Ministry of the Privy Seal



The Ministry of the Privy Seal (กระทรวงมุรธาธร, ) was a government ministry of Siam (Thailand) in existence from 1892 to 1896 and again from 1911 to 1926. Originating from the historical Royal Scribes Department (กรมพระอาลักษณ์, Krom Phra Alak), it was responsible for royal secretarial and document and record-keeping matters.

History
The Royal Scribes Department was an office of the royal court responsible for producing manuscripts of royal decrees, laws, and other documents, and maintaining records thereof. The department probably dates from the time of the later Ayutthaya period (c. 17th century), and was one of the six krom montri—offices directly under the control of the king—in the Chatusadom system.

Royal scribes were important courtiers who were accorded a high level of trust, as they were responsible for relaying the orders of the king. The position required good command of the Thai language, as well as penmanship skills. Some head scribes (who in the Rattanakosin period were usually granted the noble title Sunthonwohan) as such became known as prominent poets (most notably Sunthorn Phu) and language scholars (Noi Acharyankura, Phra Saraprasoet).

By the time of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), as part of government reforms, the Royal Scribes Department was reorganized into the Ministry of the Privy Seal in 1892, with its work split among three constituent departments: the new Royal Scribes Department, now under the ministry, oversaw official documents and records; Krom Ratthamontrisapha (กรมรัฐมนตรีสภา) served as secretary to the Council of State; and the Royal Secretary Department (กรมราชเลขานุการ, Krom Ratchalekhanukan) performed royal secretary duties.

The first instance of the ministry was short-lived, and in 1896 it was subsumed into the Royal Secretary Department. Its constituent departments saw many subsequent reorganizations, with the ministry revived in 1911 by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), and abolished again in 1926 by his successor King Prajadhipok (Rama VII).

Today, the former ministry's functions are mainly covered by the Secretariat of the Cabinet (SOC) and the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary. The royal scribes' original calligraphic duties are preserved, now by the Bureau of Royal Scribes and Royal Decorations under the SOC, in the practice of hand-writing folding-book manuscript copies of each new constitution. The bureau is also responsible for the safekeeping of the royal seals and their proper affixation to royal decrees and laws.