Tribute and Profit illuminates the conduct and maintenance of maritime trade under the auspices of Siam’s tributary relationship with imperial China. This bilateral partnership also relied on a number of intermediaries: vassal states, other sovereign nations, and notably, Chinese entrepreneurs and officials. It is through this lens that Sarasin Viraphol scrutinizes the momentous role of the Chinese both in Siam’s overseas trade and its domestic economy. Based substantially on historical Chinese, Siamese, and European sources, Sarasin Viraphol’s careful reconstruction of the tributary trade pinpoints the creative subversions, calculated risks, and clever contrivances that kept the wheels of the Siamese economy turning for centuries. Eventually, the era of tribute missions and the junk trade was irreversibly transformed by the ascendancy of European-style maritime commerce, free trade, and open markets. Nevertheless, the modern Thai economy has been fundamentally shaped by the interactions described in Tribute and Profit, and the influences of these bygone relations are still present in Thailand today.