Front Palace Crisis

Photograph of the Front Palace or Wang Na (circa 1890) now the Bangkok National Museum.

The Front Palace Crisis or the Front Palace incident (Thai: วิกฤตการณ์วังหน้า) (Wang Na crisis) was a political crisis that took place in the Kingdom of Siam from 28 December 1874 to 24 February 1875 (93 of the Rattanakosin Era). The crisis was a power struggle between the reformist King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and the conservative Prince Bovorn Vichaichan, the Vice King. Chulalongkorn came to the throne in 1868, with Vichaichan appointed Front Palace or Vice King in the same year.

The progressive reforms of King Chulalongkorn aroused the ire of Prince Vichaichan and the nobility, who saw their power and influence being slowly eroded. A fire in the Grand Palace led to an open confrontation between the two factions, prompting Vichaichan to flee to the British Consulate. The stalemate was finally resolved with the presence of Sir Andrew Clarke, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, who supported the king over his cousin. The Front Palace was afterwards stripped of its power, and after Vichaichan's death in 1885 the title was abolished.


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