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Gui Tachard
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Gui Tachard

French missionary
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Gui Tachard was a French Jesuit missionary who played a key role in the Phaulkon-Tachard conspiracy of 1685–88. This was an unsuccessful attempt to establish French control over Siam (modern-day Thailand).1

Tachard arrived in Ayutthaya, the Siamese capital, in 1685 with the goals of converting the Siamese people to Christianity and expanding French influence. He collaborated with Constantine Phaulkon, a high-ranking Siamese royal adviser, to achieve these aims. Together, they drafted a treaty, supported by King Narai and French King Louis XIV, that would have allowed French troops to be stationed in Siam and granted France favorable trading terms.1

However, the conspiracy failed when King Narai fell ill in 1688. Phaulkon's influence waned, leading to his overthrow and execution by an anti-French faction. This event prompted Thai kings to adopt isolationist policies for over a century.1

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2 Britannica Sources
  1. Phaulkon-Tachard conspiracy
  2. Charles Thomas Maillard de Tournon

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