The Portuguese and the French Languages Used for Communication in the Siamese Royal Court during the Reign of King Narai the Great of Ayutthaya

Abstract

Westerners started their contacts with Siam since the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The first group of them were the Portuguese who came to Siam in 1511, followed by the Spanish, the Dutch, the British and the French respectively. The purposes of their coming were mainly for commerce, evangelism (Mission of the Catholic Church) and mercenary. The peak period for international relations was during the reign of KIng Narai the Great which was regarded as the Golden Age for foreign contacts.Communication between the Siamese people and these European groups was firstly performed through the Malayan and the Chinese interpreters in the Portuguese language, both written and oral. The contact was mainly among foreigners and the Thai nobles, aristocrats and royal court officers. Some Portuguese and half-Portuguese native speakers as well as some Thai people at that time were able to communicate by using both the Thai and the Portuguese languages. Later, when the groups of French diplomats including some Roman Catholic Priests travelled to Ayutthaya by the command of King Louis the fourteenth, they established their French Catholic Church and the Catholic House outside the city walls by the permission of King Narai the Great and settled down there. Consequently, the Latin and the French Languages were taught to Siamese church goers. Moreover, the close relationships between the Thai and the French royal courts also stimulated the use of the French language which caused the increase of the importance of the French language continuously throughout King Narai’s reign.