History of Thailand
This article is being rewritten.
The history of Thailand begins with the migration of the ancestors of the Thai into what is now Thailand as long as 2,000 years ago. It took more than a thousand years, however, for the Thai to establish a united, independent, Thai-speaking state. This state was under constant threat, first from its neighbours the Khmers and the Burmese, and later from the European colonial powers. Thailand was the only south-east Asian state to avoid colonial rule. After the end of the absolute Thai monarchy in 1932, Thailand endured sixty years of almost permanent military rule before the establishment of a stable democratic system.
The arrival of the Tai
The Thai (or Siamese, as they were called until the 20th century) are part of a larger ethno-linguistic group known as the Tai, a group which includes the Lao, the people of the Shan region of north-eastern Burma, the Zhuang people of Guangxi Province in China and the Tho and Nung people of northern Vietnam. Before the arrival of the Tai, the area was inhabited by Malay, Mon, and Khmer peoples. The Tai are believed to have orginated in southern China, and began to migrate southwards into what are now Thailand and Laos between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago, under pressure from the Han Chinese people pushing down from the north. Migration southwards continued as late as the 14th century.
During the first millennium BC the Tai peoples were loosely organised in village-level entities known as muang. They were heavily influenced by the more advanced cultures around them: the Khmer to the east, and the Hindu cultures of India to the west. Most of the Tai were converted to a form of Hinduism, traces of which can still be seen in Thai religious practice today. Between the 6th and 9th centuries AD Buddhism was introduced into the Tai-speaking lands, probably via Burma, and became the dominant religion. The Theravada Buddhism now practised in Thailand was introduced by missionaries from Sri Lanka in the 13th century.
Early Siamese kingdoms
Politically, the Tai lands were dominated for centuries by the Khmers. By 1200 the Khmer Empire with its capital at Angkor ruled all of what are now southern Thailand and Laos, as well as Cambodia and southern Vietnam, leaving a patchwork of independent Tai principalities in the north of Thailand and Laos, an area also contested by the Chinese and the Burmese. In the 13th century, however, the Tai overthrew their Khmer overlords, and established several Tai-speaking states. The most important of these was Siam (also known as the Kingdom of Sukhothai), with its capital at Sukhothai in central Thailand. This state controlled the central Siamese plain and the Malay Peninsula as far south as Nakhon Si Thammarat. The kingdom of Lan Na in the north had its capital at Chiang Mai, and a smaller kingdom called Lopburi was in the area around modern Bangkok. Between Siam and Lan Na was a smaller state called Phayao.
Traditionally, the Siamese kingdom ruled from Sukhothai was founded in 1238, an event now taken to mark the founding of the modern Thai nation. Sukhothai, 12km outside New Sukhothai in Tambon Muang Kao province, is now in ruins and is an preserved in the Sukhothai historic park. The kingdom was founded by two chieftains, Pho Khun Pha Muang and Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao. Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao later became the first King of Siam, under the title Pho Khun Si Indrathit or Intradit.
The kingdom expanded by forming alliances with the other Tai kingdoms, and adopted Theravada Buddhism as the state religion with the help of Sri Lankan monks. Intradit was succeeded by his son Pho Khun Ban Muang, who was followed in 1278 by his brother, Pho Khun Ramkhamhaeng. Under King Ramkhamhaeng the Great, as he became known, who ruled for 40 years, Siam enjoyed a golden age of prosperity. Ramkhamhaeng is credited with designing the Thai alphabet (traditionally dated from 1283, on the evidence of the controversial Ramkhamhaeng stele, an inscribed stone bearing the earliest known Thai writing).
At its peak, stretching from Martaban (now in Burma) to Luang Prabang (now in Laos), the kingdom was larger than modern Thailand. Later kings found their power being gradually eroded by the kingdoms of Lan Na to the north and Ayutthaya to the south. Sukhothai became a tributary of the Ayutthaya kingdom between 1365 and 1378, and in 1438 a mere province.
The Ayutthaya Kingdom
The Siamese state based at Ayutthaya in the valley of the Chao Phraya River grew from the earlier kingdom of Lopburi, which it absorbed, and its rise reflected the steady shift southwards of the centre of gravity of the Tai-speaking peoples. From the 15th century onwards the Siamese state was based in the southern regions around modern Bangkok, and the northern areas such as Lan Na and the Lao kingdoms based at Vientiane and Luang Prabang dwindled in importance.
