Control and Prosperity: The Teak Business in Siam 1880s–1932 Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades des Doktors der Philosophie an der Fakultät Geisteswissenschaften der Universität Hamburg im Promotionsfach Geschichte Südostasiens (Southeast Asian History) vorgelegt von Amnuayvit Thitibordin aus Chiang Rai Hamburg, 2016 Gutachter Prof. Dr. Volker Grabowsky Gutachter Prof. Dr. Jan van der Putten Ort und Datum der Disputation: Hamburg, 13. Juli 2016 Table of Content Acknowledgement I Abstract III Zusammenfassung IV Abbreviations and Acronyms V Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Literature Review 4 1.2.1 Teak as Political Interaction 5 1.2.2 Siam: Teak in the Economy and Nation-State of Southeast Asia 9 1.2.3 Northern Siam: Current Status of Knowledge 14 1.3 Research Concepts 16 1.3.1 Political Economy 16 1.3.2 Economic History and Business History 18 1.4 Source and Information 21 1.4.1 Thai Primary Sources 23 1.4.2 British Foreign Office Documents 23 1.4.2.1 Foreign Office Confidential Print 24 1.4.2.2 Diplomatic and Consular Reports on Trade and Finance 24 1.4.3 Business Documents 25 1.5 Structure of the Thesis 25 1.6 Thai Transcription System and Spelling Variations 29 Part I Control Chapter 2 Macro Economy and the Political Control of Teak 30 2.1 The Impact of the Bowring Treaty on the Siamese Economy 30 2.2 The Bowring Treaty and the Government’s Budget Problem 36 2.3 The Pak Nam Incident of 1893 and the Contestation of Northern Siam 41 2.4 Conclusion 52 Chapter 3 The Teak Business and the Integration of the Lan Na Principalities 54 3.1 The Teak Business before the Chiang Mai Treaty 62 3.2 The Chiang Mai Treaties and their Consequences for the Teak Trade 68 3.3 Regulations of the Teak Business 75 3.3.1 The Foundation of the Royal Forest Department 77 3.3.2 New Regulations in the Teak Business 1897–1908 80 3.3.3 Strict Control: Regulations from 1909–1932 87 3.4 Conclusion 94 Part II Prosperity Chapter 4 Teak Logging and the Manufacturing Process 95 4.1 Geography, Natural Characteristics, and Utilisation of Teak 95 4.2 From Forest to Market: the Processing of Teak 100 4.2.1 Girdling 100 4.2.2 Felling 105 4.2.3 Measuring 106 4.3 Transporting 111 4.3.1 From Extraction to the Floating Point 111 4.3.2 Technological Changes in the Transport System 112 4.3.2.1 Mae Lan Forest 113 4.3.2.2 Fang Forest 115 4.3.2.3 Mae Chun Forest 118 4.3.4 Hammering 120 4.4 From the Floating Point to the Duty Station 123 4.4.1 Floating and Rafting 124 4.4.2 Teak Log Larceny 128 4.5 Teak Floating in the Salween River 135 4.6 Teak Floating in the Mekong River 137 4.7 The Teak Manufacturing Process 140 4.7.1 The Sawmill 140 4.7.2 Sawmill Technology, Adaptability, and the Finished Product 143 4.8 Teak Export and the Global Market 149 4.8.1 The Export of Luxury Grade - European Class Teak 153 4.8.2 The Export of the Lower Grade - Indian Class Teak 156 4.9 The Teak Economy: the Financial System in the Teak Business 157 4.9.1 The Role of Finance and Liquidity in the Teak Business 158 4.9.2 The Banking System and the Teak Business 263 4.9.3 Currency in the Teak Business: the Role of the Rupee and Baht 167 4.10 Conclusion 175 Chapter 5 Ethnicity and Elephants: Division of Labour in the Teak Industry 176 5.1 Living and Working in the Forest 176 5.2 Working in the Teak Business: Khmu, Chinese, and Thai 179 5.2.1 Labour in the Teak Business: the Case of the Khmu 180 5.2.2 The Chinese: Intermediaries and Sawmill Workers 186 5.2.3 The Lao, the Natives of the North: neither Workers nor Officers 190 5.3 Working in the Teak Business: British Subjects, Company Officers, and Government Positions 193 5.3.1 British Subjects 193 5.3.2 Officers in the Teak Business 196 5.3.3 Foresters in the Royal Forest Department 197 5.4 Elephants in the Teak Business 200 5.5 Conclusion 204 Chapter 6 The Teak Business: Companies, Management, and Networking 206 6.1 The Character of Company and their Competition 207 6.2 Major Teak Companies and Management 218 6.2.1 Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation 219 6.2.2 Borneo Company Limited 223 6.2.3 Siam Forest Company Limited (later Anglo-Siam) 226 6.2.4 The Danish East Asiatic Company (Det Østasiatiske Kompagni) 229 6.2.5 French Business Interests 233 6.2.5.1 The French East Asiatic (La Compagnie Est Asiatique Française) 233 6.2.5.2 Failure of M.G. Wartenau and Albert A. Giard 