Vajiravudh (, , 1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth monarch of Siam under the Chakri dynasty as Rama VI. He ruled from 23 October 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and promote Siamese nationalism. His reign was characterized by Siam's movement further towards democracy and minimal participation in World War I. He had keen interests in Siamese history, archaeology, and literature, as well as economics, politics and world affairs, and founded the country's first university, Chulalongkorn University.
Education
Vajiravudh was born on 1 January 1881 to Chulalongkorn and one of his four queens and half sister Saovabha Phongsri. In 1888, upon coming of age, Vajiravudh received the title Krom Khun Thep Dvaravati (Prince of Ayutthaya). Prince Vajiravudh was first educated in the royal palace in Thai and English. His full siblings were Bahurada Manimaya, Tribejrutama Dhamrong, Chakrabongse Bhuvanath, Siriraj Kakudhabhand, Asdang Dejavudh, Chudadhuj Dharadilok and Prajadhipok, who succeeded him as King Rama VII. In 1895, his half-brother Crown Prince Vajirunhis died and Vajiravudh was appointed the new Crown Prince of Siam. In 1898, he continued his education in Britain at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned as a captain in the Durham Light Infantry, which he served with for three months of exercises in the south of England upon graduation. He studied law and history at Christ Church, Oxford in 1899, where, coming from a royal household, he was a member of the exclusive Bullingdon Club. However, he suffered from appendicitis, which barred him from graduating in 1901. He visited other European countries while he lived in England, including Belgium where he inspected Blegny fort. He went to Berlin, Germany in May 1902 and Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1902. He attended the 15 May 1902 enthronement ceremonies for King Alfonso XIII of Spain in Madrid. On behalf of his father, King Chulalongkorn, he attended the coronation of King Edward VII on 9 August 1902.
Crown Prince Vajiravudh left England in October 1902 and returned to Siam in January 1903, traveling via USA and Japan. In 1904 became a temporary monk, in accordance with Siamese tradition. In 1906, his father Chulalongkorn travelled to Europe to seek treatment for his lung disease, and Chulalongkorn made Vajiravudh Regent of Siam. One of Crown Prince Vajiravudh's accomplishments during this regency was his supervision of the construction of the equestrian statue of King Chulalongkorn.
Chulalongkorn died on 23 October 1910, and Vajiravudh succeeded his father as king of Siam.
Accession and early reforms
Even before his coronation, Vajiravudh initiated several reforms. He organized Siam's defence and established military academies. He created the rank of "general" for the first time in Siam, with his uncle, Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse as the first Siamese Field Marshal. On 11 November 1910, Vajiravudh underwent a provisional coronation ceremony, with a more lavish one planned for after the funerary rites of his father were complete.
His first act following his accession to the throne was to build the Royal Pages College, subsequently renamed Vajiravudh College by King Prajadhipok to honour his brother. It was built as an all-boy's boarding school in the same tradition as English public schools such as Eton and Harrow. The school was built instead of a royal monastery, formerly a custom of Thai kings, as King Vajiravudh deemed that there were already too many temples in Bangkok. In his own hand written letter, King Vajiravudh wrote that "In the Royal Pages College, what I want is not so much to turn out model boys, all of the same standard, all brilliant scholars with thousands of marks each, as to turn out efficient young men— young men who will be physically and morally clean, and who will be looking forward keenly to take up whatever burden the future of our state may lay upon them". Later he also raised the Civil Servant School to "Chulalongkorn Academy for Civil Officials", then Chulalongkorn University. Both Vajiravudh College and Chulalongkorn University still benefit from the funds that King Vajiravudh set aside for the use of the two elite institutions. He also improved Siamese healthcare systems and set up some of the earliest public hospitals in Siam, Vajira Hospital in 1912 and Chulalongkorn Hospital in 1914.