King Ramathibodi I (Uthong) founded Ayutthaya as the capital of his kingdom in 1350 and absorbed Sukhothai in 1376. Over the next four centuries the kingdom expanded to acquire borders similar to those of modern Thailand, except in the north, where Lan Na remained independent. In the south, Siamese rule extended well into what is now Malaysia. Like the earlier Siamese kingdoms, the Ayuthhaya kingdom was engaged in a continuous struggle against its neighbours, the Khmers to the east and the Burmese to the west. The Lao, who from this time became a people recognised as separate from the Siamese, organised the kingdom of Lan Sang, with its capital at Luang Prabang.
The Ayutthaya kingdom had a more complex administrative system than the Siamese had previously seen, traditionally dated from the reign of King Borommatrailokanat (1448-1488), and based on a model imported from India. Ramathibodi I was responsible for the compilation of the Dharmashastra, a legal code based on Hindu sources and traditional Thai custom. The Dharmashastra remained a tool of Thai law until late in the 19th century. A bureaucracy based on a hierarchy of ranked and titled officials was introduced, and society was organised in a manner reminiscient of, though not as strict as, the Indian caste system.
The King was at the apex of Siamese society, a semi-divine figure whose power was associated with the Hindu gods Indra and Vishnu. The French Abbe de Choisy, who came to Ayutthaya in 1685, wrote that, "the king has absolute power. He is truly the god of the Siamese: no-one dares to utter his name." Another 17th century writer, the Dutchman Van Vliet, remarked that the King of Siam was "honoured and worshipped by his subjects more than a god."
Serving the King was an aristocracy of princes (chao) and nobles (khunnang), who ruled over the commoners (phrai) and a large class of slaves. Outside this system to some extent was the Buddhist monkhood, or sangha, which all classes of Siamese men could join. Buddhist monasteries (wats) became the center of Siamese education and culture. All Siamese men were taxed in the form of labour service to local landowners or directly to the state, and were also conscripted during the frequent wars with the Khmers or the Burmese. Slavery for debt was a major social grievance. During this period also the Chinese first began to settle in Siam, and soon began to establish control over the country's economic life: another long-standing social problem.
In 1431 the Siamese defeated the Khmers and sacked Angkor, ending the threat from that direction. But the power of Burma grew more threatening. There were major Burmese invasions in 1558 and 1569. The second invasion captured and looted Ayutthaya and overthrew the ruling dynasty. King Naresuan the Great threw the Burmese out and restored the kingdom's independence. In 1592 there was another invasion, which the Siamese defeated at the Battle of Nong Serai. Under Naresuan's successors, Siam established diplomatic relations with China and Japan as a counterweight to the powerful Burmese kingdom.
Ayutthaya's role as a port made it one of south east Asia's richest cities, and this was another golden age of Siamese culture. Chinese, Indians, and later on Japanese and Persians all settled in Ayutthaya, the Siamese kings welcoming their presence and granting them complete freedom of worship. Many of these foreigners became important court officials, and there was a permanent Muslim presence in the kingdom from this time. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Siam, in 1511. They concluded a treaty in 1516, receiving permission to settle in Ayutthaya and other ports in return for supplying guns, giving Siam a technological advantage over the Burmese. The other European powers soon followed, and the Siamese learned to play them off against each other.
During the reign of King Narai (1656-1688), however, the westerners, particular the French, grew too powerful and triggered a nationalist reaction. French attempts to introduce Christianity gave great offence. In 1688 an anti-French official seized power and drove out the Europeans. But trade soon recovered and western influences were increasingly felt in Ayutthaya and other cities.
During the 18th century Burma, after a period of internal strife, was reunited under the Alaunghphaya dynasty and again adopted an expansionist policy. During the 1760s Burmese armies inflicted severe defeats on the Siamese, who had become complacent after over a century of peace. In April 1767, after a 15-month seige, they captured and burned Ayutthaya, bringing to an end to one of the most politically and culturally important epochs in Thai history.
The ruins of the historic city of Ayutthaya and "associated historic towns" in the Ayutthaya historical park have been listed by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. The city of Ayutthaya was refounded near the old city, and is now capital of the Ayutthaya province.
The Kingdom of Siam
Despite its complete defeat and occupation by Burma, Siam made a remarakbly rapid recovery. The resistance to Burmese rule was led by a noble of Chinese descent, Tak Sin, a capable military leader. Initially based at Chanthaburi in the south-east, within a year he had defeated the Burmese occupation army and re-established a Siamese state with its capital at Thomburi on the west bank of the Chao Phraya, 20km from the sea. In 1768 he was crowned as King Taksin (now officially known as Taksin the Great). He rapidly re-united the Siamese lands under his rule, and in 1769 he also occupied western Cambodia. He then marched south and re-established Siamese rule over the Malay Peninsula as far south as Penang and Trengganu. Having secured his base in Siam, Taksin attacked the Burmese in the north in 1774 and captured Chiang Mai in 1776, permanently uniting Siam and Lan Na. Taksin's leading general in this campaign was Thong Duang, known by the title Chaophraya Chakri. In 1778 Chakri led a Siamese army which captured Vientiane and re-established Siamese domination over Laos.
