The Journal of the Siam Society

A Unified Transliteration System for Mainland Southeast Asian Scripts

2026-05-16T13:11:12+07:00

This article proposes a unified Roman-script transliteration system for Indic and vernacular scripts used in the Theravada cultural sphere of mainland Southeast Asia, including Khmer, Khom, Thai, Lao, Tham, Lue, Shan, Mon, and Burmese. Designed for researchers working with inscriptions and manuscripts from the second millennium CE, the system provides a consistent, one-way reversible protocol applicable across multiple languages and scripts. The full scheme―comprising 25 transliteration tables with 401 consonants, vowels, diacritics, and other signs―is presented in an online appendix, along with a user guide. The article outlines the system’s principles, inventories its symbols, and illustrates its application through 17 examples drawn from inscriptions, manuscripts, and early printed books.

In Memoriam

2026-05-16T12:36:59+07:00

The Sāvatthī Miracles on Painted Wooden Panels in Siam

2026-05-16T13:31:54+07:00

The Great and Twin Miracles of Sāvatthī are among the Buddha’s most renowned miraculous acts, providing key episodes to his biography. Widely transmitted in multilingual textual traditions, these narratives became illustrations across South and Southeast Asian Buddhism. This article examines seven painted wooden panels from Buddhist sites in central Siam dated to the late 19th to early 20th centuries, analyzing how artists translated these stories into visual form. Scenes of the Twin Miracle and related episodes generally reveal reliance on Pali sources while incorporating contemporary social imagery, demonstrating a localized reinterpretation of canonical narratives within Siamese artistic practice.

Mapping Polygyny

2026-05-16T13:39:53+07:00

Under King Prajadhipok (Rama VII, r. 1925–1935), Siam formally adopted the principle of “one husband, one wife”, departing from the longstanding royal practice of polygyny. This earlier family structure had been inscribed in the spatial organization of the Inner Court of the Grand Palace and in the layout of Dusit Palace in Bangkok under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V, r. 1868–1910). This article argues that changing marital policy and palace architecture were closely intertwined, revealing the tension between the projection of a “civilized” monogamous monarchy and the persistence of polygynous practice within the royal household.

Memory, Power, and Gender in Siamese Cremation Volumes

2026-05-16T14:56:44+07:00

This article examines gender dynamics within the tradition of cremation volumes in early 20th-century Siam, shaped in part by the editorial direction of Prince Damrong Rajanubhab (1862–1943). It argues that these commemorative texts functioned as instruments of patriarchal control and elite self-representation. Through an analysis of sponsorship patterns and biographical narratives, the study highlights how women’s agency in shaping public memory emerged only conditionally, mediated through relationships with male kin and embedded within elite social networks. By situating cremation volumes as cultural artifacts, the article sheds light on the intersection of memory, power, and gender in elite Siamese society.

Silpa Bhirasri and the Making of Thai Modern Art

2026-05-16T15:04:58+07:00

Often described as the “Father of Thai modern art”, Silpa Bhirasri (1892–1962; born Corrado Feroci) occupies a canonical place in Thai art history. This article adopts a historiographical approach to examine how his artistic production, pedagogical role, and public writings have been received and interpreted in Thai scholarship and how these readings have shaped his reputation and legacy since his death in 1962. Drawing on sources in Thai, French, Italian, and English, the study highlights both convergences and divergences in these discourses. It concludes by identifying avenues for future research on his role in the formation of Thai modern art.

Editorial & Contents

2026-05-16T12:40:26+07:00

The Legend and Cult of Gavampati

2026-05-16T12:45:12+07:00

This article examines the legend and cult of Gavampati through Pali and Sanskrit sources, tracing the textual roots of a figure who later became prominent in Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions as the “Fat Monk”. Although briefly mentioned in early canonical texts, Gavampati appears in a wide range of later narratives that portray him variously as an arhat, miracle-worker, forest meditator, and missionary to frontier regions. By analyzing his shifting presence in lists of disciples, his association with the First Buddhist Council, his bovine etymology, and his role in missionary and relic traditions, the study highlights the fluid and multifaceted character of Gavampati and the processes of “syncretism” that shaped his evolving cult.

Tracing Gavampati in Burma

2026-05-16T12:51:53+07:00

The monk Gavampati, a disciple of the Buddha often known in Southeast Asia as the “Fat Monk”, is examined at two locations: Pagan (Bagan) between the 11th and 13th centuries, and in the southern region known as Rāmaññadesa in 15th-century Mon traditions. Epigraphy, Mon, Burmese, and Pali chronicles, and archeological evidence indicate his diverse roles, from associations with kingship at Pagan to later traditions concerning the introduction of Buddhism and tooth relics in the south. Earlier scholarship maintained that this legendary figure arose in Burma (Myanmar) during the first millennium, but a re-examination of a stone image discovered in Rangoon (Yangon) in 1948 challenges this conventional view of the monk’s historical trajectory.

