The work of Siamese court photographers - rediscovered in Europe after more than a century away from home - will be on view in Bangkok next month as part of His Majesty the King's anniversary celebrations.

In the collection are images - captured at the very dawn of photography - of rare events, bygone ceremonies and the changing appearance of the capital and other places.

The 40 prints will be displayed in "By Appointment to Their Majesties the Kings of Siam", an exhibition at the Conrad Hotel from June 23 to July 2. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will open the show.

Kings Rama IV and V were on the throne when the pictures were taken by court-appointed photographers William Kennett Loftus and Khoon Soondr Sadis Lacks, who was better known by his Christian name, Francis Chit. They date from the 1860s to the 1890s.

The hotel arranged for the exhibit through the photos' owner, Dutch gallery keeper Ton Peek, who acquired them at an auction in Paris.

Peek says the collection originated in Russia, where many young members of the royal family studied in tsarist times.

Thanphuying Putrie Viravaidya, His Majesty's Deputy Principal Private Secretary and honorary adviser to the exhibition, says the photos were likely among the hundreds exchanged at the time among royal family members here and abroad.

"The collection has come home at just the right moment," says academic Pipat Pongrapeeporn, who the hotel recruited as a consultant for his expertise in photography and history.

The child, Crown Prince Vajirunhis, featured in many of the photos is actually His Majesty's uncle, Pipat notes.

Buranee Buranasiri, who researched the collection, points out that photography was so new at the time many Siamese would shy away from the camera, lest it "steal their soul".

Rama IV dispelled the fear by posing for the Kingdom's first court photographers.

One shot taken by Chit depicts the royal tonsure ceremony. Crown Prince Vajirunhis is shown in 1890 after having his hair cropped, with King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) standing alongside.

The setting is the Grand Palace's Abhorn Bimok Prasat Pavilion.

Another of Chit's images is ostensibly of Vajirunhis swimming in the Chao Phya River in 1886 as part of a ceremony - long since relinquished to history - that marked his investiture as Crown Prince.

The youngster isn't actually visible in the shot, but it's a remarkable bird's-eye view of a magnificent, ornate ceremonial raft with a tiered roof in a river teeming with royal barges.

Putrie observes that the photographer clearly had special dispensation to climb to a spot above the King's head. Chit likely scaled a water tower, a position strictly off-limits for reasons of security and social status.

A photo by Loftus portrays the unique spiral bridge at Bang Pa-in Palace, the royal summer retreat near Ayutthaya. "My father used to talk about the bridge," Putrie says, "but I always thought he was pulling my leg - until I saw this print!"

There may be copies of some of these photos in the National Library or National Archives, Pipat says, but the local collections still await the proper care and attention they deserve.

Most of the old photographs found in Thailand are inadequately catalogued, he says, noting that in the West such historical artefacts are fully documented by source, making it easier to categorise the subject matter.

"It's hard to track down the history," Pipat says, lamenting as well that the pictures in the National Library and Archives are not available to the general public.

Access to this marvellous glimpse of Siamese history is not just granted at the Conrad show, free of charge. Postcards of the pictures will be on sale, in a limited edition of 2,400 books of 10 images.

The books go on sale at the Conrad Hotel on May 17. Those bearing "ordinary" serial numbers cost Bt500, those with "auspicious" numbers Bt999. All proceeds from sales go to the Queen Savang Vadhana Foundation, which is under the patronage of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

The prints from Gallery Ton Peek in the Netherlands are in good condition. In the interest if authenticity, no effort has been made to remove the creases or other flaws in the originals.

Sirinya Wattanasukchai

The Nation