The Kalahom had succeeded in getting rid of one of his rivals, however Yamada Nagamasa and his men had once more proven their might was not to be underestimated. By 1629, the young Cetthathirat was reading the picture: he feared for his life and he clearly had good reason to do so. He was in fact captured and executed by the Japanese royal guard. It is not clear if at that point the guards were taking orders from the Kalahom, from Nagamasa, or from both, in turns.
Van Vliet’s reconstruction of the events once again underscores the violence of the Japanese, who were described as a killing squad. However, Nagamasa was not involved in this incident. As a matter of fact, the assassination of Cetthathirat threw the Japanese leader into a state of anger and confusion. He was so disappointed that the promise made to Song Tham had been broken that he refused to meet the Kalahom. At this point, Ayutthaya might have been on the verge of a civil war.
In order to proceed with his plan, the Kalahom had to figure out something because Nagamasa was by then the last obstacle between him and the throne. As he had done throughout most of his career, the Kalahom decided to take a gamble. Unaccompanied by any guard, one night he sneaked out of Ayutthaya’s walls, and went to visit Nagamasa at his residence in the Nihonmachi. Van Vliet, reporting some ten years after these events took place, recounts a dialogue between the two.
The Kalahom’s rationale was that Siam needed to be ruled by a mature king, thus the annihilation of Cetthathirat was a necessity. Considering the impossibility of honouring the promise given to Song Tham, Nagamasa’s main concern at this point was to put an end to the bloodshed, so that his business and his community could continue to prosper. According to van Vliet he said: “Surely the time has come for the killing to cease and for peace to be restored to the Kingdom and its people.”
Nagamasa recommended again a role as regent for the Kalahom, an idea that was later approved by a court assembly. Ironically, after he had just had a teenage king killed, the Kalahom was in charge to watch over an even younger puppet-king (another son of Song Tham, a 10-year-old boy who was crowned as King Athittayawong).
Resources: “Samurai of Ayutthaya – The Historical Landscape of
Early 17th Century Japan and Siam: Yamada Nagamasa
and the Way to Ayutthaya” by Cesare Polenghi (p. 54)
