DamrongRajanubhab (1862-1943), major reformer of Thailand's education and provincial administration, historian, and leading intellectual.
Prince Damrong was a son of King Mongkut by a lesser wife and was but a child when his older half-brother Chulalongkorn came to the throne in 1868.
Throughout the rest of the reign, to 1910, Damrong was, with his half-brothers princes Wachirayan and Devawongse, one of the king's most valued advisers and servants, as well as the most powerful man in the kingdom next to the king.
Damrong finally resigned in 1915 from his post at the ministry, officially due to health problems, as otherwise the resignation would have looked like an affront against the absolute monarch.
Prince Damrong is credited as the father of Thai history, education system, health system (the ministry of health was originally a department of the ministry of interior) and provincial administration.
HRH Prince DamrongRajanubhab (Thai including his full title: สมเด็จพระเจ้าบรมวงศ์เธอ กรมพระยาดำรงราชานุภาพ) (June 21, 1862 - December 1, 1943) was the founder of the modern Thai education system as well as the modern provincial administration.
Damrong finally resigned in 1915 from his post at the ministry, officially due to health problems, as otherwise the resignation would have looked like an affront against the absolute monarch.
Prince Damrong is credited as the father of Thai history, education system, health system (the ministry of health was originally a department of the ministry of interior) and provincial administration.
In his time as minister he completed overhauled the Provinces of Thailandprovincial administration.
Damrong finally resigned in 1915 from his post at the ministry, officially due to health problems, as otherwise the resignation would have looked like an affront against the absolute monarchyabsolute monarch/.
Sunthorn Phu criticism was for a long time influenced by Prince DamrongRajanubhab's brief biography of the poet, published in 1922.
The main tenets of Prince Damrong's criticism had the poet pinned down as a commoner who could not have received a very good education.
Even Prince Damrong's essay which serves as an introduction to every edition of Sunthorn Phu, is weighted down by additional notes of conjectural nature by later editors.
INEB - International Network of Engaged Buddhists - www.sulak-sivaraksa.org(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
When Prince DamrongRajanubhab, one of the King's sons, was given charge of the Library, he turned it into a major institutional pillar upholding and cultivating pride in the Thai language, culture, traditions, and history.
Although Phya Anuman Rajadhon was not related by blood to royalty, Prince Damrong greatly admired and held him as part of his kin in the Republic of Letters.
His history of Laos, anthology of Laotian traditional stories and folklores, and revision of Laotian literature on spiritual as well as worldly matters can be traced back to the lines of DamrongRajanubhab and Anuman Raja-don.
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It was created by the dam constructed to block the waterway to the west of town for irrigation purposes.
Prince Damrong, therefore, set out to explore this ancient city, and discover for himself some of the secrets it might hold.
During his exploration in a forested area, the Prince came across the ruins of a large ancient city in the precincts of what was locally known as Aphai Sali.
History from the Thai point of view, especially relating to the Angkorian legacy, was cultivated by King Mongkut and later his son, Prince DamrongRajanubhab, the "father of Thai modern history" and the architect of the Thai modern state.
It has been reinforced by people like Luang Vichitr Vadhakarn, the director of Department of Fine Arts in 1932 and his successor Dhanit Yupho in the 1960s when the Thais were engaged in nationalist and prejudicial policies toward their neighbors, especially the Khmers.
The Thais have adopted or appropriated much of the great Khmer legacy as their own and due to their view of Khmers as uncivilized, refuse to link their "history" with Cambodian history.
Asiabooks Catalogue - Thailand(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
Here the author recounts 24 wars between Siam and Burma from 1539 to 1767.
The tales that Prince Damrong selected from the chronicles have since entered school textbooks and popular culture.
It was this book which first made famous the heroism of Queen Suriyothai, the elephant duel at Nong Sarai, King Naresuan's 'declaration of independence', the guerilla resistance of Bang Ranchan, and the drama of Ayuttaya's fall.
