In 1868, King Mongkut of Siam — a former monk and amateur astronomer — predicted a total solar eclipse to the second and invited French and British scientists to observe it from the Gulf of Siam. This episode explores how Mongkut used western science to project Siam as a modern, civilized kingdom at a time when colonial powers were carving up Southeast Asia. We revisit Wat Bowonniwet, where Mongkut studied Pali scriptures and astronomy, and travel to Wakor village in Prachuap Khiri Khan, where he set up his observatory. We discuss the eclipse itself, the French missionary astronomer Father Secrétan, and the diplomatic implications: how Mongkut's performance of scientific competence helped Siam negotiate from a position of perceived equality with the British and French. The episode also touches on the controversy surrounding the king's death — he contracted malaria after the eclipse — and the legacy of his scientific patronage under his son Chulalongkorn.
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