How a solar eclipse viewed from a beach in Prachuap changed Thailand forever

[Expat Explore 94]

How a solar eclipse viewed from a beach in Prachuap changed Thailand forever
David Luekens

 

A glass-roofed stargazing dome was an important part of King Mongkut’s summer palace atop Khao Wang mountain in Phetchaburi.

 

Battles, coups, elections and revolutions are what typically come to mind when I think of pivotal moments in national histories.

 

Would you believe that one key event in the history of Siam/Thailand was a full solar eclipse observed at a beach in what is now Prachuap Khiri Khan province? In more ways than one, the 1868 eclipse viewing at Hat Waghor altered the course of Thai history.

 

Imagine Siam in the 1860s. With no railroads or highways, long-range travel was mostly done by sea and rivers that reached into rice paddies and jungle. Loose-fitting attire was typical, with both men and women often going topless in public.

 

A host of minor kings and rajas sent tribute from semi-autonomous territories — such as Nakhon Si Thammarat and Chiang Mai — to the powerful monarchy in Bangkok. Borders along all of Siam’s frontiers remained ambiguous. The Imperial British had yet to take full control over neighboring Burma and Malaya; and likewise the Imperial French over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Big changes loomed.

Read more: https://thaiislandtimes.substack.com/p/how-a-solar-eclipse-viewed-from-a

 

 

[NCC1701A 52,827]

32 minutes ago, Expat Explore said:

Would you believe that one key event in the history of Siam/Thailand was a full solar eclipse observed at a beach in what is now Prachuap Khiri Khan province

yes and people laughed when I said my arrival in Hua Hin was one of the seven signs of the Apocalypse. 

 

they aren't laughing now. 

 

Edited January 6 by NCC1701A

[CharlieH 28,530]

3 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

yes and people laughed when I said my arrival in Hua Hin was one of the seven signs of the Apocalypse. 

 

they aren't laughing now. 

 

No you miseheard, it was signs of arthritic hips ! ....55555

[NCC1701A 52,827]

Just now, CharlieH said:

No you miseheard, it was signs of arthritic hips ! ....55555

how did you know about that? 

[Asquith Production 211]

16 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

how did you know about that? 

He  as seen you walk.

[boriga 66]

Headline and the text say Prachuab province. The byline on the photo says Petchaburi.

 

The observatory is located on the edge of Petchaburi city, which is the capital of Petchaburi province, not Prachuab Kiri Khan.

 

If the headline is so clearly factually incorrect, it does now bode well for the quality of the article.

[Enoon 8,008]

19 hours ago, boriga said:

Headline and the text say Prachuab province. The byline on the photo says Petchaburi.

 

The observation dome is located on the edge of Petchaburi city, which is the capital of Petchaburi province, not Prachuab Kiri Khan.

 

If the headline is so clearly factually incorrect, it does now bode well for the quality of the article.

 

The "Siamese/Thai history changing" observation of the eclipse took place at Waghor Beach, Prachuap, not at the palace at Khao Wang mountain in Phetchaburi.

 

That is fully explained in the linked article.

 

The headline is factually correct.

 

The photo showing the observation dome, incorporated into the palace, is merely used to illustrate the enthusiastic interest that King Mongkut had in astronomy.

 

From the linked article:

 

"His passion for astronomy is evidenced by the stargazing domes at his summer palace atop Khao Wang mountain in Phetchaburi, now known as Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park"

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7 by Enoon