Maintenance Department: The Work of Maintaining Siam Royal Treasury, from the Past to the Present
Thailand’s financial administration has been ongoing for a long period of time as it started during the reign of Sukhothai. However, no specific department was established to be directly responsible for the administration, especially the royal income that was mostly obtained from tax and tariff collections. During the early Sriayudhaya, the civil administration was divided into 4 sections called "Jatusadom” which were (1) Interior Department (2) Palace Department (3) Finance Department (4) Department of Agriculture. The responsibility of the finance department was to handle royal treasury matters for the benefit of the country and was headed by the finance chief or khun klang. This administrative style was carried on throughout the Sri Ayudhaya period and into the Ratanakosin period without any alterations to its principle.
In the reign of King Rama V, after the completion of his second coronation, his royal duties began with the reformation of the national administration by modernizing the national financing section with a new system, regulations and operations. The act of the royal treasury department 1237 was established on 14 April B.E. 2418 (1875). This act detached finance affairs from foreign affairs. It also set a method of sending, receiving, and auditing money as well as the responsibilities of various positions such as director-general, deputy director-general, permanent secretary of the central finance department, cashier officer, accountant officer, officer in charge of treasury, gold, silver, and gems storehouse.
In B.E. 2433 (1890), King Rama V authorized the issuance of a Governance Act that divided the central administration into a ministry, bureau, and department. This was the act relating to the reformation and modernization of the nation’s governing administration. Accordingly, the royal treasury department was upgraded to a ministry level.
King Rama V also graciously authorized an alteration of the royal act with new departments and positions in order to suit the timing and the modernization. This was because after the issuance of the act of the royal treasury 1237, many problems had occurred in performing of the tasks. These problems included staffing, either understaffing or overstaffing as no clear job descriptions were available, resulting in job duplication.
Therefore, a new act of functional responsibility in the royal treasury ministry Ror.Sor.109 was declared on 7 October B.E. 2433 (1890). This act determined the functions of the ministry to pay, exchange, keep the royal money and treasures, the whole royal treasury, and at the same time, to keep a list and collect the national taxes and tariff. The ministry was divided into 13 departments [1], as follows;
The Office of the Ministry; consisted of 5 departments
Central Finance Department – in charge of budget arrangements through collecting and spending of taxes and tariff while overlooking the work of the whole ministry.
Accounting Department – in charge of paying and holding a list of the entire royal treasury.
Audit Department – to audit accounts, price checking, account report checking, and the whole treasury account checking.
Maintenance Department – to maintain the entire royal treasury.
Department of Royal Personal Finance to handle all the King’s financial matters. Within this department, there were 8 main bureaus of 2 divisions (1) Land Management Division which was further divided into 3 sub-divisions of (a) the royal treasury – being in charge of making coins (b) the royal mint – being in charge of printing bank notes and cheques (3) the royal storehouse – being in charge of buying and selling for the royal store, taking and returning levy and maintaining all the royal treasures. (2) Revenue division in which their responsibilities were tax and tariff collection and further divided into 5 sub-divisions of (a) levy division – in charge of accelerating the levy amount and tariff, collecting the amount of money and forwarding it to the royal treasury department (b) revenue division – in charge of collecting all tariffs (c) tax division – in charge of all tax collections (d) land tariff division – in charge of collecting all land taxes (e) custom division – in charge of import and export fees.
The Administration of the Maintenance Department
The maintenance department was one of thirteen departments under the Ministry of Treasury with its tasks of accounting, maintaining, transferring, proof-checking the royal silver, gold, gems, decoration badges and other various items to be delivered to the King while accompanying him on his royal missions.
The administration of this department consisted of one Director General with two deputies with two separate responsibilities of (1) maintaining coins, copper, silver and paper (2) maintaining silverware, gold and gems. There were also four positions of shift officers (1) an accountant in charge of all accounting (2) an officer in charge of maintaining and relocating money (3) an inspector in charge of overlooking money and gems (4) money delivery officer in charge of delivering money, gems to royalty and accompanying the King on his royal duties. There were additional positions of a clerk, assistant clerk, normal clerk, silver inspector and an accountant.
