A Brief History of Thailand

Ever wonder what Thailand was before, well, before it was Thailand?

The early history of Thailand and the Thai people starts around 1,000 to 1,200 years ago with the "Tai-Lao" people moving from southern China into Southeast Asia.

Before the Thai people inhabited Southeast Asia, the Indian cultures of Khmer, Burmese and Malay were already present. This area was known as the Dvaravati.

Thailand History Note

(The culture history of Thailand talks about the movement and mixing of the Thai people with other cultures but you can more plainly see it in the skin color and faces of the Thai people. You see some that are similar to Indian or Khmer with dark skin, and some with lighter skin tones and Chinese features.)

The Thais first moved into Northern Southeast Asia to an area called Chiang Saen (near what is now present day Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai area) driving out some of the native Burmese. The Thais built Lanna Kingdom here. In Present day Chiang Mai you can still see were the capital was surround by a moat for protection from invading forces. This is a wonderful historical area to visit.

The Lanna Kingdom in the North finally fell after a major Burmese invasion in the mid-1500s.

Some severe earthquakes and possible overcrowding pushed the Thai people southward. In front of them was the beginning of the Sukhothai Kingdom and the Ayutthaya of the Chao Phraya valley basin.

The Sukhothaifounded in central Thailand, only lasted a couple hundred years (1200's to 1400's) before falling to the ever increasing power of its Thai neighbor, Ayutthaya. The final blow to Sukhothai came when the kingdom was unified through royal marriage to Ayutthaya.

History of Thailand Culture

Side Note:(The Lao and Thai language are very similar and people from Isan in Northeast Thailand can speak Lao.)

Ayutthaya was located on a small island surround by three rivers. It had various names but one that sticks with Thais is Krung Thep.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom was a trading power house with the whole world. The king of France even equaled it to Paris and it had a population of around one million in 1700. Much of the outside world called Ayutthaya the Kingdom of Siam.

Ayutthaya was the gold age

The balance of power between the Thais, the Khmer and Burmese was always shifting and much land was taken and given back.

During the later years (1400's to 1700's) much of the power struggle was between Burma and Ayutthaya as the increasingly weaker Khmer quietly settled into the area of Cambodia which was their center point anyway.

Thailand History Note:(Much of Ayutthaya can still be seen today. It's about a one hour drive north of Bangkok.)

Ayutthaya had plenty of infighting but it remand strong until the mid 1700's when an o verwhelming Burmese force invaded, destroyed and took over everything.

But this did not last long as General Taksin, later to be King Taksin, gathered up forces and started to take back what was lost.

King Taksin moved the capital to Thonburi as Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese.The next king moved the capital across the Chao Phraya river to Bangkok. By the 1790's Burma was complete driven out of Siam and the Lanna area also became free but under now under Thonburi rule.

Note:

(To this day many Thais have a general dislike and mistrust of Burma. There is a very good but long Thai movie, named King Naresuan that was recently made depicting of the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese and the battles thereafter.)

Recent History of Thailand

After the 1800's Thailand became increasingly nervous over Western powers than nearby neighbors. Thailand manage to use diplomacy and sign its way through treaties to be the only Southeast Asia country to avoid European Colonization.

In 1932, Thailand underwent a military coup, changed the government, and set up a constitutional monarchy instead of an absolute monarchy. They also imposed a prime minister of Thailand.

The new government replaced that king with his nephew, who later mysteriously died while cleaning his gun at age 37. This put his brother, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, into power and who is still king today and very popular with the Thai people as I have witnessed firsthand.

There was a short war with the French in 1941 over areas of French Indochina (Loas and Cambodia areas) but the Thais were victorious. Victory monument in downtown Bangkok was erected to commemorate this win.

During World War 2Thailand signed a treated with Japan to avoid war and allowed Japan to use parts of its territory to build projects like the bridge over the River Kwai and rail over southern Thailand to connect the gulf of Thailand with Myanmar. However, Thailand secretly held underground resistance movements which provided intelligence to Allied Forces.

After 1973, the history of Thailand becomes increasingly current as it struggles with trying to maintain some form of democracy. The military and the king have repeatedly stepped in at certain time periods to restore order but it's not clear weather this has helped as conflict still arises even to this day.

The recent geological history of Thailand has been quite interesting as well

The tsunami of December 2004 was a real eye opener for the Thais and even myself.

Some source information is cited from Wikipedia.

Return from History of Thailand to Thailand Tourism and Living Homepage