> Research & Reports

Tin-winners in Ron palace, died when the palace was blown was a blow to the Company; its exclu- Phibun district, up.* sive rights to trade tin in Ligor, which it Nakhon Si Tham- The political situation changed with had enjoyed for almost a century, were marat, the dismemberment of Nakhon Si lifted in 1734. As a result, it could obtain 2001 Thammarat. The provinces of ‘Borde- only very limited amounts of tin each long’ (Phattalung), Sangora (Songkhla) year. After long negotiations, and due and Tsjaija (Chaiya) were henceforth to the improvement in the relationship ruled by governors and other high- with the Royal Court in Ayutthaya, the ranking officers sent directly from the exclusive rights were restored in the capital. The victory of Ayutthaya over contract of 1754. It was, however, too Ligor in 1632 was thus a historical turn- late for the VOC to regain its position ing point, leading to a more complicat- in Ligor. Ayutthaya lost control over the ed triangular relationship between tin trade there. With no further Siam, Ligor, and the VOC. It also prospects in sight, the Governor Gen- opened new trading opportunities for eral and the Council in Batavia decided the Company. to close the office in Ligor for good, Tin in Ligor was known to be very reporting the decision to the Board of pure and of high quality. Tin produc- Directors in the Republic on 31 Decem- tion is estimated to have been 700- ber 1756. < 1,000 bahar (248,000-354,000 pounds) per annum in the mid-seventeenth cen- Supaporn Ariyasajsiskul, MA is a TANAP tury. The Company expected to secure research fellow, and an affiliated fellow at at least 400 bahar of tin per year. IIAS/CNWS-IGEER, presently researching

Courtesy of the author the of Courtesy This target, however, could not be Late Ayuttaya foreign trade policy. realized without the tra or seal of [email protected] approval to trade tin in Ligor, and with- out Ayutthaya’s support. The Dutch For the Love of Tin Company managed to obtain exclusive rights in 1660 by concluding a contract with King Narai of Ayutthaya. These exclusive rights allowed it to secure quo- Note > The VOC in Ligor tas for export and purchase tin in Ligor at less than ‘market’ prices. These pref- * The status of the rulers of Ligor erential trading rights were, however, seems to have been quite Research > The Southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat is heir to one of the oldest port city- not absolute. VOC officers in Ayutthaya ambivalent. Ayuthaya saw Ligor states of Southeast Asia. In the early days, Dutch and other European traders knew the and Ligor had to battle continuously, as a vasal state, but the Dutch province by the name ‘Ligor’. For more than a century, from around 1640 until 1756, the both locally and in the capital, to secure records seem to suggest greater Dutch East India Company (VOC) ran a small office in the flourishing entrepôt, the their tin supply and export quotas. As a autonomy. Until 1632, the VOC collecting station for the region’s tin. whole, the period running from 1670 to records always refer to the ruler 1700 was the VOC’s most successful of Ligor as ‘king’. By Supaporn Ariyasajsiskul During the first three decades of the The honeymoon period between one. In peak years, tin export from Ligor seventeenth century, the VOC had Ligor and the VOC ended in the 1630s. reached 1,400 bahar and the Company t is commonly believed that Nakhon direct contact with the ruler of Ligor, Behind this was a temporary but sharp then realized profits of up to 100 per Information > ISi Thammarat was already annexed annually purchasing 600-700 bahar decline in the European demand for cent. to the kingdom of Ayutthaya (or Siam) of black pepper (approximately pepper and the outbreak of war The tin affair became more compli- The above article is a summary of to the north when the Dutch East 250,000 pounds; 1 bahar = 375 between King Prasatthong of Siam and cated and less favourable to the Com- the paper on ‘The Siamese throne, India Company arrived to trade in the pounds). In the best of years, the pur- his vassal states on the Peninsula, pany in the eighteenth century. Of all the Company and the so-called tin- region in the early seventeenth centu- chase could be up to 1,000-1,200 which refused to recognize his legiti- the competitors, the Chinese through monopoly at Ligor; the limits of ry. Yet, control from the capital was bahar (375,000-450,000 pounds). In macy on the Siamese throne. Accord- their networks were the best organized, negotiating power and preferential weak. Classified as one of eight tribu- 1612 the Company concluded a con- ing to the Dutch records, the Company and wrested control of the tin trade trading rights’ presented at the tary kingdoms ruled by its own princes tract with the so-called in the Dutch sided with Siam, cautiously providing everywhere, and particularly on the second TANAP (Towards A New (Mueng Phaya-Mahanakhon), Nakhon records ‘king of Ligor’, who granted it military aid to King Prasatthong. Ligor black market. The Dutch Company in Age of Partnership) workshop ‘Asia Si Thammarat was granted authority exclusive rights to construct housing and the other Thai-Malay vassal states the meantime received permission to in the Age of Partnership’, to police the Malay Peninsula on and to trade anywhere in the region, were eventually subdued and severely arrest tin smugglers in Ligor and to con- , Thailand, 24-26 October behalf of Ayutthaya. The Dutch exempt from tolls and taxes. The Com- punished. The Dutch records also fiscate contraband. Its new role as the 2002. The full article will soon be records show that at the time of the pany was additionally allowed to build describe how Ligor was completely Ligor ‘tin police’ restored its tin exports published in Itinerario, the journal VOC’s entrance, Ligor still enjoyed a stone warehouse in Sangora destroyed. The pepper plantation was between 1726 and 1735. of the Institute for the History of considerable autonomy in governance, (Songkhla) to store Chinese goods demolished and the ‘king’ and his wife, The trade policy launched by Ayut- European Expansion (IGEER). trade, and foreign relations. intercepted at sea. trapped in their ammunition-laden thaya in the reign of King Boromkot Southeast Asian ‘Living Theatre’ International arts promoters and not a few scholars are heavily invested in the dichotomy between the traditional and the contemporary. Books, exhibits, and performances on ‘sacred/classical/indigenous’ art and Report > ‘innovative/cutting-edge/postmodern’ art are marketed to consumers around the world each year. Such labels, Southeast Asia however, poorly fit much recent Southeast Asian theatre, which muddles received categories.

