ABSTRACT
The usual amusements, day and night; religious ceremonies, plays, and theatrical performances were kept up for days, and the usual presents were made as at the cremation of all the kings of Siam. The Siamese Royal Cremation as it is, or rather as it was before it had been corrupted by the innovations and abolitions of the last fifty years, is undoubtedly a close copy of the Ayudhya form. The evidence is sufficient to show that in every feature of importance the seventeenth century Royal Cremation was the same as it is to-day. Cremation and Coronation are undoubtedly two of the most important, sociologically, of all the Royal Ceremonies of Siam. The Royal Cremation has another important sociological aspect: it shows, more strongly than does the Coronation, the new king’s respect for his ancestors, for the dynasty, and for old traditions.
