King Narai of Ayutthaya

King Narai is credit to be a master in playing off two states against one another. 

He tried to use the English and the French to counterbalance the Dutch.

Siamese embassy to Louis XIV led by Kosa Pan in 1686

The strength of the Dutch in the eastern seas and their overbearing attitude in Ayutthaya provoked alarm among the Thais and the government of King Narai wanted to use the English to counterbalance the Dutch. Not only did King Narai encourage the English to increase their trade with Thailand but he also hired a number of them as commanders of Thai ships. In 1676, as part of his effort to increase the English trade, King Narai lent the English traders in Ayutthaya ten thousand pounds free of interest. Narai’s policy to use the English  to counteract the Dutch had little prospect of achieving its objective. English influence at that juncture hardly existed. England was fully occupied with troubles over James II’s succession to the throne. Fear of the Dutch then drove King Narai to France. He gave much encouragement to French missionaries who had worked in Ayutthaya from  1662. Constant Phaulkon, the Greek adventurer who became chief minister of Thailand, extended his patronage to the French, and the French East India Company was allowed to establish a factory at Ayutthaya in 1680. Diplomatic envoys were exchanged between Thailand and France. In 1685 wide trading privileges and extra-territorial rights were granted to the French, much to the detriment of the Dutch and English companies.