Qualla: Paknam Incident

Paknam Incident: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0. The telegram arrived too late. On the evening of July 13, 1893, Captain Borey of the French Navy had already committed to crossing the bar at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, riding the high tide into Siamese waters with the aviso Inconstant and gunboat Comete. Paris had sent orders to wait, but the French consul in Bangkok would not receive them until the following day. Borey followed his standing orders from Saigon instead. What unfolded over the next 25 minutes -- a confused, rain-soaked naval engagement at the place the Siamese called Paknam -- would cost fifteen Siamese and two French lives, and set in motion the diplomatic crisis that carved modern-day Laos away from Siam forever.

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Image: Takeaway | CC BY-SA 3.0

Paknam Incident: A Fort Commanded in the Wrong Language

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ahoerstemeier, CC BY-SA 3.0. Chulachomklao Fort had been recently modernized with seven 6-inch Armstrong Whitworth disappearing guns, and on paper it presented a formidable defense. Its commander was Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu, a Danish naval officer serving the Siamese crown under the noble title Phray...

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Image: Ahoerstemeier | CC BY-SA 3.0

Paknam Incident: Gunboats in the Rain

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Takeaway, CC BY-SA 4.0. Aboard the Siamese gunboats Makhut Ratchakuman and Coronation, the situation was no better. The crews had received almost no gunnery training, so their Danish commanders had to physically run between the guns, the bridge, and the engine room, laying and firing each weapon themsel...

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Image: Takeaway | CC BY-SA 4.0

Paknam Incident: Guns Trained on the Royal Palace

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nicolaus Alden Ashvashchandr, CC BY-SA 4.0. By ten o'clock that evening, Captain Borey had anchored off the French Embassy in Bangkok with his ships' guns aimed squarely at the royal palace. The message was unmistakable. The Siamese had tried to block the French from entering the Chao Phraya River, but in doing so they had...

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Image: Nicolaus Alden Ashvashchandr | CC BY-SA 4.0

Paknam Incident: The Map Redrawn

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Shuuranattha "Caphtaain" Ashvajayajita, CC BY-SA 4.0. The blockade lasted from July 29 to August 3, and it alarmed Britain far more than France. British trade accounted for 93 percent of Siam's exports, and London had no interest in watching Paris turn Siam into a protectorate. Under British pressure, both sides came to the negotiat...

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Image: Shuuranattha "Caphtaain" Ashvajayajita | CC BY-SA 4.0