Intertextuality in Thai–Lao Buddhism

2026-05-16T12:58:56+07:00

Reflecting his prominence in Thai–Lao Buddhism, the Buddha’s disciple Gavampati is the subject of a corpus of texts recounting the religious career of the “Fat Monk” and culminating in his final extinction (parinibbāna). Although these narratives have received some scholarly attention, closer study of their manuscript transmission and textual features invites a reassessment of their structure, intertextual relationships, and circulation. This article examines the Gavampatisutta within the broader context of Tai Buddhist literary production, highlighting its links with Pali canonical and post-canonical traditions, the role of nissaya literature in vernacular transmission, and the articulation of themes such as merit-making and filial piety across Thai–Lao communities.

The Great Disciple Gavampati and His Parinibbāna

2026-05-16T13:04:23+07:00

This article presents the first critical edition and English translation of a Pali narrative recounting the final days of Gavampati― traditionally counted among the 80 Great Disciples of the Buddha―until his final extinction (parinibbāna). Although Gavampati, popularly known as the “Fat Monk”, occupies only a minor place in canonical literature, later traditions in mainland Southeast Asia granted him a more prominent role in literary, ritual, and devotional contexts. Based on manuscripts preserved in Thai and French collections, this study reconstructs the text and examines its relationship to vernacular versions, highlighting the transmission and reinterpretation of Pali materials in regional Buddhist hagiography.

Bronzes royaux d’Angkor, un art du divin

2026-05-16T15:39:03+07:00

Decolonizing Southeast Asia Studies Conference

2026-05-16T15:46:59+07:00

Stephen A. Murphy, Buddhist Landscapes: Art and Archaeology of the Khorat Plateau

2026-05-16T15:54:49+07:00

Eric C. Thompson, The Story of Southeast Asia

2026-05-16T16:00:54+07:00

David Holm, ed, Vernacular Chinese–Character Manuscripts from East and Southeast Asia

2026-05-16T16:04:03+07:00

Susan Conway, Tai Herbalism

2026-05-16T16:17:54+07:00

Thomas Baudinette, Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture

2026-05-16T16:21:30+07:00

Henri Locard, Jungle Heart of the Khmer Rouge: The Memoirs of Phi Phuon, Pol Pot’s Jarai Aide-de-Camp, and the Role of Ratanakiri and Its Tribal Minorities in the Cambodian Revolution

2026-05-16T16:25:43+07:00

Saw Eh Htoo & Tony Waters, General Ne Win’s Legacy of Burmanization in Myanmar: The Challenge to Peace in the Twenty-First Century

2026-05-16T16:30:46+07:00

Tyrell Haberkorn, Dictatorship on Trial: Coups and the Future of Justice in Thailand

2026-05-16T16:33:45+07:00

Paul Chambers, Praetorian Kingdom: A History of Military Ascendancy in Thailand

2026-05-16T16:36:50+07:00

Matan Kaminer, Capitalist Colonial: Thai Migrant Workers in Israeli Agriculture

2026-05-16T16:40:19+07:00

The Vietnamese Origin of the 12-Year Names in Saek

2026-05-16T15:13:54+07:00

This research note shows that all 12 zodiac names in Tai-language Saek derive from Vietnamese rather than directly from Chinese. Eight names can be securely identified as premodern Vietnamese loans based on regular sound changes, while the remaining four suggest Vietnamese origins. These results provide new evidence for Vietnamese–Saek contact in the 16th to 18th centuries and underscore the role of Vietnamese as an intermediary in the spread of Chinese calendrical systems in mainland Southeast Asia.

Le Fonds Georges Padoux à l’université Chulalongkorn

2026-05-16T15:19:57+07:00

This notice presents and contextualizes the Fonds Padoux, a major archival collection held at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok containing the papers of Georges Padoux, principal author of the 1908 Penal Code of Siam and contributor to the drafting of the Civil and Commercial Code. The note briefly retraces the circumstances of Padoux’s mission within the broader history of legal reform, judicial modernization, and the dismantling of extraterritorial jurisdictions in early 20th-century Siam. It describes the contents and structure of the collection―drafts, correspondence, and preparatory materials―and highlights its exceptional value for understanding processes of codification and the transition from traditional Siamese law to modern legal institutions in Thailand.

The Mlabri and Land Mines in Northern Thailand

2026-05-16T15:25:20+07:00

The Mlabri are an Austroasiatic language-speaking Indigenous group who formerly lived as hunter-gatherers in the mountainous forests of northern Thailand and northwestern Laos. This research note examines how a Mlabri group in present-day Phayao province was forced to abandon forest life in the 1970s amid armed conflict between the Thai military and the military-wing of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT). The deployment of anti-personnel land mines by both sides generated pervasive fear, precipitating displacement, the collapse of mobile subsistence practices, and the eventual resettlement to permanent communities.

Lap Mueang Nan and Regional Identity

2026-05-16T15:30:54+07:00

Lap mueang Nan is a key expression of Nan’s regional food culture, distinguished by local ingredients such as native red cattle meat and makhwaen seeds. Drawing on participant observation and informal interviews conducted during the 2025 Cooking Competition in Nan, this short study shows that shared ingredients coexist with diverse household preparation techniques transmitted across generations. These variations highlight Lap mueang Nan’s role as a lived marker of local identity and culinary knowledge.