Claude Céberet du Boullay (1647–1702) was a 17th-century French diplomat who participated in the La Loubère-Céberet embassy as "envoy extraordinary" to the kingdom of Siam (modern Thailand) in 1687. He was co-representative of the mission with the diplomat Simon de la Loubère.
Mission to Siam In 1685, Céberet became one of the 12 Directors of the French East India Company. During the 1687 embassy to Siam, Céberet was put in charge of the commercial interests of France, and particularly those of the French East India Company.Smithies, p.10 Céberet left from Brest with the embassy for Siam on 1 March 1687. The embassy sailed on board the warships L'oiseau (46 guns), Le Gaillard (52 guns), La Loire (24 guns), La Normande and Le Dromadaire.Narrative of a Residence at the Capital of the Kingdom of Siam By Frederick Arthur Neale, Page 214
The embassy arrived in Thailand in September and October 1687. An interview with the Siamese king Narai occurred on 2 November 1687. The mission achieved little more than the confirmation of the 1685 commercial treaty obtained by the Chevalier de Chaumont. It also seems that Père Tachard considerably interfered with the mission so as to render it useless.Smithies, p.103 There were some important results on the military plane however, as the troops which had arrived with the mission occupied the cities of Bangkok and Mergui.Smithies, p.25
Return to France In December 1687, Céberet left again for France first by going overland from Ayutthaya to the harbour of Mergui.The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk Road, By Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h, Victoria Hobson, Page 33 He left on 4 January 1688 on the ship President for Pondicherry, which he reached on 25 January.The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk Road By Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h, Victoria Hobson, Page 56
While in Pondicherry, Céberet ordered the Governor of Pondicherry François Martin to send his son-in-law André Deslandes to found Company trade counters in the Bengal region. Deslandes left Pondicherry on 30 August 1688 and would found the counters of Balassor and Cassimbazar in 1689.
Back in France, after being intendant in Lorient, Céberet became intendant of Dunkirk. Claude Céberet died on 18 September 1702 and was buried in Dunkirk.
See also France-Thailand relations
Notes
Works Céberet, Claude Journal du Voyage de Siam
References Smithies, Michael Three military accounts of the 1688 revolution in Siam, Orchid Press, Bangkok, 2002,