Editing Vajiravudh (section)

==Accession and early reforms==
[[File:Vajiravudh (13).jpg|thumb|King Vajiravudh's coronation portrait, 1911]]
Even before his coronation, Vajiravudh initiated several reforms. He organized Siam's defence and established military academies. He created the rank of "general" for the first time in Siam, with his uncle, Prince [[Bhanurangsi Savangwongse]] as the first Siamese [[Field Marshal (Thailand)|Field Marshal]]. On 11 November 1910, Vajiravudh underwent a provisional [[Coronation of the Thai monarch|coronation ceremony]], with a more lavish one planned for after the funerary rites of his father were complete.

His first act following his accession to the throne was to build the Royal Pages College, subsequently renamed [[Vajiravudh College]] by King Prajadhipok to honour his brother. It was built as an all-boy's boarding school in the same tradition as English public schools such as [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[Harrow School|Harrow]]. The school was built instead of a royal monastery, formerly a custom of Thai kings, as King Vajiravudh deemed that there were already too many temples in Bangkok. In his own hand written letter, King Vajiravudh wrote that "In the Royal Pages College, what I want is not so much to turn out model boys, all of the same standard, all brilliant scholars with thousands of marks each, as to turn out efficient young men— young men who will be physically and morally clean, and who will be looking forward keenly to take up whatever burden the future of our state may lay upon them". Later he also raised the Civil Servant School to "Chulalongkorn Academy for Civil Officials", then [[Chulalongkorn University]]. Both Vajiravudh College and Chulalongkorn University still benefit from the funds that King Vajiravudh set aside for the use of the two elite institutions. He also improved Siamese healthcare systems and set up some of the earliest public hospitals in Siam, [[Vajira Hospital]] in 1912 and [[Chulalongkorn Hospital]] in 1914.
 
In 1911, he established the [[Wild Tiger Corps]] [{{lang|th|เสือป่า}}]) a para-military corp outside of the established military hierarchy. Initially a ceremonial guard, it became a military force of 4,000 within its first year and consumed much of the King's time and energy. It became the source of deep dissatisfaction between the army and the King. A branch for children was also established known as ({{lang|th|ลูกเสือ }} {{lang|th-Latn|Tiger Cubs}}) which became the [[National Scout Organization of Thailand|Boy Scouts]].

On 28 November 1911 Vajiravudh's second and formal coronation was held with visiting royals from Europe and Japan as guests, a first for Siam, which festivities took 13 days. Later that year, the first airplane was flown in Siam.

The early years of Vajiravudh's administration were largely dominated by his two uncles, Prince [[Damrong]] and Prince [[Devawongse]], both of them Chulalongkorn's right-hand men. However, the king disagreed with Prince Damrong, Minister of Interior, over Damrong's negotiation of the [[Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909]] that ceded four sultanates to the British Empire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reurnthai.com/index.php?topic=1816.0 |title=พระบาทสมเด็จพระมงกุฎเกล้า vs สมเด็จกรมพระยาดำรงราชานุภาพ |publisher=Reurnthai.com|access-date=2012-02-03}}</ref>

Vajiravudh reformed his father's [[monthon]] system by creating the "paks" ({{langx|th|ภาค}}) or "regions" over the administrative monthons. Each pak was governed by an [[Uparaja]] ([[viceroy]]) directly responsible to the king. The ''Uparaja'' presided over the intendants of monthons in the region—thus concentrating local administrative powers in his hands—much to the dismay of Prince Damrong.