Although the Kingdom of Siam never fell under colonial rule, its economic experience in the 19th and early 20th centuries closely paralleled those countries that did. This study examines the principal influences that shaped the Siamese economy in the period 1890-1920, including a detailed analysis of the administrative elite's policy on the diversification of commerce and production, irrigation, agricultural reform, and the extraction of tin and teak. Unlike most recent Thai scholarship, this book focuses on the kingdom's external relations--its open integration into the world economy and its vulnerable geopolitical position in mainland Southeast Asia.