Research & Article

Whirligig of Diplomacy: A Tale of Thai-Portuguese Relations, 1613-9

By Kennon Breazeale

Published on 12 May 2024

History, International Relations

Location of original sources

Journal of the Siam Society (JSS) Vol. 94 (2006)

Download

Whirligig of Diplomacy: A Tale of Thai-Portuguese Relations, 1613-9

The oldest-known handwritten document in the Thai language is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. It is a message sent in 1616 to the Portuguese viceroy in Goa. This paper discusses the document in terms of Thai concerns with military security at that time and in the context of numerous diplomatic missions, extending from Japan and China to South Asia and Europe.