Succession Crisis
On May 10, the dying King Narai, aware of the coming succession dispute, called together his closest councilors – the Greek councilor Phaulkon; the king's foster brother and Commander of the Royal Elephant Corps, Phra Phetracha; and the King's adopted son Mom Pi. Narai nominated his daughter, Kromluang Yothathep, to succeed him. His three councilors were to act as regents until the princess took on a partner of her choice from one of the two Siamese councilors, Mom Pi or Phetracha.
Far from calming the situation, Narai's decision spurred Phetracha to act. With Narai essentially incapacitated by his illness, Phetracha staged a long-planned coup d'etat with the support of a resentful court as well as the Buddhist clergy, initiating the 1688 Siamese revolution. On May 17–18, 1688, King Narai was arrested. On June 5, Phaulkon was arrested on accusations of treason, and later beheaded. Mom Pi was killed, and many members of Narai's family were assassinated. Both of the king's brothers, his successors by right, were killed on July 9, and King Narai himself died in detention on July 10–11, with his death possibly hastened by poisoning. Phra Phetracha was crowned king on August 1. Kosa Pan, the 1686 former ambassador to France, and a strong supporter of Phetracha, became his Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Princess Kromluang Yothathep ultimately had to marry Phetracha and become his queen.
Read more about this topic: Siamese Revolution Of 1688
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