Despite these successes, by 1779 Taksin was in political trouble at home. He seems to have developed a kind of religious mania, alienating the powerful Buddhist monkhood by claiming to be a sotapanna or divine figure. He also attacked the Chinese merchant class, and foreign observers began to speculate that he would soon be overthrown. In 1782 Taksin sent his armies under Chakri to invade Cambodia, but while they were away a rebellion broke out in the area around the capital. The rebels, who had wide popular support, offered the throne to Chakri. Chakri marched back from Cambodia and deposed Taksin, who was secretly executed shortly after. Chakri ruled under the name Ramathibodi (he was posthumously given the name Phutthayotfa Chulalok), but is now generally known as King Rama I, first king of the Chakri dynasty. One of his first decisions was to move the capital across the river to the village of Bang Makok (meaning "place of olive plums"), which soon became the city of Bangkok. Siam thus acquired both its current dynasty and its current capital.
Rama I restored most of the social and political system of the Ayutthaya kingdom, promulgating new law codes, reinstating court ceremonial and imposing discipline on the Buddhist monkhood. His government was carried out by six great ministries headed by royal princes. Four of these administered various parts of the country, the other two were the ministry of lands and the ministry of the royal court. The army was controlled by the King's brother, known as the Uparat. The Burmese, seeing the disorder accompanying the overthrow of Taksin, invaded Siam again in 1785. Rama allowed them to occupy both the north and the south, but the Uparat led the Siamese army into western Siam and defeated the Burmese in a battle near Kanchanburi. This was the last major Burmese invasion of Siam, although as late as 1802 Burmese forces had to be driven out of Lan Na. In 1792 the Siamese occupied Luang Prabang and brought most of Laos under indirect Siamese rule. Cambodia was also effectively ruled by Siam. By the time of his death in 1809 Rama I had created a Siamese Empire considerably larger than modern Thailand.
The reign of Rama I's son Phuttaloetla Naphalai (now known as King Rama II) was relatively uneventful. The Chakri family now controlled all branches of Siamese government - since Rama I had 42 children, his brother the Uparat had 43 and Rama II had 73, there was no shortage of royal princes to staff the bureacracy, the army, the senior monkhood and the provincial governments. (Most of these were the children of concubines and thus not eligible to inherit the throne.) There was a confrontation with Vietnam, now becoming a major power in the region, over control of Cambodia in 1813, ending with the status quo restored. But during Rama II's reign western influences again began to be felt in Siam. In 1785 the British occupied Penang, and in 1819 they founded Singapore. Soon the British displaced the Dutch and Portuguese as the main western economic and political influence in Siam. The British objected to the Siamese economic system, in which trading monopolies were held by royal princes and businesses were subject to arbitrary taxation. In 1821 the government of British India sent a mission to demand that Siam lift restrictions on free trade - the first sign of an issue which was to dominate 19th century Siamese politics
Rama II died in 1824, and was peacfully succeeded by his son Chetsadabodin, who reigned as King Nangklao, now known as Rama III. Rama II's younger son, Mongkut, was ordered to become a monk to remove him from politics.
In 1825 the British sent another mission to Bangkok. They had by now annexed southern Burma and were thus Siam's neighbours to the west, and they were also extending their control over Malaya. The King was reluctant to give in to British demands, but his advisors warned him that Siam would meet the same fate as Burma unless the British were accommodated. In 1826, therefore, Siam concluded its first commercial treaty with a western power. Under the treaty, Siam agreed to establish a uniform taxation system, to reduce taxes on foreign trade and to abolish some of the royal monopolies. As a result, Siam's trade increased rapidly, many more foreigners settled in Bangkok, and western cultural influences began to spread. The kingdom became wealthier and its army better armed. One consequence was a successful war in Laos, during which Vientiane was burned and the Lao lands formally annexed to Siam. In 1842-45 Siam waged a successful war with Vietnam, which tightened Siamese rule over Cambodia. Rama III's most lasting legacy however, is the magnificent Wat Pho temple complex in Bangkok, which he enlarged and endowed with magnificent new temples.
