Thailand Law Journal 2011 Fall Issue 2 Volume 14

4. Concepts of Royal Pardons in the Rattanakosin (Bangkok) Era

During the time that Chao Phya Chakri, a great nobleman of Dhonburi, was waging war in Cambodia, he received news of the riot in Dhonburi. Chao Phyaj Chakri and his troops returned to the capital to suppress the riot and to remove King Taksin from the throne. He then became King Rama I (or King Phra Buddha Yodfah) of the Royal House of Chakri, establishing the new capital—Krugdeb Mahanakoron Amorn Rattanakosin (Bangkok) — on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River in 1772.

The Royal House of Chakri is the present dynasty of Thailand. Until now, there have been nine reigns. All the kings have steadfastly supported Buddhism, and they have combined the concept of Dhamma Raja in their governance. Most of the kings' works have been to sustain peace in relation to whatever situation the country has faced, so each reign has had unique characteristics regarding its exercise of royal powers, particularly the pardoning power.

4.1 Pardoning Power in the Reign of King Rama I

In the reign of King Phra Buddha Yodfah (Rama I), the realm was not entirely peaceful. There were wars with neighbors around the country so, at the enthronement of King Rama I, there were no tax exemptions and no releases of prisoners, in contrast to Ayudhya traditions. In 1795, when the country entered a period of peace, there was a grand coronation and the king ordered the release of prisoners en masse, as Ayudhya tradition promoted. At the coronation, Prince Surasinghanad—the royal brother—came to inform the king that he, the prince, was taking leave in order to enter monkhood and to beg for a pardon for Prince Nandasen of Lan Xang and his gang. The Rattanakosin Annals states, "In the Year of the Rabbit... The king granted a pardon, according to the royal brother's wish, except for pirates and some undeserving ones who had been loyal to the great enemy-Burma. Prince Surasinghanad commanded that 32 prisoners who had received royal pardons be ordained into the monkhood, following him."⁴⁸

There are two interesting points here: first, this granting of pardons to some prisoners on the occasion of a royal ordaining to the monkhood constituted the origin of the royal tradition wherein the king would grant an en-masse pardon to prisoners when the king or some high-ranking member of the royalty was being ordained into the monkhood; second, the en-masse pardon this time applied not to all prisoners in prisons (in contrast to Ayudhya traditions) but only to deserving prisoners.

In 1797, there was another general pardon on the occasion of the completion of the revision of Buddhist scriptures. Princess Narindradevi recorded, "The royal command to release prisoners at that time was like opening poor men's eyes to the heavens. All men and women in prisons at the police complex and at the palace guards' complex were released. "⁴⁹

The most desirable goal of King Rama I was to rebuild Ayudhya. The most important legal project in this reign was to make a great attempt to recollect and compile scattered Ayudhya laws. After the council completed is revision of the law of the land, the king proclaimed this new body of law—The Great Three Seals Law—in 1800. The king not only incorporated the Dhammasatra—the ancient Indian jurisprudence that had prevailed in Ayudhya—into the new Great Three Seals Law, but also newly enacted a law regarding pardons and fees for punishment: "It is an old tradition that if the king orders the whipping or the imprisonment of anyone, the warden will receive a fee.... If the king orders the release of anyone, the head of that prison...will receive a fee, too."⁵⁰

Further, the law of war in the early Rattanakisin era also mentioned pardons. Consider the following two articles:

Article 45, If an officer commits a serious crime deserving the death sentence, the king shall consider whether that officer is a warrior who had some special merit. If yes, the king shall abate the serious sentence to medium, the median cpntence to common, and the common sentence to petty. If the criminal has been under parole, the king shall sentence him as the law states.⁵¹

Article 56, The prime noble and nobles who hear the case shall follow the guidelines of pardons as stated [in Article 45]. If a noble wants to punish one who committed a crime or to reward one who strictly followed the law but the king either has not known of the case or has issued no related orders, the noble shall present that case to the king. If the king still pronounces no related judgment, the royal or the queen shall ask the king to hear the case in a secret place. If the king still pronounces no judgment therein, the supreme patriarch shall ask the king to hear the case. If the king still pronounces no judgment, noblemen shall record the event in the law of the land.⁵²

These above articles are particularly interesting because they show how pardoning power should be exercised in Ayudhya and early Rattanakosin. We may assume that this pardoning system has developed into the guidelines of royal pardoning power that appeared in later royal decrees.

4.2 Pardoning Power in the Reign of King Rama II

Right after King Rama I's death in 1809, Prince Kasatra—a son of the late King Taksin of Dhonburi—instigated a rebellion against King Rama II—the celestial son of King Rama I. King Rama II (or King Phra Buddha Lertlah) ordered his oldest prince⁵³ to hear the ease. The king executed Prince Kasatra and 40 culprits, but members of their families were pardoned.⁵⁴ For the offense of rebellion, all members of the culprits families had to be executed, but in this case, King Rama II, rather than execute them, sent them on a mission to take care of victims of an epidemic.

On the coronation day, King Rama II pardoned 443 Burmese prisoners of war and hastened juries' hearing of backlogged court cases. The king eliminated the court fees for every case, as well.⁵⁵

Later, King Rama II commanded that there be a newly constructed building for storage of Buddhist scriptures. At the ceremony for the building's opening, the king pardoned prisoners who were facing a death sentence. Princess Narindradevi recorded, "After the building for Buddhist scriptures was completed, the king released seven prisoners to celebrate the building's opening. He poured holy water on their heads as the symbol of the pardons."⁵⁶

In 1820, cholera spread throughout Bangkok and nearby cities. There were dead bodies in temples, on streets, in rivers and canals, and everywhere else imaginable. People could not drink water from rivers or canals. The king thought that evil luck had caused this calamity, so he commanded at a royal ceremony that all people should expel the terrible disease. Everyone in the country should pray and observe the commandments of Buddhism. The king allowed officers on duty to return home to see their families. He pardoned all prisoners from every prison, except the prisoners of war.⁵⁷

During this reign, presenting a petition to the king was not easy because the king only infrequently granted audiences to commoners. He always ordered his oldest son—Prince Chesatabodin—to receive petitions and to hear cases on the king's behalf.