Ok-khun Chamnan was a member of a first embassy to
Portugal, which left Siam in March 1684. The Siamese embassy was accompanying a returning Portuguese embassy, which had been sent to Siam by king
Pedro II. The embassy was also bearing presents for the King of France,
Louis XIV, and was planning to send three ambassadors to visit him. The first leg of the trip was made on a Siamese ship, commanded by a Portuguese captain. In Goa, after waiting more than a year, the embassy sailed on a Portuguese ship, which was wrecked off
Cape Agulhas on 27 April 1686. After a series of adventures, Chamnan made his way across the tip of Africa to join the
Dutch colony at the
Cape of Good Hope. After several months, the embassy returned east through
Batavia and returned to Siam in September 1687. During his travels, Chamnan had learnt
Portuguese, which predisposed him to further contacts with Western countries. Chamnan was present in
Bangkok in October during the reception of the 1687 French embassy composed of five warships, led by
Simon de la Loubère and
Claude Céberet du Boullay, director of the
French East India Company. ==Embassy to France and Rome (1688)==