The first Dutch community in Thailand
Laurens Hoddenbagh / Shutterstock.com
The Netherlands has a historical connection with Thailand, which once started with trade relations between the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) and Siam.
This Dutch trading company had a trading post in Ayutthaya, which was established in the early 1600s and remained there until the invasion by the Burmese in 1767. The trading post was important to the VOC as part of its other Asian activities and more and more Dutchmen were brought in to keep the trade running smoothly.
Dutch traders in Ayutthaya
It is interesting to know what the daily life of the Dutch looked like and how they behaved towards the Siamese people in general and towards the court of Ayutthaya in particular. A Thai lady Dr. Bhawan Ruangsilp, now a professor at Chalulongkorn University, devoted a study to it years ago and wrote a book about it, entitled “Dutch traders in Ayutthaya” Dr. Bhawan studied history for many years in Tübingen, Germany, and because she was still in the area, she subsequently studied Dutch at Leiden University. She was awarded an honorary doctorate for her studies of that history in Ayutthaya.
Study in Leiden
Studying in Leiden was certainly not easy. First learn the language and then master Old Dutch, in which the chronicles of the VOC were written. These chronicles concern the so-called “day register”, which the VOC leadership in Ayutthaya kept track of all activities concerning trade and diplomatic relations with the Siamese court. These documents were sent to the senior management of the VOC in Batavia (now Jakarta) and are therefore well preserved.
It is a good source of knowledge about the Siamese history of that period, because many documents, chronicles, etc. were lost during the fall of Ayutthaya. Moreover, it is a nice touchstone for well-preserved documents from that time, in which the history was often recorded at the discretion of the reigning monarch. And, as Joseph also told in his story, there was no shortage of kings in that period.
Dutch community
The Dutch merchants and other Dutch employees of the VOC lived in a separate neighborhood south of Ayutthaya. At one point the population of this district had even risen to more than 1400 Dutchmen and the VOC had also demanded that they be exempted from local legislation, insofar as it existed at all. The attitude of this community towards the common Siamese was downright lousy. Initially, the Dutch were curious and fascinated, but gradually people talked mockingly about the Siamese as if they were slaves. Social contacts hardly existed, and there were not many Dutch people who took the trouble to learn to speak the language.
“Luk krueng” families
There were contacts with the Siamese, but I doubt if you can call that social. The word adultery had not yet been invented and prostitution was also an unknown word. The high court officials, including the king, had dozens of children with women without being married to them and the Dutch must have thought, what they can do, we can do too. So quite a few "mesties" (children of mixed blood) were born and in a number of cases the Dutch also married that local lady and then took care of the entire family (just like the Farang does today). The mestizos were generally well off; their bilingualism enabled them to function as interpreters and/or intermediaries.
Cristi Popescu / Shutterstock.com
At court
Diplomatic relations with the Siamese court were important for good trade. The most successive kings did not like those Western foreigners. The Dutch were not really popular either, they were regarded as stingy, even miserly, which made doing business difficult. First the Portuguese left, then the French and the English, so that the Dutch remained. You would think that they would be in a good negotiating position and could do business at better prices, but that did not happen.
The Dutch were stubborn and absolutely inflexible and often resisted the (then) prevailing corruption practices. Trade was conducted and profits were also made, but the preference for doing business was mostly with the Chinese and Moors (Muslims). King Narai was an exception. He was very interested in the West and the merchants of the VOC treated him with many gifts, such as Italian tiles and building materials, Dutch books and clocks, ostriches from the Cape of Good Hope, etc.
The fall of Ayutthaya
The period of the VOC in Siam is characterized by the many successions of the throne, which were often accompanied by purges and much bloodshed. Many theories have been developed about the eventual fall of Ayutthaya, the VOC blames the corruption scandals, the internal hatred and envy, intrigues within the court, as a result of which politics outside the gates was neglected. When the need was greatest, Siam could muster only 15.000 soldiers, making it easy for the Burmese to take the city of Ayutthaya.
Closing comments
The study of dr. Bahwan goes much further than I have been able to describe. Extensive analyzes of previous studies carried out by Thai scholars, the sifting through of the old VOC chronicles and the interpretation of existing Thai documents were part of the very extensive study, which she has expressed in a book. This story is just an impression of the daily life of the first Dutch community in the “land of smiles”.
Dear Gringo,
Nice to see some attention to history again.
Too bad it goes back together with some bias.
Interpreting historical texts is quite risky. In general, judging past events and attitudes with today's knowledge is inaccurate and does not demonstrate intellectual distance.
A few notes;
Knowledge of language and morals is indispensable for trade, high officials such as Schouten and van der Velde spoke and wrote (!) Siamese and made a careful study of Siamese society.
As an example, the cautious behavior of the leadership during the so-called "picnic incident" in 1636, can only have happened with a great knowledge of morals and customs.
There were indeed good contacts and cooperation, the VOC was even prepared to assist the king militarily against the rulers of Pattani. (Which went wrong due to all kinds of carelessness of the Siamese soldiers.)
The trade of the VOC often aroused the jealousy of other powers, curious that this biased image is accepted as correct, even by the Dutch.
Without detracting from the painstaking work of Dr. Bhawan Ruangsilp, I believe that the picture outlined above needs adjustment.
@Dick, thanks for your response. Yes, Thai history, just like Dutch history, is always interesting. I like to read about it and on this blog more stories about Siam in the past tense will appear.
