Narai
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- This article is about the Thai king. For the town in Japan, see Narai, Japan
King Narai the Great (Thai สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช) (1629 - July 11 1688) became king of the Ayutthaya kingdom or Siam, today's Thailand, in 1655. Under his rule, Siam first opened its borders to western ambassadors and traders.
Image:Lopburi King Narai plate.jpg
After King Prasat Thong died, his sons began to fight over the succession. Two kings were crowned and quickly put to death, until stability returned with the coronation of Narai on September 26, 1655.
Narai allowed French missionaries to settle in Ayutthaya in 1662, and in 1664 the Dutch enforced a monopoly in fur trading by a sea blockade of Ayutthaya. This even led Narai to build a second capital in Lopburi and locate his palace there.
In 1675 the Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulkon came to Ayutthaya and started working for the royal court. In time he became First Counsellor of the king, a position which gained him the jealousy of Thai members of the court. Paired with xenophobic prejudice, this made Phaulkon a controversial person, which he still is among historians today.
King Narai had no heir, but he wanted his foster son Mom Pi to succeed him on the throne, a choice also preferred by Phaulkon. However, when Narai became terminally ill, his older foster brother Petraja staged a coup d'état and executed both Mom Pi and Phaulkon, leaving Narai to die with the knowledge that his power had slipped away from him. Petraja proclaimed himself the king, expelled the French and cut virtually all ties with the west, which remained only sporadic until King Mongkut reestablished them in the mid 19th century.de:Narai ja:ナーラーイ th:สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช