Prince Mahisorn
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Prince Mahisara Rajaharudaya, The Prince Mahisorn , (January 30, 1866 - April 15, 1907) is a son of King Mongkut
Mongkut
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthramaha Mongkut Phra Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama IV, known in foreign countries as King Mongkut , was the fourth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1851-1868...

, Rama IV, and his Royal Consort Huang. He was 13 years younger than his brother, Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...

, who would become Rama V. The Prince was a leading member of the progressive clique known as the "Young Siam", on whom King Chulalongkorn relied for support in his efforts to reform the country. At the King's insistence, the younger members of his family and extended family were all educated in Western ways, sometimes attending schools abroad.

Biography

Prince Jayanta began his public career with the Royal Guard and was later transferred to a civilian post in the Bureau of the Royal Secretariat. In 1895, Prince Jayanta was given the royal title Prince Mahisara Rajaharudaya, and was promoted to a very high position in the Siamese court. There was a major shuffle of ministerial posts, with eight of the 12 minister positions going to members of the Young Siam. The Prince was put in charge of the Finance Ministry, which had recently absorbed the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1897, when HM King Rama V embarked on a nine-month tour of Europe, Prince Jayanta, as Finance Minister, accompanied him and saw first-hand the government administration of several European states, and the important role banks played in developing the economy and promoting international trade.

Upon returning home, the Prince assumed the task of developing international trade relations and bringing Siam’s business practices in line with those in Europe. There was certainly a great need for an indigenous bank but the Prince realised that founding a bank would take time and expertise, while at the same time, there would be resistance from the established foreign banking community. The Prince also turned his attention to further reforming the awkward pod duang currency into a European-style metric system, involving just two units (1 baht equivalent to 100 satang). The reform made bookkeeping much easier and paved the way for the introduction of Siamese banknotes in 1902. Having succeeded with his currency reforms, Prince Jayanta went on to launch a small Siamese-owned private trust in 1904 called the Book Club. Three years later, this trust was the foundation for Siam’s first commercial bank, Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank is a bank from Thailand, based in Bangkok.- History :Established by Royal Charter in 1907, Siam Commercial Bank PCL was Thailand's first bank. At the time of its establishment, the only banks in the country were branch offices of foreign banks...

, Limited, which was launched under a royal charter on the Prince’s birthday, 30 January, in 1907. Because of his achievements, he is widely acknowledged as the ‘Father of Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 Banking’.

Literature

  • Century of Growth: The First 100 years of Siam Commercial Bank. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2007.
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