page_title: France–Thailand relations
section_title: Embassy of Loubère-Céberet (1687)
hierarchical_section_title: France–Thailand relations / 16th-17th century relations / Embassy of Loubère-Céberet (1687)
caption_attribution_description: English: French soldiers in Siam 17th century. Gold-on-Laquer ("Lai Rot Nam") painting in Lacquer Pavillon of Suan Pakkad Palace, Bangkok Deutsch: Französische Soldaten des 17. Jahrhunderts. Schwarzgoldlack-Malerei im Lack-Pavillon des Wang Suan Pakkad, Bangkok
context_page_description: France–Thailand relations cover a period from the 16th century until modern times. Relations started in earnest during the reign of Louis XIV of France with numerous reciprocal embassies and a major attempt by France to Christianize the kingdom of Thailand and establish a French protectorate, which failed when the country revolted against foreign intrusions in 1688. France would only return more than a century and a half later as a modernised colonial power, engaging in a struggle for territory and influence against Thailand in mainland Southeast Asia that would last until the 20th century.
context_section_description: A second French embassy was sent to Siam in March 1687, organized by Colbert, with Guy Tachard again included. The embassy consisted of a French expeditionary force of 1,361 soldiers, missionaries, envoys and crews aboard five warships, and had the additional duty of returning the embassy of Kosa Pan to Siam. The military wing was led by General Desfarges, and the diplomatic mission by Simon de la Loubère and Claude Céberet du Boullay, a director of the French East India Company. The embassy arrived in Bangkok in October 1687, on the warships Le Gaillard (52 guns), L'oiseau (46 guns), La Loire (24 guns), La Normande and Le Dromadaire.
  The mission included 14 Jesuit scientists sent to Siam by Louis XIV, under the guidance of Father Tachard. The Jesuits (including Pierre d'Espagnac) were given the title of "Royal Mathematicians" and were sponsored by the Academy.
  Desfarges had instructions to negotiate the establishment of troops in Mergui and Bangkok rather than the southern Songkla, and to take these locations if necessary by force. King Narai agreed to the proposal, and fortresses were established in the two cities, commanded by French governors. Desfarges commanded the fortress at Bangkok, with 200 French officers and men, and a Siamese contingent provided by King Narai. du Bruant was in command of Mergui with 90 French soldiers. In 1688, Jean Rival was named governor of Bangkhli (modern Phang Nga). Another 35 soldiers with 3 or 4 French officers were assigned to ships of the King of Siam, with the mission of fighting piracy.
  The diplomatic mission achieved little apart from the reaffirmation of the 1685 commercial treaty. The Jesuit Father Tachard had obtained secret instructions from Seignelay, which allowed him to deal directly with Phaulkon. Hopes for the conversion of King Narai to Catholicism, which had largely motivated the embassy sent by Louis XIV, did not materialize.
  As a side-note to the history of mathematics, Simon de la Loubère also brought from his travels to Siam a simple method for creating n-odd magic squares, known as the "Siamese method" or the "de la Loubère method", which apparently was initially discovered in Surat, India by another Frenchman, M. Vincent, who was sailing on the return ship with de la Loubère.
caption: French soldiers in Siam (17th century Siamese painting)
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