In 1856, just months after Britain and Siam had finalised the historic Bowring trade treaty that would prevent the country’s colonisation, the violent death of a Siamese official at the new British consulate threatened to scuttle the deal and lead to war. The King and the Consul explores UK and Thai archives to reveal the twists, turns and tensions of this little-known episode that pitted Thailand’s renowned King Mongkut, Rama IV, against the first British consul, Charles Hillier. The crisis was resolved without war, but not without cost for the participants who suffered unintended tragic outcomes. The book also reveals how this incident has continued to shape official Thai attitudes to foreign ownership of land up to today.