For years was in the Netherlands a magazine published dealing with maritime affairs. It published in 1857 an item earlier published in the Nautical Magazine of December 1848. According to this item which was dated Bangkok, 1 September was at this place a small steam vessel built with Kun Pra Nai War, son of his excellence Phra Klang, as overseer. She had an engine of 1 hp, constructed completely by the natives with the royal navy engineer (Prince Mompanoi), using a British publication dealing with steam engines. The vessel with a length of 30 feet, reached at her trial a speed of 3 miles. While the boiler plates weren’t good enough, it was decided to buy steam boilers in England and to built considerable stronger engines. According to the original news item the Siamese were quite different from their neighbours the Chinese if compared with their curiosity for improvements.
Source
G.A. Tindal en J. Swart. Verhandelingen en berigten betrekkelijk het zeewezen en de zeevaartkunde. Vol 9. Amsterdam, 1849, p. 4501-451. Digitized by Google.
