Ekkathat
Ekkathat or Borommoracha III or King of Suriyamarin Throne Hall was the 6th monarch of the Ban Phlu Luang dynasty, the 33rd and the last monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, ruling from 1758 to 7 April 1767, prior to the fall of Ayutthaya. Moreover, he was called by the people in his time as "King Khiruean", which meant "the king with skin disease," due to his chloasma.
Early life
Ekkathat was born in 1718 during the reign of his uncle King Thaisa. Ekkathat's father Prince Phon of the Front Palace was the younger brother and Wangna or heir presumptive to King Thaisa. Ekkathat's mother was Princess Consort Phlap, one of two main consorts of Prince Phon and a daughter of Chaophraya Bamroe Phuthorn, a prominent nobleman in the reign of King Phetracha. Ekkathat had one younger brother Uthumphon and five sisters who shared the same mother. Ekkathat also had an older half-brother Prince Thammathibet who was born to another main consort of Prince Phon.In 1732, King Thaisa became ill. Prince Phon, younger brother of King Thaisa and Ekkathat's father, mobilized his forces in preparation for the upcoming succession conflict but was caught. Prince Phon then ordained to become a monk, along with his sons including the young Ekkathat, at Wat Kudidao temple to avoid royal punishments from his elder brother the king. On his deathbed in 1733, King Thaisa chose to give the throne to his own two sons instead of his younger brother Prince Phon, who had been the heir presumptive. The civil war then ensued in Ayutthaya between Prince Phon and his nephews who were sons of Thaisa. The result was that Prince Phon prevailed and the two sons of Thaisa, Ekkathat's cousins, were executed. Prince Phon ascended the throne in 1733 as King Borommakot. Princess Consort Phlap, Ekkathat's mother, became Queen Kromma Luang Phiphitmontri.
Due to the frequent Ayutthayan succession conflicts, King Borommakot devised a method to regulate and control manpower allocation among the royal princes to prevent future princely struggles through the creation of Kroms or princely regiments. Upon his enthronement in 1733, King Borommakot appointed his sons the royal princes to the Krom titles, assigning them with manpower to command. In 1733, at the age of fifteen, Prince Ekkathat was made Kromma Khun Anurak Montri with a manpower regiment under his command. Siamese Phrai commoners who were conscripted into the princely regiments were called Phrai Som, in contrast to those who directly served the king known as Phrai Luang.
Three sons of Borommakot; Thammathibet, Ekkathat and Uthumphon, who were born to two main queens of Borommakot, were given the superior rank of Kromma Khun, meaning that they could appoint their servants to the rank of Khun. Five other sons of Borommokot, who were born to his secondary consorts, were given the inferior rank of Kromma Muen, meaning that they could appoint their own servants only to the rank of Muen. Appointing servants to high dignity in princely households was a way to demonstrate princely ranks and honors. Ekkathat took two sisters Lady Pheng and Lady Maen as his consorts. Consort Pheng bore him a daughter Princess Praphal Suriyawong and a son Prince Praphaikuman. Consort Maen bore him a daughter Princess Rucchathewi and a son Prince Suthat.
Princely political conflicts
In 1741, Prince Thammathibet, eldest son of Borommakot and half-brother of Ekkathat, was made Uparat or vice-king or Wangna Prince of the Front Palace and heir presumptive to their father Borommakot. Death of Chaophraya Chamnan Borirak the Siamese chief minister in 1753 put the Ayutthayan royal court into princely political conflicts. The princes coalesced into two factions; Princes Thammathibet, Ekkathat and Uthumphon in one faction against another faction composing of Borommakot's secondary sons Prince Kromma Muen Chitsunthorn, Prince Kromma Muen Sunthornthep and Prince Kromma Muen Sepphakdi – known collectively as Chao Sam Krom or the Three Princes.In 1756, the Three Princes appointed some of their servants to the rank of Khun, surpassing the limit of their princely rank of Kromma Muen. Prince Thammathibet of Front Palace, the heir presumptive, took this violation of princely ranks seriously and took matters into his own hands by sending his own forces to arrest Prince Sunthornthep, one of the Three Princes. Prince Sunthornthep fled to tell King Borommakot, their father, about the incident. Borommakot summoned Thammathibet for explanation but Thammathibet visited his father with a sword in his hand. Enraged, Borommakot imprisoned Thammathibet. It was also revealed that Thammathibet had been in secret romantic relationships with two of Borommakot's secondary consorts and had been planning a sedition. Thammathibet, the Prince of Front Palace and heir, was whipped with rattan cane strokes and died from injuries in April 1756.
