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Rama (King of Thailand)

The kings in the current Chakri dynasty of Thailand are often referred to as Rama followed by Roman ordinal in English translation. The name Rama was adopted from the name of Hindu god Rama.

The use of the name Rama nth is in line with Thai practice of giving number to the king in the current dynasty. However, the translation was not exact and can give rise to some confusion whether this was actually the name adopted by the king on coronation.

In fact, the only king in the dynasty who called himself Rama was Phra Mongkutklao, who was the sixth to reign. His reigning title was Phra Mongkutklao Chaoyuhua; later in his reign, he preferred to style himself as Phra Ram ti Hok (lit. Rama VI). It was presumed that he was influenced by the European practice of numbering the rulers with similar names while he studied in England.

This quite conveniently coincided with another practice of the Thais. Traditionally, the name of the king is sacred and would not normally be said. Instead people would referred to the king by other words — these days Nai Luang or Phra Chao Yu Hua. When King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke founded the dynasty, he was commonly referred to as Phan Din Ton (lit. 'The First Kingdom'); and when his son inherited the throne, he was referred to as Phan Din Klang (lit. 'the Middle Kingdom'). This then became awkward when King Nangklao, the third king, came to the throne, as the obvious referral would then be Phan Din Plai (lit. 'the Last Kingdom') — which did not sound very auspicious. Instead he was referred to as Ratchakal ti Saam (3 lit. 'the third reign'). Since then, all the kings in the dynasty are also known unofficially as Ratchakal ti nth ('the nth Reign'). The present King is hence also known as Ratchakal ti kao ('the ninth reign'). This has also been extrapolated back to the first two kings of the dynasty as well.

Since King Mongkutklao called himself Rama VI in English, the name was seemingly equivalent to the Thais' Ratchakal ti hok. This rough translation is still in use these days, although no other king in the dynasty used the name Rama.

There are also several kings in the Ayutthaya period who officially used the reigning name of Ramathibodi (Rama + Athi + Bodi, lit. 'the great ruler Rama').

Kings of Thailand:

Rama I, the Great (1782-1809), Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke
Rama II (1809-1824), Buddha Loetla Nabhalai
Rama III (1824-1851), Nangklao
Rama IV (1851-1868), Mongkut
Rama V, the Great (1868-1910), Chulalongkorn
Rama VI (1910-1925), Vajiravudh
Rama VII (1925-1935), Prajadhipok
Rama VIII (1935-1946), Ananda Mahidol
Rama IX, the Great (installed 1946), Bhumibol Adulyadej