The Coolidge examiner., 1931-05-01

Society. Washington. d. CO.
CIAM, whose sovereign, King
PrajadjipOk, is visiting the
~ United States, is one of the
few important Independent coun-
tries now ruled by an absolute
monarch.
But despite the fact that there
is no parliament and no check on
the powers of the king, Siam is in
many ways strikingly modern
state. The country's air mail sys-
TEN has operated successfully for
eight years. Telegraph offices num-
Der more than 475, and some 600
post offices serve every city and
rural center. Wireless service han
dies messages to foreign countries
Two kinds of American visitors,
one good, one bad, figure prOmi-
nently in the Kingdoms new pros
perity. Francis BOwes Sayre, the
late President Wilson's son-in-law,
and DR.. Hugh Smith, former com
missioner of the United States bu
reau of fisheries, are staunch aids
to Siam. The former headed a COM
mission which secured treaties
from foreign nations that removed
eXtra-territorial rights and lifted
tariff restrictions; Doctor Smith
now directs the development of
Slams fishery resources.
The unwelcome American visitor
Is the lovely but malicious Flor
ida weed" The blue water hya-
cinch of Florida, brought to the
East Indies as a flower, has be-
come curse. Because the queen
of Siam brought the first specimens
for her garden from Java it is
often called Java weed. but out in
the country it creates national
problem by clOgging the irrigation
canals, it has earned the name,
blue devil"
Siam, jungles, heavy rainfall are
three ideas closely associated.
Why, then, must Siam build irriga-
tion dams and canals? The answer
is that the jungles are in the
mountainous bOrderlands; the cen
tral delta plain receives an Illinois
rainfall. Because the SiameSe
grow rice, they must have a wealth
of water; hence, irrigation. The
Parsak project, with barrage
type dam, completed in 1924, serves
4SS,000 acres. The Subhan project.
about completed, will have three
times the Prasak capacity. Other
vast works are under way or have
been planned.
Railroads show equal promise.
Siam, by its position, is a natural
railroad center of the worlds denS-
est population area. Bangkok, the
capital, and Siamese metropolis. is
the inevitable major railroad juno
tion for all south and east Asia.
Railroads Are important.
A hint of the Importance to Siam
of her railroads, all built since
1898, is contained in the recent re-
port of an American agricultural
expert. II was told" he writes,
THAT trainload of rice goes south
daily for export to Malaga and the
Dutch East Indies" Rice is to
Siam what cotton is to the South.
"COme, live in palace" Siam
invites the tourist. The state rail
way system operates hotels as we'll
as trains. The royal suites of its
Phya Thai hotel at Bangkok are,
indeed, royal suites, having been
occupied by royalty before the pal
ace was given to the railroad sys-
TEN by the king. And there is a
royal price attached. Royal suite
No. 2, excluding food, can be en-
gagged for 120 ticals Il tical is
equivalent to "A cents) per day.
An error! 1t should be 120
bahts, not 100 ticals. In swiftly
changing Siam there are no more
ticals. The tical was convicted of
being foreign word in Siam.
Baht is pure Siamese. One silver
baht supplants one banished tical.
Bangkok, capital of Siam, is in
location the New Orleans of the
East. 1t is in the delta of the
Menam river-''the Mother of
Rivers" - and dominates that
stream as the crescent City doml-
mates the Mississippi.
Bangkok, the Capital.
In a sense it may he said that
Bangkok is Siam" much more
truly that Paris may be said to be
France or BuenOS Aires to be Ar
gentina. In a country of II 100000
inhabitants it is virtually the only
city. Its population is nearly
three-quarters of a million, so that
it is roughly midway in size be-
tween Pittsburgh and st. Louis
and has more than twice the pop
ulatiOn of Seattle. About it lies
Slams richest rice lands; to it
come on the one hand boats laden
with the products of the country.
and on the other ocean going YES