235 6.2.6 The Dutch Trading Company: the Indische Hout Import Maatschappij 237 6.2.7 The Chinese Company: Kim Seng Lee 236 6.3 Networking: Two Case Studies of Non-Westerners in the Thai Teak Business 243 6.4 The Teak Business and Capitalism in Northern Siam 248 6.5 Conclusion 255 Chapter 7 Conclusion 257 Bibliography 264 Declaration of Oaths (Eidesstattliche Erklärung) 283 Lebenslauf 284 Tables Table 2.1 Volume and Value of Rice Exports 1857–1944 38 Table 2.2 Government Revenue from Teak 1896–1926 42 Table 2.3 Annual Average of Teak Exports 43 Table 3.1 Statement of Cases tried in the International Court in Chiang Mai, 1895–1899 75 Table 3.2 List of Director-Generals of the Royal Forest Department, 1897–1934 84 Table 3.3 List of Companies and Merchants in the Teak Business in 1894 89 Table 3.4 Details of Teak Company Operation in 1914 93 Table 4.1 Sale Price and Duty Fees according to the Pikat Rate in 1895 110 Table 4.2 Average Distribution of Rainfall 1907–1927 123 Table 4.3 Full-Sized Teak Logs Arrivals in Bangkok, 1890–1897 127 Table 4.4 Estimated Numbers of Teak Trees with five inches Girth and above in five River Drainage Areas per square mile 130 Table 4.5 Rainfall and the Number of Teak Logs that arrived in Bangkok 133 Table 4.6 Number of Teak logs extracted floating from northern Siam to Bangkok, Moulmein, and Saigon, 1896–1926 (excluding rejections) 139 Table 4.7 Sawmills in Bangkok in 1914 and their Locations. 143 Table 4.8 The Standard Teak Products offered by European Companies 145 Table 4.9 Ratio of Teak Exports from Siam to European Markets: a Comparison of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation and other Companies 148 Table 4.10 Ratio of Teak Exports from Siam to non-Europeans Markets: a Comparison of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation and other Companies 148 Table 5.1 Total Number of Khmu Labour and Annual Salary 1890–1914 183 Table 6.1 Division of Teak Concessions in 1902 208 Table 6.2 List of Teak Concessions in 1927 210 Table 6.3 Agent Business represented by Teak Companies in 1894 216 Table 6.4 List of Business represented by Teak Companies in 1914 217 Images Image 2.1 Excerpt Pages for the Export Items from Siam from Pallegoix’s Book 35 Image 2.2 Comparison between Income from Opium and Total State Revenue, 1892–1924 (million Baht) 40 Image 4 1 Girdling the Teak Tree 101 Image 4.2 Girdling the Teak Tree and the Rafting Process 102 Image 4.3 River Disappearing into the Hillside in Burma 113 Image 4.4 Teak-Logging in Siam: Hauling by Mechanical Power on Rails 117 Image 4.5 The Hammer Mark of a Burmese Merchant: the Hammer Mark of Phraya Uttakan Koson (พระยาอุตรการโกศล) 122 Image 4.6 Example of how to cut out a defect or crooked Teak Log 147 Maps Map 2.1 Expansion of French Indochina 46 Map 4.1 Topography of Northern Thailand 116 Map 4.2 The Chiengmai Consular District and the Siam Forest’s Railway Network 119 Map 4.3 The Chao Phraya River and its Tributaries 124 Map 4.4 Si Chang Island and Chon Buri Province 152 I Acknowledgements When I started this long journey into terra incognita, I was sceptical about the future direction of my research. To this end, I met and obtained advice from various people for guidance. As a result, I feel indebted to many people and I would like to express my gratitude to these persons who have aided me on this journey. First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), the German Academic Exchange Service, for providing me with a scholarship to support my research, to attend conferences and workshops, enrol in German language courses, and assist me in terms of financial and legal support. In particular, I would like to give special thanks to Frau Elke Burbach and Frau Anne Schmitz, the coordinators of the DAAD Southeast Asia Section. Moreover, I had the great luck to participated in the research project SEATIDE (Integration in Southeast Asia: Trajectories of Inclusion, Dynamics of Exclusion), which was supported and funded by the European Commission during the period 2012–2016. Accordingly, I would like to thank SEATIDE, coordinated by the EFEO in Paris, for supporting my field research and facilitating my active participation in various conferences and workshops. Coordinating the work of more than thirty researchers and support staff, SEATIDE gave me most valuable academic advice and enjoyable life experiences.