- René Charbonneau
René Charbonneau was 17th century French medical missionary Brother and a member of the
Siam mission of theSociété des Missions Etrangères . He was the first medical missionary to Siam and arrived in the country in 1677. [Journal of the Siam Society - Thailand - v.1-2 1904-1905, Page 147]René Charbonneau first provided his services to the Siamese king
Narai as an architect, to establish a wooden fort on the frontier with the country ofPegu . ["An Universal History: From the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time", Page 280, George Sale [http://books.google.com/books?id=5qsEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA280&dq=Ren%C3%A9+Charbonneau+Siam#PPA280,M1] ]In 1681 or 1682, king Narai, who was seeking to reduce Dutch and English influence, named René Charbonneau Governor of the island of
Phuket , a position which he held until 1685. [New Terrains in Southeast Asian History, p.294, Abu Talib [http://books.google.com/books?id=MznDrpiYBcwC&pg=PA294&dq=Rene+Charbonneau+Phuket&sig=Kjm0FYM2abQKQiWWU8S_hz02LwQ#PPA294,M1] ] Phuket was already highly valued at that time for its production oftin . Charbonneau had received orders from king Narai to allow ships of all nations to trade freely in Phuket. [New Terrains in Southeast Asian History By Abu Talib, p.294 [http://books.google.com/books?id=MznDrpiYBcwC&pg=PA294&dq=Ren%C3%A9+Charbonneau+Siam&sig=Kjm0FYM2abQKQiWWU8S_hz02LwQ] ] In 1686, Charbonneau was replaced in this position by Sieur de Billy, the formermaître d'hôtel of the French ambassador to SiamChevalier de Chaumont . [Smithies 2002, p.50]René Charbonneau also worked as a nurse in the French hospital established in 1669 in
Ayutthaya by the Catholic Bishops Lambert and Ballue, with Father Lano as the head doctor. The hospital provided medical care to about 200-300 people daily. ["History and evolution of western medicine in Thailand" Somrat Charuluxananana ,Vilai Chentanez, Asian Biomedicine Vol. 1 No. 1 June 2007, p.98 [http://www.md.chula.ac.th/rcat/htdocs/previous/A2007197.pdf] ]ee also
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France-Thailand relations Notes
References
* Smithies, Michael (2002), "Three military acounts of the 1688 "Revolution" in Siam", Itineria Asiatica, Orchid Press, Bangkok, ISBN 9745240052
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