Siam Crest Kings of the Chakri Dynasty
King Rama I His Majesty King Phutthayotfa Chulalok, or Rama I, was a great general.  The new King of Siam was also an accomplished statesman, a lawmaker, a poet and a devout Buddhist.  His reign has been called a "reconstruction" of the Thai state and Thai culture, using Ayutthaya, the old capital, as model, but at the same time not slavishly imitating all things Ayutthayan.  He established the present capital of Bangkok in 1782 and found the Royal House of Chakri, of which the ruling Monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth Rama.  The aspect of his reign has been interpreted as a major change in the intellectual outlook of the Thai elite, or a re-orientation of the Thai world view.  During his reign, attacks from nearby enemies were frequent, but he was able to defeat the enemies as well as counter attacks.  At this time, Chiang Mai was added to the Thai Kingdom, and the Malay states of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Trengganu all sent tribute to King Rama I.  The recovery of the Thai state's place and prestige in the region was one of King Rama I's major achievements.
RAMA I Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
20 March 1737 6 April 1782 7 September 1809 72 27
King Rama II King Rama I's son, His Majesty King Phutthaloetla Naphalai or Rama II, acceded to the throne peacefully and was fortunate to have inherited the crown during a time of relative stability.  In the beginning, a son of King Taksin rebeled as pretender to the throne. The rebel was crushed by Prince Tub, later Rama III, and his soldiers. The last Burmese invasion also happened during this reign, but the town of Thalang (now Phuket) was recaptured by the king's brother. Rama II's reign was remarkable for the heights attained by Thai poetry, particularly in the works by the King himself and of Sunthorn Phu, one of the court poets.  The reigns of King Rama II and his two sons, Rama III and IV, marked the first stage in the Thai kingdom's dealings with the West during the age of Imperialism. He was born a commoner, eldest son of a great general, and king in the making. He lived a life of a noble but not a royal before his father came to the throne.
RAMA II Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
24 February 1767 7 September 1809 21 July 1824 57 14
King Rama III

Though a son of a minor wife from a Southern Muslim family and not the queen, His Majesty King Nangklao, or Rama III, succeded his father to the throne because of his proven ability as well as high ranking overseeing the ministry of trade and foreign affairs. Prince Monkut (later King Rama IV) was the rightful heir, but was much younger and having a lesser experience. During his reign, contacts with China increased especially through trade, and a renewed contact with Western countries most notably England and America. Under President Andrew Jackson, the Siamese-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed, which is in fact still being used with some modern modifications. Rama III was known as a shrewd ruler who upheld Buddhism above all, but at the same time, allowed Christian missionaries to work in the Kingdom. It was also during his reign that the Kings of Siam were given names, as his grandfather (Rama I) was then known as the First Reign and his father (Rama II) was known as the Middle Reign. He named both previous kings. He was named Nangklao by his half brother during the next reign.
RAMA III Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
31 March 1788 21 July 1824 2 April 1851 63 26
King Rama IV Monkut entered the monkhood throughout the reign of his half-brother, Rama III. As the new king, His Majesty King Monkut, or Rama IV, seriously embarked on reforms based on Western models in which he concentrated largely on the technological and organizational aspects of reform. Road buildings, canal diggings, ship building, the reorganization of the Thai army and administration, and the minting of money to meet demands of a growing monetary economy were the main changes during his reign. He was also able to fend off Western powers embarking on their colonising spree of Asia, losing some lands in the process, but was able to keep Siam free. He was also an accomplished astronomer. He predicted the coming of an eclipse during his reign, and organized a group of astrologers, both foreign and Thai, to witness the spectacular event. He also started the modernasation process of Thailand, which was dutifully continued by his son.
RAMA IV Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
18 October 1804 2 April 1851 1 October 1868 63 17
King Rama V King Monkut's son, His Majesty King Chulalongkorn, or Rama V, came to the throne at the age of 16 and died as one of Siam's most loved and revered kings, after a remarkable reign of 42 years.  Modern Thailand may be said to be a product of the comprehensive and progressive reforms of his reign, for these touched almost every aspects of Thai life.  The King faced the western world with an eager attitude, and adapted some Western ideas and inventions in progressing Thailand to a modern and up-to-date future.  He was the first King to travel to the Western countries and avoided Thailand from being colonized through careful negotiations with the English, French and Portuguese.  He also travelled extensively throughout his kingdom for he was passionately interested in his subjects' welfare and was intent on the monarchy assuming a more visible role in society.  During his reign, communications system was revolutionized, the post and telegraph services were introduced and a railway network was built.  Such advances enabled the central government to improve its control over outlying provinces.
