Thailand History

Thailand has a population of 64 million, and it is one of the most economically advanced countries in southeast Asia.

60 Miles of the Island of Phuket is Phang Nga Bay

The reason is because it was never colonized, World War II never affected it, and communism didn’t gain much support in Thailand.

The history of Thailand begins before the 13th century, when the Tai people slowly migrated south from western China.

Tai Migration from China to Thailand

In the 13th century, many small kingdoms began to grow in the region of modern day northern Myanmar and central Thailand. These people were not only the ancestors of the modern Thai people, but they are also the ancestors of the Lao people. The Tai people farmed wet-rice.

Wet-rice Farmers

They lived in villages that were ruled by a chief. These villages were called a muang.

Muang Villages in Thailand

As time passed, many muangs began to trade with each other and develop relationships. Soon the Tai villages began to adapt the Theravada Buddhism from the Mon states in central Thailand.

Theravada Buddhism Buddha Statue

The role model to the Tai states was the Cambodian kingdom of Angkor. The most well known Tai state was the kingdom of Sukhothai.

Sukhothai Kingdom

Thais nowadays believe that this kingdom is the birthplace of the Thai nation. The most famous king of Sukhothai was King Ramkhamhaeng.

King Ramkhamhaeng

When King Ramkhamhaeng died in 1351, the kingdom of Sukhothai lost its significance and a kingdom further down to the south began to rise to power. This kingdom was called Ayudhya.

Temple in Ayudhya

The founder of Ayudhya was U Thong. It is believed that U Thong was a chinese merchant that was married into a prominent Thai family.

U Thong

Ayudhya’s position was only 70 km from the South China Sea, so this enabled it to become a very important port in southeast Asia. It also grew very fertile rice and had a fast growing population. The kingdom of Ayudhya adapted a system of hierarchy from the Angkor Empire. In 1448, a ruler named King Trailok came to power.

King Trailok

He expanded and enforced the hierarchy system. This system made Ayudhya more powerful than Angkor and Lan Na, but Burma was still a threat. In 1568, King Bayinnaug from Burma attacked Ayudhya and took control in 1569, but Ayudhya didn’t give up that quickly.

Over the next few decades, Prince Narasuan was able to rebuild Ayudhya, and in 1593 he attacked Burma. In the following years, he was able to take back much of the territory that was taken by the Burmese. Around the 17th century, Europeans began to see the Kingdom of Ayudhya as a prosperous and wealthy trade center. Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, English, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Indian, and Malaysian traders gathered in Ayudhya to trade.

Ayudhya Trade Locations

This prosperity didn’t last for long. Division between the ruling class and the working class began to grow larger. Revolts and riots began to occur, and for the next 80 years Ayudhya was in a state of turmoil. The spark that ignited the haystack was a Burmese siege in 1766, and in April of 1767 the city of Ayudhya fell. The ruling class was destroyed, and tens of thousands of people fled the city.

In the middle of this conflict, two Thai military leaders rose to power: Taksin and Chaophraya Chakri. Taksin organized an army and placed Chakri as the general. Taksin declared himself king and established his capital at Thonburi.

Thonburi

For the next few years, Taksin and Chakri set about gaining support of the population. They captured Chiang Mai and Vientiane and took control of Luang Prabang. In 1782, Taksin was overthrown by a coup and Chakri came to power. Chaophraya Chakri was the first king in the Thai monarchy which is still in place today. In 1782, Rama I supervised the construction of the new capital, Bangkok.

Rama I

Even though all of the countries around it were being colonized by European countries, Siam was able to stay neutral by giving trading rights to many European countries.

The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century is the modernization of Siam. In 1873, slavery was abolished, and in 1902, Luang Prabang and Vientiane were given back to Laos under strong French pressure. In 1910, the beginning of a strong military was created, which led to the rise of the military government in 1932. For 60 years, the military government would rule the Thai government. In 1939, Phibun changed the name of the country from Siam to Thailand.

Phibun

In 1944, Phibun resigned his post as Prime Minister. In 1947, a coup took over and put in power a civilian prime minister. One year later, they made him resign and  replaced him with Phibun. From 1948 to 1958, Phibun continued with his previous campaign to incorporate the Thai culture into the government.

Traditional Thai Cultural Dance

In 1958, Sarit organized a coup and sent Phibun into exile.

Sarit

This era of Sarit’s government was called the “strong man” rule. In 1973, the Students’ Revolution took place that led to the creation of many political parties.

Students' Revolution

A period of internal conflict and fighting broke out in Thailand. This conflict almost led to a civil war, but in 1977 General Chomanand took the place as Prime Minister and promised a constitution and an election in 1979.

General Chomanand

Sure enough, the election took place in 1979, and a new Prime Minister took office. In 1991, another coup succeeded in overthrowing the Prime Minister. Elections in 1997 brought a new constitution. This constitution lasted for seven years until 2006 when another coup took over the country. This government is still in power today.

Deceased king and queen of Thailand

Government Building in Bangkok