His Serene Highness Prince Piyapakdinart Supradit
Director General of the Maintenance Department in BE 2434
The Maintenance of the Royal Treasury
In regards to performing money caretaking, once the Maintenance Department received the pod-duang coins from the tax and tariff department, the concerned officer would proof-check it to prevent any corruption, such as the taking silver out of the coins and replacing them with other substances such as lead. In doing so, the officer would heat the pod-duang coins to melting point to see if there were any other substances mixed into the coins. Upon the completion of the inspection, the coins would be transferred and stored in the royal storehouse. In regard to copper and banknotes, the concerned officer would make a separate list. As for the maintenance of the royal premium badges and gems, the maintenance officer would make a list and record all the details of each badge. The gems and other important jewelry were kept in a vault or safety box at all times. If the King wanted to present a badge to someone, the officer would accurately record details of name, date, description of the badge including the number of badges and/or jewelry provided.
All silver, gold, copper, paper money, premium badges and gems were kept at the Treasury located in the Royal Palace within the outer court and were garrisoned by soldiers both day and night. Officers and agents of the Treasury Department were on duty during the opening hours of the Treasury. As for the relocation of any copper, silver, gold premium, paper money, permission must be granted by the department head. Within the Treasury Department, caretaker officers were in charge of all opening and closing of doors and windows, and placed seals on all exterior doors. The seal was an oval shape with a coat of arms inside and writing of about 6-8 inches wide and 1 inch tall with the inscription; Maintenance Department, Ministry of Treasury.
The Treasury Inspection
The inspection of the property within the Royal Treasury was carried out by the Minister of Treasury who assigned the General Secretary or a next-in-line officer e.g. the accountant or an inspector to perform this task every 3 months. While the inspection of gold, gold ornaments and gems were completed only once a year. Moreover, the King may graciously assign 2-3 officials to inspect the treasury at his convenience.
From Maintenance Department to Treasury Department
In the constitutional act on responsibilities of the Ministry of Treasury B.E. 2433 (1890), the Maintenance Department held the responsibility of a financial unit including spending and maintainence of all the King’s treasures in Bangkok. The department also acted as an original point of receiving and sending the national revenue to the regional treasury departments around the kingdom. However, since the department’s name did not fit the scope of responsibilities, King Rama VI graciously changed the name from Maintenance Department to Treasury Department, according to the announcement dated 26 March B.E 2455 (1912).
M.R. Prayun Israsak
Director General of the Maintenance Department in BE 2449
King Rama VI also reorganized the administration of the Ministry of Treasury by stating that since the central accounting department, the revenue inspection department, and the royal treasury department were all related and mutually coordinated, the three departments should be merged into one department of central accounting headed by its director general, effective on 22 February B.E. 2469 (1926).
His Highness Prince Supayokkasem
Director General of the Maintenance Department in BE 2450
In B.E. 2476 (1933) King Rama VI graciously declared a royal act on the administration within the ministry of the royal treasury B.E. 2476 by separating the royal treasury department from the central accounting department and renamed it as the royal finance department. The currency department, the department of maintaining royal lands and agriculture, and the department of royal mint were also merged with this renamed department. The royal finance department was later renamed as the finance department and later changed to the treasury department on 12 March B.E. 2495 (1952).
Today, the properties stored in the royal storehouse are under the responsibility of the bureau of grand national treasure within the treasury department and are in charge of the work of preserving, maintaining, and listing. This is ongoing work which originated from the maintenance department. Moreover, it includes the display of selected regalia, royal utensis, and ancient coins at the pavilion of the regalia, royal decorations and coins, in the grand palace for the younger generations of the country to study and acquire national pride in their lands treasures. All Thai people can additionally admire the national cultural art while creating the feeling that leads to its ongoing preservation.
Translated from
Saravudhi Vajrapanti. (2014). Maintenance Department: The Work of Maintaining Siam Royal Treasury, from the Past to the Present. (Thai version) Retrieved September 14, 2014, from Pavilion of Regalia, Royal Decorations and Coins e-museum: http://emuseum.treasury.go.th
