Thailand was one of very few Asian states to escape colonial rule. according to conventional wisdom, this was due largely to the efforts. Of two modernising monarchs, King Mongkut (1850-1868) and his son, King chulalongkorn (1868-1910). The first king accepted the British demand for free trade and started the process of modernisation, which was carried on with greater gusto by King Chulalongkorn who steered the country away from the threat of implriatlsm. Histories of nineteenth-century Thailand have tended to give heavy emphasis to the maintenance of independence.