Abstract:
The aim of this thesis is to study the innovative thinking and accomplishments of King Rama VI that impacted on the preservation, development and transference of knowledge. The main objectives are (1) to study the way in which the kingdom was developed during his Majestys reign, (2) to study factors underlying his Majestys thought , (3) to study various measures initiated by King Rama that resulted in the preservation, development and transference of knowledge, and (4) to appreciate the importance of education and knowledge in the maintenance of the kingdoms security and development that are applicable to the present day situation. The methodology used in this study is a historical analysis of documents pertaining to His majestys thought and action, especially his own extensive writings. The results of this study are as following. His Majestys education background can be divided into three periods, before and after his ordination into Buddhist monkhood and after ascending to the throne. His Majesty received both the traditional form of education from his father, teachers both layman and monk and from observation and practice, and new kind of knowledge from the western world including western language. Moreover, King Rama VI continued to deeply pursue knowledge that he was interested in, resulting in His Majestys being a life-long learner. In term of factors which influenced his thought and action after ascending the throne, the most significance was a historical context of events that happened both within and outside the Kingdom, for example, the events surrounded his ascending to the throne and the beginning of colonial presence in Southeast Asia. King Rama VI used knowledge to maintain the security of kingship and develop his Kingdom in two ways. His Majesty chose to preserve some of the important traditional knowledge and wisdom such as Buddhist and Brahmin beliefs and traditional royal rites. At the same time, he also introduced new knowledge, for example in Arts and Technology. King Rama VI developed the Kingdom by using multi-disciplined knowledge both from Thai tradition and the western world, resulting in a holistic education.The way in which His Majesty used and appreciated the importance of education shows that he had a required quality of the model teacher who used various means in transferring knowledge, such as teaching, explaining, warning, prohibiting together with punishing. All of these were significant in developing the Kingdom, and for that reason should still be useful and relevant to our present day situation.