SIAM SOCIETY

ANNUAL REPORT

1946

'l'he Annual Gr.nernl 1\{eet,ing was Jwl<l on Fulwnary .'2•Jth, 194G

at the Society's Home, !iO, Asolm ]load, lkmgknpi, with thL~ President.,

HiH Royal Highll8SH :Prince \Van\v:tithn.yalwrn, in t,JI(I ehail•.

In t~nlnnitting the Annual Hepnrt and t,Jw Statmnent of

Accounts for tho ym1.r 19,15 jnst concln<letl, the PreHident lllPntioneu

that the transport and <liffienHies h:ul not <~nH<Hl tlf! much as one

shnnld havo wished; the activit.iPs of t.ho Soeiety had th<'J'ei'ol'<) not

been great., bnt tho Conncil had tried hard aml dmw thPit·l>f.•st. under

the ch·cumHtan ces.

Aftel' tbA cnnelnsion of the hnsimss of tlw da~· tit<' Presi<lPnt

gave an intet'Oflt.ing and instnwtivu ll'etttl'e nn "Coining Nuw Worus

in Siamese.''

It iH with grnat regret. that tltc• Con nei 1 lta}ol to J•dcn· t.o the Ait<l

tlc!mise of His latP Mn,jnsty, A.narula, King of :4imn, ollJ' Patron.

'l'hongh I-IiH Majesty was among ns only for \.he HhOJ'l. Hpace of Hix

months, I-Ie was n.lrml.lly evincing great intel'Pfll. to om· a<:t.1vit.iPH mul

actually attewlt•<l onr meeting whieh t.nok plaen <lming Flh; HLay in

Bangkok on the 24th Mm·ch wlwH Hie; TliglllleKK PJ'inc•~ llltani Nivat

lect,nred on the Mt~aning and FoJ'lll ol' t,]w Hiamt•Ho Coronation Ceremony.

On Wednesday 24th .July 194!i th<~ Oonncil, 1<~<1 lly t.ho PJ'lltlident,

procee<led to the DuHit 'l'hJ'OllC Hall tn pay lunnage and lay a wreath

befm·e t,Jw Urn of His late Majesty King Anau<la Mahidol in the name of the Rociety.

It. is witlt mnch plnrtsme that th<! Oonncil iH enablrd to

announce l>hat. HiH Majesty the King haH benn :,o·aeionsly pleatletl to

accept onr invitation tn boeonw tlw Hociety'K Patron it1 suucossiuo

to His august hrotlter,

ANNUAL REPORT 1946 205

'I'he Cnuneil nf tho Hud(·Ly l'ur tlw yuar 1\l·I[J was ro-dccted en

bloc for 1\H!i and t.]w 1:\t.anding eununiLLeo appointed by tho Council

were praeLically t.llll samu as lwforc. During the year a few ehanges

on t.hu Oouneil hac! Lo lJo uw<le. Tlw Honorary 'l'roasurer un being

transl'ened from Bangkok in his p!·oJ'est:~iunal wod{ was succeeded

by Mr. B. Halbi; the Honorary Librarian on assu.mi ng the customary

vows of Lhe BnduhisL monastic ordur was i:lnccco<Ierl by 1\ofl·. Ariyant

Mnnjiknl. His Serene Highness rejoined the Ootmcil at tho latter's

invitation on the conclnsion of his Jlcriod of monastic life. Mr.

W. A.M. Doll, Mr. D. C. Rivett.-O;trnae an<l 1\Hsi:l Dorothy Ward were

ah:!o co-opted hy the Oonn.cil tnwar<1s the owl of the year.

His Hoyal Higlmet:~s, the PrC'Hident, oll account. of his appoint­

ment as the Chief Delegai.!' uf Si;un to the Unite<l Nat.iontl Cunfereneo

in New York was absent Irom thl' country since Angnst 19-16 until

.January 23rd, 1947.

Mr. L. Hey<le Petersen, who was elected Honorary Auditor at

the last Annnal General Meet.ing coulrl not awlit, the accounts of the

Society tlue to his irnpcn<ling dcpaJ.'tnro from the country. 'l'he

Council was fortunat<:' to be able to eo-opt tho service of 1\f r. L. F.

Sequeira, who was kind cnongh to take the tronbl0 and to spare his

time going tbrongh and !lnly auditu<l tbe aoconnts and the Financial

Statement of tho Society,

'l'he Council begs to l'f\llort with regret that I'hya Sl'isdilmr

Banchong, tho IIon<lrary Soer·etary, hatl meL with a serion~ accident

ou January 2ud, l!H7 when he was returning home after a business

Meeting of the OollnGil of the Society. He was knocked down fl'Olll

his bicycle which he was rilling hy a rrwtor-eyclc with a side car

on Phya 'l'hai Hoad, and lwd to be taken t.o the hospiLal in an

nuconscioul:l st.ato, and tn remain tlw1·e some weeks. It was neces­

sary for the Council to iin<l snmelHHly to carry on the work of the

Honorary Secretary. The Connell in thil:l case has been very

fortunate to procme the ::Jervice of His Serene Highnl'SS Mom Chao

Ajavadis Disknl, who hwJ rt~cmrt.ly rejoined the Council and who

206 ANNUAL REPORT 1946

was kind enough to undertake to carry on the work which was not now to him by any means.

'l'he membership of the Society at. the Honorary Membel's Oorres1wncling Members Life Members Ordinary Members Associate Members

end of the year wal:l: 17 12 12

159 3

Free Mem hers 4, making a total of 207, as compared with HiO in 1\)4;,, 1G7 in 1944 and 233 in 1940.

