Si Votha was a Cambodian prince who was briefly a contender for the throne.
16 Facts About Si Votha
1.
2.
Si Votha spent his entire life fighting his half brother King Norodom for the throne.
3.
Si Votha was a grandson of King Ang Eng and a son of King Ang Duong.
4.
Si Votha had two half-brothers, Norodom and Sisowath of Cambodia, with Norodom being the king's chosen heir.
5.
When Norodom was officially crowned king in 1864 in a joint coronation ceremony supervised by the French and Siamese officials, Si Votha made no secret of his intention to lay claim to the Cambodian throne.
6.
Si Votha had little difficulty in quickly raising a large band of supporters and began to harry the officials loyal to King Norodom.
7.
Si Votha besieged the provincial capital at Kampong Thom and went through the turbulent province of Kampong Svai.
8.
Si Votha, lurking on the northeastern boundaries of the kingdom, was a nuisance but nothing more.
9.
Si Votha became something of a figurehead for resistance against the French.
10.
Si Votha's rebellion was largely unsuccessful and in 1887, Cambodia was incorporated in the French-controlled Indochinese Union.
11.
Almost totally abandoned by his followers and virtually without resources, Prince Si Votha died on the last day of 1891.
12.
Si Votha came to symbolise the first fight against the French colonial rule in Cambodia.
13.
Prince Damrong Rajanubhab of Thailand said when he was ordained as a samanera at Wat Bowonniwet, Si Votha was one of his teachers.
14.
When Si Votha lived at Wang Chao Khamen in Bangkok, he has only son named Ditsawong.
15.
Si Votha has five children from two wives as follows:.
16.
Si Votha used the surname "Wattha" since 1914 following his grandfather's name "Si Votha", as suggested by Prince Svasti Sobhana.