A LEITER FROM SIAM.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The connexion between Siam and ancient Rome certainly seems remote. Yet a Roman lamp of undoubted antiquity has been discovered in a district of central Siam to the west of Bangkok. Last year a Chinese cultivator working on a banana plantation near the town of Kanburi came across traces of ruins under the soil. The discovery was followed up by the Siamese Archaeological Service and the site of a buried city was brought to light, which probably flourished in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. in the time of the kingdom of Srivichaya. The peasants of the region came forward with many relics which had been dug up from time to time, and among these was the Roman lamp, the body belonging to one man and the handle to another. Srivichaya was, of Indian origin, and doubtless the lamp had been brought to Siam by settlers from India.
It is now exhibited in the Museum at Bangkok. This Museum in its present form was only founded a few years ago but already is one of the finest in the East. The scattered treasures of the country—bronze and stone images of the Buddha, Brahmanic carvings, Khmer sculpture—were gath- ered together from neglected and ruined temples. The organ- ization is principally the work of one man, H.R.H. Prince Damrong, a statesman and scholar well known and respected outside his own country, who unlike the majority of the Siamese people has a profound regard for the things of the past. Pro- bably the finest piece in the collection, a discovery of Prince Damrong himself, is a head and torso of the Buddhist saint Lokesvara, which shows strong Indian influence and dates from the seventh century. It is a magnificent and virile sculpture, full of character. The Museum building is unique. It was once the palace of the " Second King " in the days when that strange and anomalous title still existed, and is a typical example of a Royal residence of the old style before the coming of Western influence ; the Audience Hall, now the bronze room, is noteworthy, with its raised window at which the " Second King " appeared in public—raised because ancient tradition demanded that the king should be above his subjects—and the gold and ivory throne on which he sat. In my last letter I was able to report the arrival of a white elephant at Bangkok. That, of course, was an exceptional event. Nothing so resplendent has happened recently, and at the moment I feel that taxis and golf are the most topical things about which to write.
Once upon a time travellers referred to Bangkok as the Venice of the East. But now it is a city of taxis. Hundreds of Siamese with a few " ticals " to spare have invested in cheap motor-cars through the hire-purchase system. They throng the streets on the look-out for fares. Competition is fierce. But they are content if they just cover their expenses. The sedentary position of a taxi driver appeals to their instincts. At odd hours of the day they park their cars by the roadside and casually go to sleep, sprawled over the back seats. To narrow streets crowded with itinerant Chinese vendors and disgruntled rickshaw pullers the advent of the taxi has brought desperate confusion and a dreadful clamour of horns.
Golf has become almost the national game of the Siamese. Old and young are keen and many, especially those who have been educated abroad, play well. The King himself has had a private course laid out in the grounds of one of his palaces, where he and the Queen play regularly. In addition to the Queen the many other ladies of the Royal family and household have taken to the game with enthusiasm, though as yet no champion has appeared among them.—I am, Sir, &c.,
YOUR SIAM CORRESPONDENT.
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