Royal Siamese Maps

Book excerpt: In 1996, seventeen exquisite handdrawn and hand-coloured cotton maps were discovered in the Grand Palace, Bangkok. These long-lost treasures record cartographically Siamese warfare and trade during the first three reigns of the Bangkok Period (1782-1851). Large in size, and works of art in themselves, these maps overturn the conventional view of indigenous map-making in Southeast Asia. Focusing on Siam and on her immediate neighbours, the collection also includes a remarkable four-metre coastal map extending from peninsular Malaysia through China to Korea. AUTHOR: Dr. Santanee Phasuk is the senior teacher at Chitrlada School and gained her doctorate in cartography from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Professor Emeritus Philip Stott was a professor of Geography at SOAS, London. 378 colour illustrations