Judiciary system in 1904

After I wrote on the judiciary subdivision of the country, the corresponding section from The Kingdom of Siam: 1904 is interesting to compare, as it both describes the old system and the then newly established one.

The Ministry of justice is quite a recent creation, as previous to the year 1892 there were as many jurisdictions as departments, and each de­partment frequently tried cases concerning themselves either as defendants or plaintiffs. There were restrictions on their arbitrary powers, but these restrictions were often overridden by a powerful head of a department. The board in whose hands the decision of an appeal was sup­posed to lie were not strong enough to enforce any judgment affecting the department of a strong minister or against an influential nobleman. Be­sides the courts there existed what might be called the germ of a Ministry of Justice in the board named Lukkhun. This board dealt with cases which were not directly concerned with the departments and with any appeals which the departments were pleased to send to them. But they had no real power. The work of deciding cases was divided amongst different sets of officials. The actual recording of evidence was done by the Talakarn (or judges); the guilt or responsibility of the parties was decided on the records by the Lukkhun. The Pooprap, or officials, who were supposed to know the law, fixed the punishment or amount of judgment.

All judicial officials received only nominal salaries, and it can be well understood that chaos reigned supreme, and that justice was only likely to be done when money and influence were on the side of the plaintiff.

In the provinces the executive officers acted as judges, and could do pretty well as they pleased. In 1892 the Ministry of Justice was established, and all the judicial functions of the various depart­ments, with the exception of the military
and naval courts and the palace court, were consolidated under the control of a Minister of Justice. This change was confined to Bangkok at first, but in 1895 all the central provinces were brought under the same control. The outlying provinces of Petchaboon, Udawn, Isarn, and parts of the Malay States still remain as before, but ap­peal from the courts in these districts are now for­warded to the Appeal Court at Bangkok. It is intended to incorporate the whole of the interior gradually, as time and money will permit.

At present every province is divided into Muangs with a District Court (San Muang) capable of trying cases up to five thousand ticals in value
and criminal cases involving punishment not exceeding ten years imprisonment. An appeal lies to the Circle Court (San Monthon), established in the capital of each province. This court is capable of dealing with every kind of case, both civil and criminal, and the cases from the District Court and those entered originally in the Circle Court are subject to appeal to Bangkok. The Bangkok Ap­peal Court is in two divisions, one of five judges dealing with appeals from the provinces, and one of three dealing with appeals from Bangkok and from the provinces not yet incorporated under this ministry.

A final appeal lies to His Majesty the King, who has delegated his duties to the tribunal composed of five members commissioned under the Royal Sign Manual. This tribunal may be termed the Supreme Court of Appeal (San Dika).

Administration of Siam 1904, Part 2

The second part of the section Administration, Chapter II (The Government) of the book "The Kingdom of Siam 1904", Pages 13 to 15.

Each province is again subdivided into districts under the district officer (Amphur), who is assisted by one or more assistant amphurs according to the extent of the district, and by a subordinate revenue officer.

The district is again divided into villages under a village headman, and the villages are subdivided into hamlets under an elder.

A hamlet is a collection of about ten houses or one hundred people, who elect their own elder under the presidency of the district officer. The ballot may be either open or secret and a bare majority is sufficient. The duties of the elder are to report any cases of crime to the headman and to preserve a register of people in his hamlet, to summon the people in cases of flood or fire, and to assist in arresting criminals. All the inhabitants are bound under penalties to assist their elders in the execution of the law when called on.

A village consists of ten hamlets. The headman is elected by the council of elders and receives confirmation from the governor of the province.

His duties are to supervise the elders and to in-form them of any new government regulation, to provide transport and assistance for persons travel-ling on government business, which must, however, be paid for by such persons, the headman having no power to requisition either goods or labor without proper payment.

The district is composed of villages the total number of whose inhabitants is not less than ten thousand people.

The district officer or amphur is selected from among the assistant district officers or householders of the district. The governor of the province sends three or more names to the high commissioner, who selects one of them. He chooses his own assistants, but their appointment must be approved of by the governor and confirmed by the high commissioner.

All other appointments are made by the Ministry of the Interior. District officers, headmen, and elders must be Siamese subjects resident in their districts and take the oaths of allegiance twice a year according to their own form of religion. There is no religious disability.

One most important feature of the administration is the meeting of high commissioners, who assemble once a year at the capital under the presidency of the minister to discuss and draw up the programme for the following year and report on the past year's work.

Under the Ministry of the Interior are also the Forest Department and the Mining Department; under the Ministry of Agriculture are the Survey, Land Record, and Irrigation Departments.

Administration of Siam 1904, Part 1

The first part of the section Administration, Chapter II (The Government) of the book "The Kingdom of Siam 1904", Pages 11 to 13.

However it seems I was a it to hasty to declare the book to be in Public Domain already. At least one of the named authors, William Armstrong (W.A.) Graham lived till 1949, so it will take till 2020 that the 70 years after his death are reached. But quoting this section, which has no named author and was probably written by the editor Cecil Carter himself, should no be any problem.

The administration of the country was formerly divided between the three Ministers, the Minister for Civil Affairs and the Minister for Military Affairs, with the Minister of the Treasury as Governor-General.

But in 1894 the internal administration was reorganized and the whole of the country placed under the administration of the Ministry of the Interior (Mahathai) with the exception of the capital and surrounding provinces, which is administered by the Ministry of Local Government.
At the head of the Interior Administration is the Minister appointed by the King with a seat in the Cabinet; he is assisted by a Vice-Minister, who, however, holds no seat in the Cabinet.
The ancient provinces, whilst retaining their boundaries, are now grouped together into Monthons or Circles under High Commissioners, who are appointed by the King, but act under the orders of the Ministry of the Interior.

The administrative staff of a monthon comprises

The High Commissioner or Governor-General.
The Deputy Commissioner or Deputy Governor-General.
The Chief Law Officer.
The Assistant Commissioner.
The Chief Revenue Officer.
The Commandant of the Gendarmerie.
The Chief Treasury Officer.
The Chief Public Works Officer.
The Inspector of Jails.
The Secretary of the High Commissioner.
The Assistant Inspectors.

The administration of each province comprises

The Governor.
The Deputy Governor.
The Public Prosecutor.
The Treasury Officer.
The Revenue Officer.
The Gendarmerie Officer.

The Kingdom of Siam (1904)

Some years ago I bought a book titled The Kingdom of Siam 1904, which I found just looking around in Chula Bookstore in Bangkok. It is a reprint by the Siam Society of a book originally published in 1904, containing an introduction to the country written for the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition. Edited by A Cecil Carter, it contains texts written by various unnamed government officials, as well as from three famous scholars of the time - Oskar Frankfurter, Col. Gerini (1860-1913) and W.A. Graham.

Quoting the Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission::

On the occasion of the exposition there was published by the Commission a richly illustrated book entitled "The Kingdom of Siam." This work was presented to the educational institutions of this country, to public libraries, and to all persons who were known to be interested in Siam. The book, written by experts, will be an authority for years to come upon Siam, its climate, resources, people, institutions, and industries, and will doubtless supplant the writings of hurrying traveler and transient visitor.

The second chapter titled The Government has a subsection describing the administration of the country in the beginning of the 20th century, covering aspects of the thesaphiban reforms. As this book is probably in the Public Domain due to its age, I will publish this section here in January. Once I can fully confirm the book is free of any copyrights I will publish it completely in WikiSource.