Very little is known in the West concerning the firearms of the Kingdom of Siam prior to their adoption of the Type 45 Siamese Mauser in 1903.  However, the monarchy would have been quite well aware of European firearms developments.  The British had a long-standing presence in India and had defeated and began colonizing the Burmese in 1826. 

 

    By the 1840s the threat to Siam from the western colonial powers was clear, having been dramatically demonstrated by the British First Opium War with China (1839–1842).  In 1850 the British and Americans sent missions to Bangkok demanding the end of all restrictions on trade and extraterritoriality for Westerners (that is, immunity for their citizens from Siamese law) but the Siamese were able to refuse.  In 1855 the British returned in force demanding immediate concessions and this time the Siamese were forced to accede. 

 

    But by this time the more serious threat to Siam was from the French who preferred colonial empire to the British's mere commercial exploitation.  The French under Napoleon III had occupied Cochinchina (encompassing Saigon) in 1859 and had secured a “protectorate” over Cambodia in 1863.  In 1867 they established a protectorate over southern Vietnam.   Following the abolition of the Napoleonic monarchy in 1870, France under the Third Republic, was no less voracious in attempting to compete with the British.   In 1874 the French seized the Annam region (what is now central Vietnam) which became a part of French Indochina in 1887.

 

    During this turbulent period, Siam was ruled by an especially able diplomat, King Mongkut (reign 1851-1868 as Rama IV) followed by his extraordinary son, King Chulalongkorn (reign: 1868-1910 as Rama V), now known as Rama the Great. Through exceptional diplomatic and administrative skill over the course of his 40 year reign, Chulalongkorn was able to maintain Siamese independence and to bring the nation more substantially into the modern age. (Fascinating Note:  Rama V was the first Siamese king to have a full western education, having been taught by a British governess, Anna Leonowens, and whose places in Siamese history were fictionalized as The King and I.] 

 

    As neither the French nor the British were willing to sell large numbers of arms to the Siamese during this period, they acquired weapons from their European rivals, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from whom they purchased a number of Gew.1871 Mausers from Germany and Gew.1888, 1888/90 and 1895 Mannlichers from Austria-Hungary.  And, almost certainly, also from Belgian firms in Liege who either manufactured rifles for Siam or sold them surplus rifles previously bought from others, even the French for example.  French Mle1859/67 Carabine de Chasseurs have been seen marked with the Siamese Chakra on their receivers.

 

    It is entirely likely that independent arms merchants might have pursued sales to smaller nations looking to upgrade their defensive capabilities during the colonial competitions in 19th Century Asia.  The Tabatiere illustrated here may well have been such an arm.