With the death of Prince Thammathibet in 1756, the position and office of the Front Palace became vacant. Prince Ekkathat or Prince Anurak Montri was technically next in line to the position of royal heir as he was the eldest surviving son of Borommakot born to principal queens. However, Borommakot chose to pass over Ekkathat in favor of Uthumphon, Ekkathat's younger brother, citing that Ekkathat would be sure to bring disaster to the kingdom; "Kromma Khun Anurak Montri is ignorant, being without wisdom nor diligence. If he is granted the rank of vice-king, taking half of royal powers, the kingdom will collapse.", given his supposed incompetency. Borommakot viewed Uthumphon in better light. Prince Kromma Muen Thepphiphit, another secondary son of Borommakot, along with the high-ranking ministers of Chatusadom, proposed to King Borommakot to make Uthumphon the new Uparat or heir. Uthumphon, who was known for his pursuit of Buddhist Theravadin religion, initially refused to accept the position. Borommakot, however, was insistent. Uthumphon finally consented to his father's wish and was appointed as the new Wangna or vice-king of the Front Palace in 1757. Borommakot speculated that Ekkathat would raise his claims in the future so he forced Ekkathat to shave his head to become a Buddhist monk and to go out to stay at Wat Lamut temple to keep Ekkathat out of powers and politics.
Meanwhile, not in the attention of the Siamese court, to the west of Siam, King Alaungpaya of the new Burmese Konbaung dynasty conquered the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom of Pegu of the Mons in May 1757, uniting Upper and Lower Burma under the new Burmese dynasty after seventeen years of internal warfare.
Ascension
Brief reign of Uthumphon
In April 1758, King Borommakot fell gravely ill. Ekkathat, who had been a Buddhist monk at Wat Lamut temple, upon learning that his father King Borommakot was on his deathbed, decided to leave the Wat Lamut temple to return to Ayutthaya. Prince Ekkathat stayed at Suan Kratai Pavilion – residence of his younger brother Prince Uthumphon of the Front Palace. Ekkathat visited and took a glimpse of his ailing father. After reigning for twenty-five years, King Borommakot died on that day, on the fifth waning of the sixth month, Year 1120 of Culāsakaraj Era, 29 April 1758, propelling Ayutthaya into a new round of royal succession conflict. The demise of King Borommakot marked the end of a golden age and foreshadowed the eventual end of the Ayutthaya Kingdom itself.Ekkathat decided to support his younger brother the new king Uthumphon against Chao Sam Krom or the Three Princes. Ekkathat made his first move by commanding Prince Kromma Muen Thepphiphit, his ally, to take all of the muskets from Royal Armory to Suan Kratai Pavilion the residence of Uthumphon. The Three Princes responded by sending their own forces to seize the muskets from the Regular Armory. Ekkathat and Uthumphon devised a plan to defeat the Three Princes. Uthumphon asked five senior Buddhist prelates, led by Phra Thepmuni the abbot of Wat Kudidao temple, to peacefully convince the Three Princes to surrender. The senior monk Phra Thepmuni led the virtuous monks to speak to the Three Princes, beseeching them to cease their belligerent actions to prevent the civil war.
About a week later, on the eleventh waning of the sixth month, the Three Princes decided to visit the new king Uthumphon and his brother Ekkathat to pay obeisance. However, Uthumphon and Ekkathat secretly placed some policemen to arrest the Three Princes. Not knowing that they were walking into a trap, the Three Princes were captured and imprisoned. Two days later, on the thirteenth waning, on 4 May 1758, Uthumphon ordered the executions of the Three Princes. Before their deaths, Prince Sepphakdi, one of the Three Princes, said "Being born under the great royal white umbrella, who will ever die a peaceful death?". The Three Princes were beaten to death by sandalwood club – the traditional method for royal executions to prevent any princely blood from touching the grounds. A civil war was thus averted by quick actions of Ekkathat and Uthumphon as the Three Princes were subjugated and executed.
After eliminating the Three Princes, Uthumphon was officially enthroned in the Praptabhisekha ceremony on the sixth waxing of the seventh month. Ekkathat, however, decided to push for his own claims to the throne against his younger brother the new king Uthumphon. Prince Ekkathat or Prince Anurak Montri defiantly stayed at Suriyat Amarin Pavilion in the royal palace, not returning to Wat Lamut temple despite being a Buddhist monk. Uthumphon was sensitive of his elder brother contesting for the throne as Ekkathat imposed political pressure on Uthumphon. Finally, Uthumphon gave in. Uthumphon abdicated on 22 May 1758, after merely ten days on the throne, in favor of his older brother Ekkathat. Uthumphon personally visited Ekkathat at Suriyat Amarin Pavilion to relinquish his throne. Uthumphon left the Ayutthayan royal palace to be ordained as a Buddhist monk to stay at Wat Pradu temple, earning Uthumphon the epithet Khun Luang Hawat, meaning the King Who Sought Temple.