Rama III regarded his brother Mongkut as his heir, although as a monk Mongkut could not openly assume this role. He used his long sojourn as a monk to acquire a western education from French and American missionaries, one of the first Siamese to do so. He learned English and Latin, and studied science and mathematics. The missionaries no doubt hoped to convert him to Christianity, but in fact he was a strict Buddhist and a Siamese nationalist. He intended using this western knowledge to strengthen and modernise Siam when he came to the throne, which he did in 1851. By the 1840s it was obvious that Siamese independence was in danger from the colonial powers: this was shown dramatically by the British Opium Wars with China in 1839-42. In 1850 the British and Americans sent missions to Bangkok demanding the end of all restrictions on trade, the establishment of a western-style government and immunity for their citizens from Siamese law (extraterritoriality). Rama III's government refused these demands, leaving his successor with a dangerous situation. Rama III said on his deathbed: "We will have no more wars with Burma and Vietnam. We will have them only with the West."
The age of reform
Mongkut came to the throne as Rama IV in 1851, determined to save Siam from colonial domination by forcing modernisation on his reluctant subjects. But although he was in theory an absolute monarch, his power was limited. Having been a monk for 27 years, he lacked a base among the powerful royal princes, and did not have a modern state aparatus to carry out his wishes. His first attempts at reform, to establish a modern system of administration and to improve the status of debt-slaves and women, were frustrated. Rama IV thus came to welcome western pressure on Siam. This came in 1855 in the form of a mission led by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Bowring, who arrived in Bangkok with demands for immediate changes, backed by the threat of force. The King readily agreed to his demand for a new treaty, which restricted import duties to 3 percent, abolished royal trade monopolies, and granted extraterritoriality to British subjects. Other weestern powers soon demanded and got similar concessions
It soon became apparent that the real threat to Siam came from the French, not the British. The British were interested in commercial advantage, the French in building a colonial empire. They occupied Saigon in 1859, and 1867 established a protectorate over southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia. Rama IV hoped that the British would defend Siam if he gave them the economic concessions they demanded. In the next reign this would prove to be an illusion, but it is true that the British saw Siam as a useful buffer state between British Burma and French Indo-China.
Rama IV died in 1868, and was succeeded by his 15-year-old son Chulalongkorn, who reigned as Rama V and is now known as Rama the Great. Rama V was the first Siamese king to have a full western education, having been taught by an English governess, Anna Leonowens - whose place in Siamese history has been fictionalised as The King and I, causing great offence to modern Thais. At first Rama V's reign was dominated by the conservative regent, Chaophraya Suriyawong, but when the King came of age in 1873 he soon took control. He created a Privy Council and a Council of State, a formal court system and budget office. He announced that slavery would be gradually abolished and debt-bondage restricted.
At first the princes and other conservatives successfully resisted the King's reform agenda, but as the older generation was replaced by younger and western-educated princes, resistance faded. The King could always argue that the only alternative was foreign rule. He found powerful allies in his brother Prince Chakkraphat, who he made Finance Minister, and his brother-in-law Prince Devrawongse, Foreign Minister for 38 years. In 1887 Devrawonge vistited Europe to study government systems. On his recommendation the King established Cabinet government, an audit office and an Education Department. The semi-autonomous status of Chiang Mai was ended and the army was reorganised and modernised.
None of this was enough to deter French expanionism, and in 1893 the French authorities in Indo-China used a minor border dispute to provoke a crisis. French gunboats appeared at Bangkok, and demanded the cession of all of Laos east of the Mekong. The King appealed both to international law and to the British, but neither proved to any deterrent to the French. The British minister told the King to settle on whatever terms he could get, and he had no choice but to comply. Britain's only gesture was an agreement with France guaranteeing the integrity of the rest of Siam. In exchange, Siam had to give up its claim to the Tai-speaking Shan region of north-eastern Burma to the British.
The French, however, continued to pressure Siam, and in 1906-07 they manufactured another crisis. This time Siam had to give up territory on the west bank of the Mekong opposite Luang Prabang and around Champasak in southern Laos, and also western Cambodia (to which, it is fair to say, Siam had little real claim). The British interceded to prevent more French bullying of Siam, but their price, in 1909, was the transfer to British Malaya of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu. These were Malay-speaking areas which Siam was probably better off without, but the loss was humiliating nevertheless.
Meanwhile, reform continued apace, increasingly under the control of Rama V's sons, who were all educated in Europe. Railways and telegraph lines united the previously remote and semi-autonomous provinces. The currency was tied to the gold standard and a modern system of taxation replaced the arbitrary exactions and labour service of the past. The biggest problem was the shortage of trained civil servants, and many foreigners had to be employed until new schools could be built and Siamese graduates produced. By 1910, when the King died, Siam had become at least a semi-modern country, and had done enough to avoid colonial rule. Modern Thais are proud to be only nation in south-east Asia to have escaped colonialism. They owe this mainly to the reforming zeal of Rama V and the diplomatic skills of Devrawongse.