BUDDHA LOETLA NABHALAI

'Phuttaloetla Nabhalai, Rama II', now known as 'Buddha Loetla Nabhalai' (February 24 1767–July 21 1824), was the son of King Rama I and Queen Amarindra, he was born at his mothers home at Amphoe Amphawa in present day Samut Songkhram Province. His reign as King of Siam (1809–1824) brought in a renaissance of Thai arts and culture, especially in literature. Rama II had seventy-three children.
During Rama II's reign, Thailand experienced a confrontation with Vietnam, then becoming a major power in the region, over control of Cambodia in 1813. Western influences had begun to be felt in Southeast Asia and in Thailand. In 1785 the British occupied Penang, and in 1819 they founded Singapore. Soon the British displaced the Dutch and Portuguese as the main Western economic and political influence in Thailand. The British objected to the Thai economic system, in which trading monopolies were held by royal princes and businesses were subject to arbitrary taxation. In 1821 the government of British India sent a mission to demand that Thailand lift its restrictions on free trade.