There were several signals of the endeavours in new historical
scholarship. Some of the most important evidence came in 1907 as
King Chulalongkorn gave a remarkable speech at the inauguration of the Antiquarian Society of Siam [Samakhom süpsuan khòng boran nai prathet
sayam].22 It was, in my opinion, a milestone of historical scholarship
in the country. The king made it clear that a history of Siam must be
different from the phongsawadan, of which he was fully aware that, ‘[its]
intention is not to deal with Siam in general. Hence the word ‘chronicle’
honestly reflects the work. It’s not that we don’t know what the word
chronicle means. But […] we carelessly misconceive them as a history
of Siam.’ The new kind of history was obviously not sacred regalia like
the old royal chronicles. It was not even religious, let alone the lineage
of reincarnations. Its purpose was inseparable from the nation in the
making.