The finaneial posiLion remains sound as boforo.

On accotmt of the general dsc in the cost of living and

consequently of the price of everything it was decided at a general meeting specially convened in December 19Mi to raise the annual

~mbscription for ordinary members to GO baht nn<l for lifo mcmhers to 500 baht taking effect from .January 1947.

'I'he year has been gradual resumption oJ' activities. Three

lectures have been delivered, the first on the 24th of Mm·ch by His Highness Prince Dhani Nivat, to which reference has been already

made; the second by Phra Saroj Ratananimman, Honorary Architect,

on the Gol!len Mel'n and the third uy Dr. H. Hofbauer on the

Superstitions and Beliefs of the Roil 'fhai ( Yau!J Dneng. ) All the

lectures wore well attended. Besides lectures two excursions have been arranged, the first to tho Grauel Palaeo and tho Chapel Royal

of the Emerald Buddha and the soco ncl to W at Phra ,Jotubon, otherwise Wat Po.

Onr public.ations have had to face considumhlo <liHlcnlt.ios, for

though we do not lack material, then: has hardly heon available

any publisher who could print for ns wit.hin a rcasonahle space of time. Fol·tunately we laid in our stock of good paper some five

years ago and even in a period when no good pn.per was to be had in the market we managed nevertheless to issue our publications.

During the past year Vo1nme XXXVI, Part 1 f1S well as the Thai J onrnal No. 3 was published.

'I'rn1 SIAM I

FINALCIAL RESUME OF

Receipts S ttbsr:n: ptions :

Ordinary MemlJOrS, Current 1946

Asflociate Mom bers

Life Members

Overdne

S alc8 of P'ltbl1:cat'ions :

Journal of the Society

The Bulletin (Natural History Snpplement.)

Le May: rrhe Coinage of Siam

Cat.alogne of the Stumps of Siam

Credner: Observation in 'l'ali H.egion

81Mulry Aoconnts:

Bank Interest

Baht

Baht 2,r)zr).on

" 20.00

,, 15.00

" 900.00 a,465.oo

Baht l,OtiiUO

, l,:JHAO

11.2.00

" 10.00

" B.OO 2,402.90 ---

i\05.17

Baht, li,l73.07

Examined and found to ltgrce with the books and vouchers.

L. 1!'. Soqueh·a

H on. Attd·itor B(tngkok, 16th J annctru 1947

HU<Hlt:'l'Y

Expenditure Jlllllli''.~ .lf~tilllt'/lfill(i':

W:t,!.lC of narl'lakl'l'

Fit·P ln!l\lt'atwt• .. r HniJ,lim: (Baht :~;,,noo)

I~leelrie Li~th! & Fau-:

Main Walt•!' ~upply

8undril~:;, Con \'t•y atH't<, t•h'.

Whitt' Ant ContJ•td

Munting J.:xpt>ll'il':i

UhJ'Ill'!l tf .'1'/111'/;N of l 111!.lintliuns:

WagPH uf C!Pt·kH ( tw11)

Fit·t! TnHtll'allt't' of B11uks & Fllt'niturP

( Halt t I O,onn )

8tJt!/'/?ltll'ittl d' Ntli!on'ttl:

Pw-t(,ngp &: l{t•\'t'IIIH· ~1:1111pN, Ilnn. 'l't•t•mmt·t•t·

" .. <ll'!ll'l':l 1 Cl<•J•ieal Ht>t'\'it•,·

liit•t• of Jlm1t Hnx 1i!'1

Pl'iuliu~.! oJ': '"'

!loll. Scwt'Ptai'Y

111111, 'l't'l'llflltl'l~l'

;rout·tml ol' H11l'il'l·Y• 'l'lt:ti N1lllll11!1', No. :\

'1\ttal lo;:I(Jlt'tHtitlll't'

'JilXCtltlH of illPflllH' 0\'1•1' •'lqHHJditlll'l.'

t!!U'l'il'tl fm·ward ttt Finaw·t• At~l~ount

Baht.

Bald Li:!O.OO \J;).()~l

~Hl.O 0

27.00

Gf>il.7:i (;t).(H)

.. 10.00 l,Gf>ft.H•l

llaltt fi:w.oo

"

ll:t 1t t m~:\AO

.. ~.!,()()

" ~40 ,00

•• :w.oo

" 71-lf>.OO

,, 942.00 2,B9t.40

llaht. 4,!10H.)~X

,. l,liG·L7G

Baht G,17H,07

ll. Halbi

II on. '[' 1'ea/J1We7'

THE COUNCIL OF tr:tiE SIAM SOCIE'I~Y FOR THE Y1TIAR 1947

Patron His Majestv The Kina

His Highness Prince Dhani Nivn.t

His Excellency Phya Sarasastra

Sirilakshna

His Highness Prince Prem Pnrachat.ra

Mom Chao Ajavadis Diskul

M1·. C. F. Grove

Mr. ,J, J. Boeles

Miss Dorothy W anl

Phra Snroj Ratananimmau

Mr. Ariyant. Manjiknl

Luang Chakrapani Srisilvisuclhi

Luang Haksa Naves

Mom Rajawongs Snmonajat Svasdiku l

Mr. W.A.M. Doll

Mr. D. C. Rivett-Carnac

Mom Luang Pin Malakul

Mr. Sanya Dharmasakti

Mr. B. Halbi

President

Vice-President. & !Jeadei'

of Travel Section

Vice -President

Hon. Secretary

Hon. 'rreasnrer

Hon. Editor

T:-Ion. Libradnn

Hon. Architect

Leacler of Natnml His­

t.ory Section