# Prachan Khiri Khet

Prachantakhiri Khet Province or Patchankiri Khet, Prachantkiri Khet as some documents call it, originally city of the Kingdom of Siam during the reign of Rama V. It is a gateway city on the eastern seaboard that is as important as Chanthaburi and Trat provinces. In the past, it was located in the Koh Kong area, Koh Kong Province in present-day Cambodia. This province fell to France (French Indochina) along with the cities on the right bank of the Mekong River, Xayaburi and Champasak provinces, in 1904.

## History

Originally, Koh Kong was a province of the Kingdom of Cambodia. However, when Cambodia became a vassal state of Siam, the King of Siam issued a royal decree to establish Koh Kong as part of Trat.
In 1855, Rama IV issued a royal command to establish Koh Kong and named the city Prachantakhiri Khet To be a frontier city on the eastern seaboard of Siam, as it is a city that borders Cambodia and Vietnam.
The reason why Rama IV named Koh Kong 'Prachantakhiri Khet' was to rhyme with the name of the city of Prachuap Khiri Khan, which is in the western part of Thailand and is located on the same latitude.
In 1879, King Chulalongkorn(Rama V) graciously ordered Prince Sai Sanitwong to establish naval stations along the eastern coast at Chonburi, Bang Phra, Bang Lamung District, Rayong, Klaeng, Chanthaburi, Khlung District, Trat, Prachantakhiri Khet and outer Koh Samet To deal with the French threat from the sea.
Later in 1892, France began using military force to pressure Siam By sending an army to drive the Siamese soldiers back from the territory on the left bank of the Mekong River, the problems on the border began to escalate. His Majesty graciously appointed a committee to consult on the defense of the territory and set up military headquarters in each coastal town.
In 1893, the Siamese government appointed Admiral Phraya Chonlayutthayothin (Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu) to manage the defense of the eastern provinces, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an order to the governors of the provinces in this area, including Trat and Prachantakhiri Khet, to assist in Phraya Chonlayutthayothin in handling all matters related to the defense of the Kingdom's territory.

## The loss of Prachantakhiri Khet Province

On 13 July 1893, Franco-Siamese Incident occurred at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. French warships were able to break through Siam's defenses and anchor in Bangkok. The French gave the Siamese an ultimatum on 20 July 1893, giving them 48 hours to respond. The Siamese side responded to the ultimatum on 22 July, but the French side was not satisfied, so on 24 July, France announced that it was cutting diplomatic relations with Siam. Two days later (26 July), France ordered the commander of the Far Eastern Fleet in Saigon to blockade the Gulf of Thailand, From Laem Chaolao to Laem Krabang area. And on 29 July, France announced a second blockade of the Gulf of Thailand, expanding the area from Koh Samet to Laem Ling, totaling two areas. The Siamese side had to accept the French ultimatum that had been previously given on the same day. But the next day, France took the opportunity to issue another ultimatum, announcing that they would seize Pak Nam and Chanthaburi as security and force Siam to withdraw from the left bank of the Mekong River. Siam had no choice but to accept. When the Siamese complied with the ultimatum, France lifted the blockade on 3 August at 12:00 PM, but the occupation of Paknam and Chanthaburi remained in place.
Later, a peace treaty was signed by a treaty dated 3 October 1893 (R.S. 112). In this treaty, there was a text in the convention appended to the treaty, Article 6, which stated that "The Government shall continue to be located in Chanthaburi until the actions according to the text in this treaty are completed…"
Although the Siamese side complied with all the conditions that France forced upon them, France still refused to withdraw its troops and continued to occupy Chanthaburi for another 10 years, which led to the need to make a new agreement, the Convention of 7 October 1902. But France refused to ratify this document and did not withdraw its forces from Chanthaburi, so another agreement was made, the agreement dated 13 February 1903. This time, the French withdrew their forces from Chanthaburi, but instead occupied Trat and the islands below Laem Ling, including Koh Kong, The Siamese side was forced to surrender Trat and Prachantakhiri Khet to the French on 30 December 1904.
The area was occupied by France until 23 March 1906, when another treaty was signed called the "Treaty between the King of Siam and the President of the French Republic". France therefore returned Trat to Thailand as before, but Thailand had to give up the inner Khmer territory (Burrapha Province), namely, Battambang, Siem Reap and Sisophon. It was a condition of exchange, but it turned out that France did not return the Prachantakhiri Khet Province (Koh Kong) to Thailand in any way. At present, Prachantakhiri Khet Province (Koh Kong) has become a part of Cambodia by default.
The loss of Koh Kong territory at that time, Thai history does not record the loss of Koh Kong territory in any way. It is only mentioned in general in the case of Trat province. Because at that time, Thailand wanted high Cambodian territory very much, which is the current southern Isan region, by using the Phanom Dongrak mountain range as the border, which France agreed to.