Woman between Two Kingdoms

In the absence of formal colonial rule, explanations of the formation of modern Thailand have often focused on the Bangkok monarchy, with narratives centered on kings such as Mongkut and his successor Chulalongkorn, or closely related princes, such as minister of the interior and putative founder of modern Thai history, Damrong. With this focus on the Bangkok monarchy, the agency of both women and those in the peripheries of the newly bounded nation-state has regularly been ignored or marginalized. Leslie Castro-Woodhouse effectively addresses these gaps by telling the story of modern Thailand's formation through the lens of Dara Rasami, consort to Chulalongkorn and daughter of the king of Chiang Mai, who was crucial both in bringing the independent Lan Na kingdoms of present-day northern Thailand under Bangkok's authority, and in promoting a particular image of Chiang Mai or “northern” culture. By focusing on this political princess—from her early education to her navigation of palace politics, and finally to her legacy both nationally and in Chiang Mai—this book brings to life often overlooked aspects of Thai history, particularly the world of the inner palace, the role of women, ethnicity, and polygyny.The first chapter explains the context of the “Inland Constellation,” a wonderful metaphor for the waxing and waning centers of power north of Siam. These states were nominally independent vassals of Siam, but by the 1870s the intrusion of both Bangkok and Britain would soon change the political calculus. The role women and political marriages played in maintaining relationships throughout the Lan Na states both shaped and conditioned the role Dara would later play in mediating relations between Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Here the author makes an evocative argument about the political potency of rumor; although it was common for vassal kings to offer their daughters in marriage to the king in Bangkok, in Dara's case Chulalongkorn was spurred to make a proposal directly to Dara's father in response to a rumor that Queen Victoria was considering adopting the young princess, potentially raising the threat of British annexation of the region (17–19).In chapter 2, Castro-Woodhouse expertly illustrates Dara's role as both hostage and diplomat in Chulalongkorn's court, where she was held to secure the loyalty of the North, while simultaneously representing the interests of both the Chiang Mai and Siamese kingdoms. This is perhaps best illustrated by a potentially treasonous letter Dara received from her father, which provoked a response from her husband that underscored her status as hostage (43). Her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter significantly elevated her status at court but ultimately ended in tragedy when she died only two and a half years later. Dara's palace career is presented not only as a political narrative but also through a nuanced reconstruction of daily life in the palace, with rich detail mined through a close reading of a variety of sources, including letters, interviews, oral histories, and other archival materials; these details wonderfully underline the necessity of centering stories like Dara's.While the political stakes of her personal relationship to the king were clear, they were also on the verge of becoming almost irrelevant as Siam modernized its administration and transformed vassal states into provinces. The third and fourth chapters explore Dara's new role in this era as an embodiment of ethnic difference in the capital, and a promoter of “northern-ness.” Castro-Woodhouse's discussion of Dara's visual presentation of identity in chapter 3 is particularly fascinating. Through fashion, photography, and in diplomatic gestures, Dara presented her ethnic identity in ways that both served her king and raised Lan Na closer to “Siwilai” (the Thai term for “civilized”) status, as viewed by the Siamese elite. Unlike other consorts, for example, Dara did not assimilate to Siamese fashion; rather, she dressed in a Lan Na style, building on the experience of women who circulated throughout the inland constellation and who carried with them the textiles and patterns of their home (81–82). However, she often combined Lan Na with Western styles, as seen most prominently in her official photograph taken in 1909 (101), as a way to signal her status at court and her modernity.Dara crafted a lasting legacy in Chiang Mai that endures to this day, but as chapter 4 convincingly argues, this was not without political implications. After Chulalongkorn's death, Dara returned to Chiang Mai and became what Castro-Woodhouse calls a “Siwilai Matron’” of Lan Na culture, a driving force behind the promotion of local forms of dance, theater, textile production, and more—effecting, in other words, the invention of Lan Na tradition (107–8). While Dara is mostly remembered positively as a preserver and defender of local culture, there were also fascinating moments of criticism after her return to Chiang Mai that raise the question of Dara's ultimate role—did she defend Chiang Mai against Siamese cultural assimilation, or did she pave the way for Bangkok's dominance over Chiang Mai? Her place in this history is, as Castro-Woodhouse argues, a “uniquely ambiguous niche” (121).The conclusion returns to the question of polygyny, and the political consequences of its demise after Chulalongkorn's death. While the political role of princesses like Dara vanished, the idea that women should embody identity, either national or local, certainly did not. In post-1932 Siam, it was no longer royal bodies but rather the bodies of common women that the government targeted as sites of nation building and defense against Western claims that Siam was “uncivilized.” Moreover, polygyny—long thought to be a relic of the past—has returned to the royal politics of Thailand, as Rama X signals a return to the absolutist values of the past in the form of an increasingly authoritarian future (132–34).Rigorously researched and accessibly written, this book is an important contribution to our understanding of modernity, nation, and identity in both Thailand and Southeast Asia, and it would be welcome in any undergraduate or graduate class on modern Southeast Asian history, particularly those engaging in questions of ethnicity and gender

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