10-14 November By Matthew Isaac Cohen Southeast Asian Performing Arts vivid- ry play set in a decrepit theatre in the 2003 ly brought these complexities to life. city of Intramuros. Brutality, murder, Bangkok, Thailand he new and the old, the foreign and suicide, deception, and revolution are Tthe local, the urban and the rural: Tradition-based explored through the ghostly recollec- all of these apparent dichotomies have contemporary performance tion of pre-independence sarswela the- long existed in dynamic relation in Nicanor G. Tiongson, in his presen- atre. Palasyo rejects a linear plot, stereo- Southeast Asian theatre. Today’s living tation, described a recent revival of sar- typically ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters, theatre is traditional and contemporary, swela. A musical theatre popular in the and pat moral messages in order to a restoration of the past and alive to the at the turn of the century, explore class conflict and the vicissi- present, locally rooted and globally traditional sarswela was a cheery cul- tudes of history and character. No easy aware. In the course of two days of aca- tural defence of class privilege, pro- pleasure or reassurance is to be had. demic presentations on theatre and duced by the middle class for a pre- Palasyo uses songs, sarswela acting, and dance flowing into three days of practi- dominately lower-class audience. The even excerpts of sarswela plays. But is cal workshops on contemporary dance, award-winning entry in the 1998 Cen- Palasyo sarswela? Burmese marionette puppetry, theatre tennial Literary Prize sarswela compe- In her presentation on Thai comic per- games, Balinese traditional dance, tition, Mario O’Hara’s Palasyo ni formance, Wankwan Polachan described Balinese topeng object animation, tableaux, and Thai Valentin (The Palace of Valentin), is a the Talok Café, and then led participants performed by I traditional dance-theatre and rod pup- subversion of the ideology and form of to this well-known feature of Bangkok Wayan Dibia petry, the SPAFA seminar-workshop on traditional sarswela. Palasyo is a memo- nightlife. The Talok Café is a comedy and

