Siamese Subjects, Tavoy Surrenders, and the Cantonese Republicans: The Confrontation between Citizens and the Government on Land Rights in Bangkok

Abstract

Studies into Siam’s property rights from the mid-nineteenth century have focused on the development of rules on land rights, often within a modernization framework. While highlighting issues such as conflicts and bargaining between the Siamese government and Western powers on the right of foreign subjects to occupy lands, scholarly works tend to overlook conflicts between the Siamese subjects and the Siamese government. Accordingly, based on archival records from the national Archives of Thailand, this article examines lawsuits between Bangkok inhabitants and the Siamese government that took place between the 1870s and 1920s. By examining how Siamese subjects sought to maintain their private property rights in Bangkok, findings reveal complex issues surround negotiations, such as questions surrounding definitions of public property, Crown property, and the transformation of private property into state property. Moreover, the article argues that the Siamese government tried to slow down the process of issuing laws on land rights in Bangkok to prevent their subjects from occupying lands in urban areas.