RAMA V Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
20 September 1853 1 October 1868 23 October 1910 57 42
King Rama VI King Chulalongkorn's son and heir, His Majesty King Vajiravudh, or Rama VI, was the first Thai king to have been educated abroad, in his case at Harrow School and Oxford in England.  He was notable for his accomplishments as a poet, dramatist and polemicist, and was notable in the modernization of the educational system.  He set up Vajiravudh College, the first English public school style boarding school and the first university named after his father, Chulalongkorn. His contacts with foreign royalties was by far the most wide of all the kings of the Chakri Dynasty, with foreign royals attending his coronation ceremony, the first and only time in Thailand's history. With his English education, the king started to experiment with the constitutional model, creating a subsystem of democracy within the Phyathai Palace, calling it Dusit Thani. This experiment was a basis that was continued by his brother, Rama VII, who did not have the chance to bring it to fruition, but rather a new model forced upon him by the uprising and change.
RAMA VI Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
1 January 1881 23 October 1910 25 November 1925 44 15
King Rama VII His Majesty King Prajadhipok, or Rama VII, was also the son of Rama V and the younger brother of Rama VI.  He was a liberal and a conscientious man.  He was well aware of the desirability of establishing Siam in the international political community as a country with a modern and liberal constitutional system of government. His plan to grant a form of democracy to Siam slowly, together with educating his people over time, so both the system and the people can adapt to become a near-perfect system. He granted democracy in 1932, not putting his plan into action, but a more hurried version pressured by a group of nobles wanting to make the power their own. This finally ended absolute monarchy in Siam. He thus became the first constitutional monarch. In 1935, the king abdicated the throne as he was not happy of how Siam has evolved, for which he had no control over at all. With corruption becoming the norm since the first day of change, the king went abroad to live quietly in England until his death in 1941. He became the first Thai King to die abroad, and not receiving the Royal Funeral Procession accorded to the past and future Siamese Kings.
RAMA VII Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
8 November 1893 25 November 1925 30 May 1941 47 9
King Rama VIII The new king was His Majesty King Ananda Mahidol, or Rama VIII, then a ten-year-old grandson of Rama V.  He was very much loved by the people, but due to his young age, was mostly away pursuing his studies in Switzerland.  During his absence, the People's Party was left relatively free in shaping the destiny of a kingdom. His kingship had a Regency Committee headed at times by his uncle Prince Rangsit Prayurasakdi of Chainat and s cousin, Prince Aditya Dibabha. King Ananda Mahidol returned to Thailand in 1945, and unexpectedly died in 1946 of a gunshot wound to his head in his bedroom at the Baromphiman Mansion. His death is still unsolved with many individuals being charged and rumours abound. It was ruled that it was not a suicide, but could not prove of a murder. The Prime Minister at the time, Pridi Banomyong was blamed by many royal descendants as politics was far from stable, and the king had too much popularity. Pridi was finally exiled in 1947, quietly returning to stage a coup, caught and exiled again in 1949 this time for life. Pridi was named a great personality by UNESCO, but his name is still a taboo in royal circles.
RAMA VIII Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
20 September 1925 2 March 1935 9 June 1946 20 11
King Rama IX King Ananda's younger brother, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej became Rama IX, and is the present king of the Thai kingdom. He is much loved and revered. He is the first Thai king to visit all corners of Thailand, all provinces of the kingdom, giving help to the people. He has been given the title "the Great" when he is still alive, for his love of his people is undisputedly great. Currently, he is the World's longest reigning monarch, and his 50th year on the Thai throne's celebration in 2006 was the biggest that Thailand, and possibly the world, has ever seen. It was the first time that most of the Royals from around the world has gathered under one roof, not seen since the coronation ceremony of King Rama VI in 1911. Not long after, the king became frail and succumbed to a number of illness, slowly retreating from public events, spending more and more time in the hospital. On good days, His Majesty received guests, both Thais and foreign. From 2014-2016, the public caught rare glimpses of the king, who would come out on the grounds of Siriraj Hospital, where he then stayed. He became increasingly weak, and with a final stroke, ended his long life, having reigned for a little over 70 years, having became the longest reigning monarch in the world, and now the longest in Thai history.
RAMA IX Birth Reign Death Age Years Reigned
5 December 1927 9 June 1946 13 October 2016 88 70
King Rama X His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun became Rama X on the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the third Crown Prince of the Chakri Dynasty. The first Crown Prince died at a young age, and the second was then appointed and became Rama VI. There has been no Crown Prince until a son was born to King Bhumibol.
RAMA X Birth Reign      
28 July 1952 13 October 2016      
   
   
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