28 IIAS Newsletter | #33 | March 2004 > Research & Reports

Students and profes- sional actor-dancers in a Khon workshop All photos courtesy of SEAMEO-SPAFA of courtesy photos All SPAFA? is What found- was (SPAFA) Arts Fine and Archaeology for Centre Regional The Educa- of Ministers Asian Southeast the of aegis the under 1978 in ed Thai- of Government the by hosted is and (SEAMEO), Organization tion awareness, competence, professional ‘promote to is mandate Its land. activ- Its states. member ASEAN in heritage’ cultural of preservation and methods in courses training included have years 25 past the over ities science, library administration, cultural archaeology, of techniques and the- and archaeology, tourism, on seminars documentation; arts and in active is organization The arts. the in workshops practical and atre; exchange programmes and consultancy, and has carried out field educa- arts and epigraphy, music, ethnic Asian Southeast on research archaeolo- on books and journal a out puts wing publication The tion. arts. the and gy www.seameo-spafa.org music club, as well as an eating estab- Ken Sen be seen within a history of Sin- of the Ramayana as bilingual Chinese to live as long as it flows across borders, lishment, frequented primarily by gaporean Chinese cultural brokers and opera. As Pawit Mahasarinand demon- representing the past and imagining migrants from rural Thailand. Comedy impresarios, or does his work demand strated, twentieth-century European and the future. < troupes presenting comic skits and appreciation according to non-local American spoken drama in Thai trans- sketches with an emphasis on physical standards? lation has provided a mode for explor- Dr Matthew Isaac Cohen is a lecturer in humour and bawdy word play alternate Zulkifli Bin Mohamad presented a ing subjects customarily considered theatre studies at the University of Glasgow, with attractive male and female singers possible solution to some classificato- taboo in Thai society. where he teaches anthropology of theatre, performing Thai pop music. The atmos- ry problems in his discussion of the Many issues brought up at the semi- performance studies, puppet theory, and phere is chic and urban, but the slapstick political economy of Malaysian per- nar-workshop demand further explo- Indonesian theatre. He was an IIAS fellow humour and conventions of audience- formance. A new mode of practice is ration, including the reinvention of tra- in the research programme ‘Performing Arts performer interaction are traditional and emerging in Southeast Asia, which dition, the politics and aesthetics of of Asia: Tradition and Innovation’ in 1998- rural. Guests socialize with the singers, Zulkifli calls ‘tradition-based contem- Southeast Asian intercultural theatre, 2000. He is currently completing a book on and present garlands of money as tokens porary dance and theatre’. Artists from copyright and other legal issues the Komedie Stamboel and has written of appreciation. Some of the comedy both traditional and modern back- involved in the consumption of artistic extensively on wayang kulit and other forms troupe leaders are long time Bangkok grounds are reinterpreting time-hon- property across national borders. Vir- of Indonesian theatre. He is also a practic- Tradition-based residents and have become nationally oured disciplines as the basis for new tual and real routes connect the theatres ing dhalang and convenes the Glasgow per- contemporary dance recognized stars through their Talok performances, accessible to non-tra- of insular and mainland Southeast formance ensemble Gamelan Naga Mas demonstrated by Café performances, television appear- ditional audiences in national and Asia. Some are new, others old. The (www.nagamas.co.uk). Zulkifli Bin ances, and VCDs but their humour international venues. Tradition is not theatre of Southeast Asia will continue [email protected] Mohamad remains rooted in rural ways. The come- merely appropriated by these practi- dians, however, are now faced with a tioners, but is transformed in the dilemma. They are running out of jokes process. Traditional and new audi- and losing touch with recent rural devel- ences equally appreciate many of these opments. Some performers are educat- artists. Some are as adept in perform- ing themselves on rural migrants’ urban ing folksy comic turns as in discours- concerns to better relate to their audi- ing on critical theory. Tradition-based ences. The Café now stands at a cross- contemporary performance is a par- roads. Will it transform into an urban ticularly critical cultural intervention venue? Or will it disappear? in , where government and The internationally famous Singa- religious authorities have colluded to porean theatre maker Ong Keng Sen end old patterns of sponsorship for presented an overview of his intercul- wayang kulit, social dance, and ritual tural productions and Flying Circus drama. workshops. Ong’s work shows that Southeast Asian practitioners best Border crossings known for their groundbreaking work A number of papers and presenta- are often vitally concerned with the tra- tions explored the historical and con- ditional arts of their countries of origin, temporary dimensions of Southeast and of other countries in the region. Asia as a lively crossroads where global One of his recent projects on Cambo- artistic practices inter-articulate in excit- dian court dance and drama resulted in ing and often surprising ways. South- the reconstruction of core repertory east Asia’s shadow puppet theatres have items, as well as a powerful piece of long ignored what Ghulam-Sarwar reminiscence theatre performed by and Yousof called ‘the often artificial bound- devised together with former court aries between nations’, with performers dancers: The Continuum: Beyond the and puppets travelling overseas for eco- Killing Fields (2001). The Flying Circus nomic, religious, and political ends. As Project was conceived in the same spir- I discussed in my own paper, popular it. The ‘antithesis of the museum’, Fly- theatre in the Indonesian archipelago ing Circus brings together traditional has seen the active participation of and non-traditional artists into a space artists from India, China, Malaysia, Sin- for exchange and exploration, leading gapore, the Philippines, and many other to moments both silly and sublime. countries for hundreds of years. Singa- Ong Keng Sen has been criticized by pore’s Chinese Opera Institute, under scholars for his ‘Made in ’ Chua Soo Pong’s direction, not only cultural imperialism and entrepre- teaches and performs staples of the neurship – criticism he has cannily Teeochew operatic repertoire; it has also incorporated into his work. Should Ong reinterpreted ‘The Golden Deer’ episode

Information >

The seminar and workshop on Southeast Asian Performing Arts, organized by the Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA) and Bangkok University, brought together Southeast Asian academics and practitioners of drama, dance, and puppetry, and Thai theatre professionals, young and old, to discuss, act out, and evaluate issues engaging theatre in Southeast Asia today. Publica- tion of the proceedings of the seminar in both English and Thai is anticipated.

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