to the future king.
Chao's connection, if any, with the then-reigning Sukhothai dynasty of the Ayutthaya Kingdom is unclear, with some speculating her to be a daughter King
Ekathotsarot.
Names
Pan (; ) was his given name. As foreign minister, he was styled
Chaophraya Kosathibodi (; ). He is colloquially called
Kosa Pan (; ).
He is also known by his former style as a first-class diplomat: Ok-phra Wisut Sunthon (; ).
His success in diplomatic negotiations earned him the epithet golden-tongued diplomat ().
Embassy to France (1686)
To accompany the return of the 1685 French embassy to Siam of Chevalier de Chaumont and François-Timoléon de Choisy, Pan was selected by Constantine Phaulkon, the Prime Counsellor to King Narai, to lead an embassy to France. Pan set out for France in 1686 on two French ships with two other Siamese ambassadors, Ok-luang Kanlaya Ratchamaitri and Ok-khun Si Wisan Wacha,
[Smithies (1999), p. 59] and by the
Jesuit Father
Guy Tachard.
[Gunn, p. 188]
The embassy was bringing a proposal for an eternal alliance between France and Siam. Pan's embassy was met with a rapturous reception and caused a sensation in the courts and society of Europe. The mission landed at Brest, France and journeyed to Versailles, constantly surrounded by crowds of curious onlookers.[Chakrabongse, C., 1960, Lords of Life, London: Alvin Redman Limited] The embassy stayed in France from June 1686 to March 1687.
1688 Siamese revolution
Upon his return to Siam, Pan was pressured to become a supporter of
Phetracha's anti-French faction of dissatisfied nobles, who resented the power that the French held in Siam. The following revolution toppled
Narai and ousted the French forces. Pan was sent to negotiate with their officials. He was appointed by Phetracha as his Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
[Smithies (2002), p. 35][Smithies (1999), p. 2]
Pan was met in Siam in 1690 by the German naturalist Engelbert Kaempfer. The naturalist noted "pictures of the Royal family of France and European maps" hanging "in the hall of his Pan's house":[Suarez, p. 30]
In 1699, Pan and Phetracha received a visit from the Jesuit Father Guy Tachard. The meeting was formal and did not produce any closer relations.[Smithies (2002), p. 185]
Death
Pan was later accused of having affinity to the French and loyalty to his former King, Narai. He was disgraced, and King
Phetracha ordered his nose cut off. He reportedly committed
suicide on 15 November 1699, according to the Dutch. His duties were taken over by Okya Maha Amath, one of the King's favorites. Pan is said to be the direct ancestor of King
Rama I, founder of the present ruling dynasty of Thailand.
[Smithies (2002), p. 180]
See also
-
France-Thailand relations
Notes
-
Gunn, Geoffrey C. (2003) First Globalization: The Eurasian Exchange, 1500-1800 Rowman & Littlefield
-
Smithies, Michael (1999), A Siamese embassy lost in Africa 1686, Silkworm Books, Bangkok,
-
Smithies, Michael (2002), Three military accounts of the 1688 "Revolution" in Siam, Itineria Asiatica, Orchid Press, Bangkok,
-
Suarez, Thomas (1999) Early Mapping of Southeast Asia Tuttle Publishing
External links
- E-books
