In 1821, John Crawfurd was commissioned by Lord Hastings, the Governor-General of India, to undertake a diplomatic mission to Southeast Asia. He was to visit the courts of the King of Siam (now Thailand) and the Emperor of Vietnam (then known to Europeans as Cochinchina) in order to gain information as to the two countries’ foreign policies, the East India Company fearing increased French influence in the region.
Siam was a major power in Southeast Asia, with several smaller states paying tribute to it and the British believed that having good relations with the country would further British interests, particularly in the Malay peninsula. Following the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 during the Burmese-Siamese Wars, the country was seen to be unstable, and East India Company officials thought they could take advantage of the situation to gain access to local ports. However, Crawfurd arrived in Siam to an indifferent reception and the embassy quickly foundered.
The mission left the country after a few months’ residence and travelled to the Vietnamese capital of Huế, where Crawfurd was refused an audience with the emperor Minh Mạng, who pursued a strict isolationist policy.
While the embassy was able to confirm that fears of French influence were unfounded, attempts to form trading relationships between Britain and Southeast Asia had largely failed. Nevertheless, the embassy was notable for marking the first British diplomatic contact with the Lao kingdom of Vientiane, due to Crawfurd’s audience with the Lao ruler Chao Anouvong in May 1821.
In 1823, Crawfurd was made Resident of Singapore. On publishing his account of the embassy in 1828, he included an additional chapter on the development of Singapore and prefaced the work with a panorama of the city as seen from the governor’s residence.