[2] Phetracha then married Narai's daughter, took the throne, and pursued a policy of ousting French influence and military forces from Siam.

One of the most prominent battles was 1688's Siege of Bangkok, when tens of thousands of Siamese forces spent four months besieging a French fortress within the city.

As a consequence of the revolution, Siam severed significant ties with the Western world, with the exception of the Dutch East India Company, until the 19th century.

King Narai's reign saw a major expansion of diplomatic missions to and from Western powers, most notably France, England, and the Vatican.

Another notable feature of Narai's reign was the unprecedented influence of foreigners at the Siamese court, embodied in the meteoric rise of Constantine Phaulkon, a Greek adventurer who would eventually hold the modern equivalent of the post of Prime Minister.

King Narai especially sought to expand relations with the French, as a counterweight to Portuguese and Dutch influence in his kingdom, and at the suggestion of his Greek councilor Phaulkon.

The Siamese courtiers resented the dominance of the Greek Phaulkon in state affairs, along with his Portuguese-Japanese wife and European lifestyle, while the Buddhist clergy were uneasy with the increasing prominence of the French Jesuits.

[citation needed] Matters were brought to a head when King Narai fell gravely ill in March 1688, and conspirators maneuvered to take power.

[7] However, he stopped on the way in Ayutthaya and finally abandoned his plan and retreated to Bangkok, fearing that he could be attacked by Siamese rebels, and troubled by false rumors, some spread by Véret, the Director of the French East India Company, including one that the king had already died.

With Narai essentially incapacitated by his illness, Phetracha staged a long-planned coup d'etat with the support of a resentful court as well as the Buddhist clergy, initiating the 1688 Siamese revolution.

[17] Phaulkon's Catholic Japanese-Portuguese wife, Maria Guyomar de Pinha,[18] who had been promised protection by being ennobled a countess of France, took refuge with the French troops in Bangkok, but Desfarges returned her to the Siamese under pressure from Phetracha on October 18.

[20] Desfarges finally negotiated to return with his men to Pondicherry on November 13, on board the Oriflamme and two Siamese ships, the Siam and the Louvo, provided by Phetracha.

[26] Desfarges died on his way back trying to reach Martinique, and the Oriflamme sank shortly thereafter on February 27, 1691, with most of the remaining French troops, off the coast of Brittany.

[24] In Siam, Phetracha had managed to expel most of the French from the country, but after an initial confinement, missionaries were allowed to continue their work in Ayutthaya, albeit with some restrictions.

[33] France did not resume official contacts until 1856, when Napoleon III sent an embassy to King Mongkut led by Charles de Montigny.