Constantine Phaulkon

The Greek adventurer and merchant Constantine Phaulkon, who became first counselor to King Narai of Ayutthaya, came to Siam in 1675 after working for England's East India Company. He worked at the court of King Narai as a translator as he was fluent in Thai, English, French, Portuguese, and Malay. Not long after, Phaulkon became a counselor of the king. Phaulkon rose to become highly influential at the Siamese court of king Narai. The French called Phaukon 'Monsieur Constance' as he had engineered a Franco-Siamese rapprochement leading to the exchange of numerous embassies between France and Siam, as well as the dispatch of an expeditionary force by the French in 1687.\nThai members of the royal court envied Phaulkon's closeness to the king and that became his undoing. Pra Phetracha, the foster brother of Narai, used rumors about Phaulkon wanting to use Phra Pui, the heir to the throne, as a puppet and become ruler himself, to stage a coup d'état, the 1688 Siamese revolution. Phaulkon, his followers and the royal heir were executed on June 5, 1688 in Lopburi. King Narai died several days later, and Phetracha proclaimed himself the new king of Siam.