SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This is a study of a series of negotiations between the British and the Siamese Governments in the first nine years of the twentieth century. The prolonged dispute between the two countries was stirred up in 1902 by the wish of the Siamese Government, under the leadership of King Chulalongkorn, to achieve the abolition of the extraterritorial system which had been initiated in Siam by the Bowring Treaty of 1855. The talks, though simple at the start, became more complex as they progressed. By 1905, when the negotiations reached deadlock and were suspended, two other issues had already been brought into the discussions. These were the abrogation of the Anglo-Siamese Secret Convention of 1897, which required Siam to obtain British sanction for the grant of a prospecting licence over land in the Malay peninsula, and the question of the exact status of Siam in relation to the four Northern Malay States of Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu and Perlis. The strenuous efforts of Siam would have achieved little if the discussion regarding the construction of the Malay Peninsula Railway had not intervened in 1906. The likely benefits from the new Railway lines influenced the diplomatic talks and they entered a more promising phase. A year later negotiated settlements on the various issues were given a fresh impetus by the Franco- Siamese Treaty by which Prance agreed to submit all her Asian subjects to Siamese tribunal. Following closely France's example, the pending negotiations were continued without delay. After a twelve-month interval in 1908, following the death of Mr. E.H. Strobel, the General Adviser to the Siamese Government, who was the architect of the foreign policy of Siam from 1904 onwards, a compromise was reached on March 10, 1909. Under the stipulations of the Treaty Siam agreed to transfer all her rights and suzerainty over Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu and Perlis to England. In return England relinquished her extraterritorial rights over her subjects, European and Asian alike, in Siam. The Secret Convention of 1897 was abrogated. And Britain gave Siam a loan of £4 million at 4 per cent interest for the construction of the Malay Peninsula Railway.