The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 130

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130

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Reclaiming Christ’s Heritage.

IX.
SIAM.

Siam is an independent kingdom lying to the
east of Burma. It is called the “Land of the Free”
by its own people. It has an area of almost 195,000
square miles and about equals the combined areas

King Chulalongkorn I of Siam.

of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. Its popu-
lation is estimated at 9,300,000. The northern part
is mountainous, while the southern part is a lével
plain. Though it has a fertile soil, it is still in a
very low state of cultivation. The climate is trop-
ical, and the products are those,of the tropics —
Tice, coffee, cotton, tobacco, and spices. The teak
forests are particularly valuable, and great numbers
of elephants are busy in bringing the heavy logs
out of the forests to the streams and in helping the
men in the handling of the logs at the sawmills.
Teak is a very oily wood and for this reason will

not rot in water; it is much used in shipbuilding.
Siam has also rich mineral deposits. ;
Under the long and enlightened rule of King
Chulalongkorn I, Siam was opened to Western cul-
ture in a remarkable degree. Wonderful progress
has been made in many ways. Under the rule of
the present ruler, Rama VI, the work begun by his
father has been continued, civilization and wealth
have increased, and the telegraph, the telephone, and
electric light have been introduced.
Roads and railroads are being built,
farms are being improved, and modern ,
machinery is generally used in saw-
mills and rice-mills. Even compulsory
education has been introduced, and the
government schools are said to be in
a good condition. Women and girls
have far more freedom in Siam than
they have in India and China. All
this makes Siam, next to Japan, the
most progressive country of Asia.
Bangkok, the capital, has electric cars,
an electric lighting system, modern
factories, and hundreds of automobiles.

But in spite of all this the soil is not
receptive to Christianity. This seems
all the more strange when we are told
that the king, though the nominal head
of Buddhism in his country, favors
Christianity in many ways.

It may be well to mention that the
population of Siam is about equally
divided among Siamese, Laos, and
Chinese. The latter are the strongest
and wealthiest element in Siam and
almost completely control the trade of
the country. The Siamese, or Thai,
though nominally the dominant race,
are an indolent people and because of
their lack of energy are gradually
losing their influence and power. The
Laos occupy a large part of Siam and the neigh-
boring French Indo-China; they are racially of the
same stock as are the Siamese, but occupy a lower
social and cultural level.

Buddhism in Siam.

Buddhism is the chief religion of Siam, though
here as elsewhere in Asia there is much Animism,
or spirit-worship. Buddhism was founded by a
prince named Gautama Siddhartha, who lived in
the northern part of India about six hundred years
before Christ. Brought up in princely luxury, he