Research & Article

This paper examines the ethnography of travelling embassies to Tai states in the 1830s (Chiang Mai, Chengtung, Chengrung and other Shan States) as seen primarily through the unpublished journals of two British officials based in Tenasserim: Dr David Richardson and Captain W. C. McLeod. It considers features of the lengthy overland journeys and the daily journals themeselves. The main analytical focus is on pre-modem Tai diplomatic practices and their engagement with European diplomatic guests. It explores themes of diplomatic ceremony and propriety, delays and mutual suspicions, cordiality and friendship.