I'm not a historian or anything like that, just a retired businessman. I am certainly not going to argue with you about the art of interpreting ancient documents by Dr. Bhawan. I wrote the story about the Dutch community and deliberately left out all sorts of political matters. I was concerned with an image of the community itself in relation to the Siamese. Dr Bhawan has covered those politics and throne changes extensively in her book, but it became too complicated for me.
A few more comments about your comment:
• In my text the word 'many' has been omitted somewhere, but about the language it should have been stated: “not many Dutch people made an effort to learn to speak the language”. It goes without saying, at least for me, that enough Dutch people, including the management, knew the language when trading with the Siamese.
• You note that knowledge of morals is important for trade. That is correct, the first sentence under the heading At the court also indicates that. Perhaps not too clearly, but I did mean that the merchants of the VOC did everything they could to get to know the morals and customs of the court, so that trading would become easier. The fact that you should get to know the customs and customs of your trading partner still applies to this day. As a businessman I can tell you a lot about that.
Also, keep in mind that Dr. Bhawan studied documents from the VOC, which were sent to the leadership in Jakarta. She regularly quotes from the documents and it could well be, even probable, that the interpretation of certain events was worded differently than in the official reporting. In other words, and this still applies: how often does it not happen that you try to understand the customer, make it as pleasant as possible for him so that you get what you want done and when you say goodbye to him, you turn around and thinks: “what a k….bag that was!
Dick, I ended the story by saying that it was just my impression of the large community of Dutch people in Ayutthaya. It's your right to call Dr. Bhawan of any bias, but then I advise you to first read the book by her, for which she obtained her PhD in Leiden. It's still for sale!.
Dear Gringo,
Thanks for your response and the tip.
An interest in history makes us better understand contemporary affairs.
It was not my intention Dr. Bhawan, I know all too well how complicated this work is. And I fully respect her painstaking research of difficult to access historical sources of a small European people.
It is already difficult for us to imagine how our grandparents lived and thought, let alone our family from the seventeenth century. The average person on board (in front of the mast) already had a very high chance of not returning alive from Asia. Due to a lack of personnel, many Scandinavians, Germans and other Europeans sailed with them. It is known that in the East, the English and the Dutch (only personnel forward of the mast) easily changed ships when it was convenient. Imagine the linguistic problems apart from those in the host country.
Sickness and death were daily companions, especially for the lower ranks who ended up in nameless graves. Think for example of the tombstones (only for the higher ranks) in the Dutch church in Malacca and look at the dates for their short
lives.
To imagine Siam as a paradise, in the seventeenth century is definitely far from the truth.
That is why it sometimes bothers me (apart from this subject) how easily some, well-fed and equipped with every comfort, are ready with their judgment about and lack of knowledge of the past. Or even worse, the pedantic PC finger from the easy chair towards ancestors. It's cheap and also a bit cowardly.
Without being chauvinistic, we must conclude that the political and cultural form of present-day Asia is largely unthinkable without Dutch influence.
All the more reason to be alert and careful with conclusions.
Have a nice Sunday.
@Dirk, I totally agree with you.
I would just like to add that I have a lot of respect for the VOC, which has indeed been very important for the development in certain countries.
Have a nice Sunday to you too!
'Without being chauvinistic, we have to conclude that the political and cultural form of present-day Asia is largely unthinkable without Dutch influence,' you claim, but can you give some concrete indications?
And also responding to Gringo, I think it is only fair to also remind you how much slavery, poverty, famines, wars, oppression and even genocide, the VOC and its army have caused for the local population in the former Dutch East Indies .
Another addition: the first VOC boss in Ayuttaya was a fellow townsman of mine, Jeremias van Vliet. He concluded such a paid marriage with a Thai merchant and that was lucrative for both. They also had two children. When Van Vliet left Siam, he wanted to leave his wife behind but take his children with him. That stopped the king. Van Vliet had to leave alone and suffered all his life from the loss of his children.
Oh yes, that hometown. That's Schiedam.
What an interesting post, as well as the substantiated responses to it!
Regarding the promotion of Dr. Bhawan (Ruangsilp). An honorary doctorate in itself is always justified.
The academic world is not unknown to me. Personal vision does not outweigh the objectivity that the work should radiate in the first place. To prove the fact that she is learning a foreign 'old' language, to experience the right contexts. It should be noted – understood that – that the Dutch texts studied were perceptions of the VOC traders themselves. So her work is an objective account of a subjective fact?
So, thanks for all this nutrition, now go Googling where to order her thesis. And the other titles listed by Dick. Also thanks @ Thailandblog for this trigger, don't get bored for the first few weeks, lol. By the way, something different than trying to find with the bloggers where in Thailand Heavy van Nelle can be obtained, the VOC had certainly arranged that better at the time :~)
I enjoyed reading it, it's interesting what happened in that time,
Can the book also be ordered in Dutch?
Nice info. Here is another link to the history of Ayutthaya with a piece of VOC in it
http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/glory-of-ayutthaya.html
I live in Ayutthaya and visited the water market once.
There was a small room in the passage with some paintings of ships with the Dutch flag and some framed old VOC coins. Nice to see and surprising..
Interesting that the Burmese conquered Ayutthaya. It is always said that Thailand (also as Siam?) has never known foreign domination. How long did the Burmese occupation last, and did it extend beyond Ayutthaya? Where can I find this information? I suspect not in Dr Bahwan's book.