What we know today as Thailand used to be known as Siam until 1939. During the Chakri dynasty, King Mongkut began to modernize Siam. He fought hard against French and British forces to keep his land. They wanted to conquer it, so began forty-nine years of battles. This essay is going to explain how Siam struggled to maintain its independence from France and Britain.

King Mongkut wanted to bring Siam up to date by changing the way things were done. He allowed the laws to be published as well as judges to be voted in, and also made lots of public appearances, which had never been done before. These new reforms were very important to him because he wanted to make sure that his country could stand up to the European powers. Mongkut also had a very large family and he decided to pass his thrown to his oldest...