''Raj pattern'' (, , ) refers either to a Thai men's

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress and/or makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used to describe typica ...

consisting of a white Nehru-style

jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. Jackets without sleeves are vests. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and ...

with five buttons, a '' chong kraben'', knee-length

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

and

dress shoes A dress shoe (U.S. English) is a shoe to be worn at smart casual or more formal events. A dress shoe is typically contrasted to an athletic shoe. Dress shoes are worn by many as their standard daily shoes, and are widely used in dance, for part ...

, or to the specific form of the jacket itself. It was worn chiefly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by government officials and the upper class in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, and nowadays is used in select circumstances as a

national costume Folk costume, traditional dress, traditional attire or folk attire, is clothing of an ethnic group, nation or region, and expresses cultural, religious or national identity. An ethnic group's clothing may also be called ethnic clothing or ethnic ...

History and use

The ''raj pattern'' was devised by King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

during his visit to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in 1871, where he hired a

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

tailor to make a jacket with a standing collar and buttoned vertical opening. Previously in 1870, the king had had his entourage dress in a combination of ''chong kraben'' (a wrap worn with part of the fabric folded back between the legs and tucked behind the waist) and Western

suit jacket A suit jacket, also called a lounge jacket, dress jacket, lounge coat or suit coat, is a jacket in classic menswear that is part of a suit. History The jacket was originally a work jacket that came into fashion due to the French Revolution. It ...

, socks and shoes during his visit to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. This new jacket replaced the suit jacket, alleviating the need for a separate layer of shirt in the hot climate, and the dress soon became the de facto civil uniform. It was worn both officially and privately and remained popular until the Pibulsonggram era, when the ''chong kraben'' was banned by cultural mandate. The name ''raj pattern'', from

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

''rājā'' and English ''pattern'' and meaning ''royal pattern'', was coined by Phon Bunnak (later the Chao Phraya Phasakorawong), who was acting as royal secretary during the king's journey. Nowadays, the full ''raj pattern'' costume is worn only on select occasions as a national costume, and is employed regularly only in the tourism industry. The jacket, however, has found continued use in the

dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal wear, formal type of uniform used by military, police, firefighter, fire and other public uniformed services for official parade (mili ...

s of the civil and military services, as well as the formal clothing worn with the '' suea khrui'' as the

academic dress Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academia, academic settings, mainly tertiary education, tertiary (and sometimes secondary schools, secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or simila ...

of certain universities, where it is worn with trousers in the Western style. Another Thai garment which is very similar in design is the '' suea phraratchathan''.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite RID, edition=2542 {{cite journal, last=Phakdiphumin, first=Chunlada , script-title=th:เสื้อเสนากุฎ, journal=Sakulthai, date=26 August 2003, volume=49, issue=2549, url=http://www.sakulthai.com/DSakulcolumndetailsql.asp?stcolumnid=2359&stissueid=2549&stcolcatid=2&stauthorid=13, access-date=5 June 2010, language=th Thai clothing Folk costumes History of Asian clothing Court uniforms and dress