The Thai fought off repeated Burmese invasions — , capped by an elephant duel between King Naresuan and Burmese heir-apparent Mingyi Swa in during the fourth siege of Ayutthaya in which Naresuan famously slew Mingyi Swa.
Naresuan even invaded mainland Burma as far as Taungoo in , but was driven back. Ayutthaya expanded its sphere of influence over a considerable area, ranging from the Islamic states on the Malay Peninsula , the Andaman seaports of present-day India, the Angkor kingdom of Cambodia, to states in northern Thailand.
In the 18th century, the power of the Ayutthaya Kingdom gradually declined as fighting between princes and officials plagued its politics. Outlying principalities became more and more independent, ignoring the capital's orders and decrees. In the 18th century, the last phase of the kingdom arrived. The Bamar people , who had taken control of Lan Na and had also unified their kingdom under the powerful Konbaung Dynasty , launched several blows against Ayutthaya in the s and s.
Finally, in , after several months of siege, the Burmese broke through Ayutthaya's outer and inner walls, sacked the city, and burned it down. The royal family fled the city and Ayutthaya's last king, Ekkathat , died of starvation ten days later while in hiding. After more than years of power, in , the Kingdom of Ayutthaya was brought down by invading Burmese armies, its capital burned, and the territory split. Despite its complete defeat and occupation by Burma, Siam made a rapid recovery.
The resistance to Burmese rule was led by a noble of Chinese descent , Taksin , a capable military leader. In he was crowned as King Taksin now officially known as "Taksin the Great". After the sacking of Ayutthaya, the country had fallen apart, due to the disappearance of the central authority. Besides King Taksin, who had organized his force in the southeastern provinces, Prince Teppipit, King Boromakot's son, who had been unsuccessful in a diversionary action against the Burmese in , had set himself up as the ruler of Phimai holding sway over the eastern provinces including Nakhon Ratchasima or Khorat, while the Governor of Phitsanulok , whose first name was Ruang Thai: North of Phitsanulok was the town of Sawangburi known as Fang in Uttaradit Province , where a Buddhist monk named Ruan had made himself a prince, appointing fellow monks as army commanders.
He had himself pursued Buddhist studies at Ayutthaya with such excellent results that he had been appointed the chief monk of Sawangburi by King Boromakot. The southern provinces as far north as Chumphon , a Pra Palad who was the acting Governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat declared his independence and raised himself to a princely rank. Having firmly established his power at Thonburi, King Taksin set out to reunify the old kingdom, crushing regional rivals. After a temporary repulse by the Governor of Phitsanulok, [20] he concentrated on the defeat of the weakest one first.
Prince Teppipit of Phimai was quelled and executed in The last so-called ruler who still challenged the King was the Prince of Sawangburi or Chao Pra Fang, as he had just annexed Phitsanulok on the death of its Governor. King Taksin himself led an expedition against him and took it, but the prince disappeared and could not be found again. In dealing with the Prince of Nakhon Si Thammarat, who was taken prisoner by the loyal Governor of Pattani , [23] the king not only pardoned him but also favoured him with a residence at Thonburi.
In Thonburi period, the beginning of the Chinese mass immigration fell to Siam. Through the availability of Chinese workers, trade, agriculture and craftsmen flourished. However, the first Chinese rebellions had to be suppressed. However, later due to stress and many factors, King Taksin went mad. In the same year he founded a new capital city across the Chao Phraya River in an area known as Rattanakosin Island. While settlements on both banks were commonly called Bangkok , both the Burney Treaty of and the Roberts Treaty of refer to the capital as the City of Sia-Yut'hia.
The king of the new dynasty was installed as a tributary ruler of the Chakri monarch. After the coup of removing Taksin, it is probable that Chakri and his family had planned the ascent to the throne already during his predecessor Taksin. After his coronation , he operated a systematic bloody extermination of the followers of Taksin, which corresponds to the typical approach of the usurpers in Thai history.
The new dynasty moved the capital of Thonburi to Rattanakosin , today's Bangkok. Bangkok had previously been a small settlement with a fort, but it was strategically located on the eastern shores of the Chao Phraya river and was known among the foreign traders as the 'key to Siam'. New palaces and temples were built. The king's goal was to transfer the old splendor of Ayutthaya to the new capital. In his new capital, Rama I crowned himself in in a splendid ceremony. During the reign of Rama I, the foreign policy was still focused on the threat represented by Burma.
Burma's new king Bodawpaya ordered the nine Burmese armies in a surprise attack against Siam, while in the Burmese army invaded the Three Pagoda Pass. It came to the " Nine Armies' Wars ". In all cases, the Siamese remained victorious after the fighting. In Lanna North Thailand was largely brought under control of Bangkok.
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Rama I also attempted unsuccessfully to conquer the important trading ports of Tenasserim. At the time of Rama I, Cambodia was practically administered as a province of Siam, as rival Vietnam had to deal with internal problems. Only when the new Vietnamese emperor Gia Long had ascended to the throne was the influence of Siam in Cambodia again contested. Relations with Vietnam took on a prominent place in this epoch. There were no significant relations with the European colonial powers during the reign of Rama I.
One of the most important achievements of Rama I was the codification of all the country's laws into a work of 1, pages called the Three Seals Law. This law remained valid in its basic traits until the beginning of the twentieth century. Siam also had a high level of cultural achievement. The arts were promoted, as well as the construction of new palaces and temples in the capital. Literature and theater also thrived; in this epoch were produced works such as the important, 3,page Ramakian. Rama I, the first king of the Chakri dynasty , continued the traditions of Ayutthaya in many respects.
However, the new empire was still more tightly centralized than its predecessors. A particularly important innovation was the stronger emphasis on rationality in the relationship between the monarch and his subjects. Rama I was the first king in the history of the country who justified his decisions before the highest officials. His accession to the throne was accompanied by a plot, during which 40 people were killed. The calmness of the interior and the exterior, which during the reign of Rama II and his successor Rama III Phra Nang Klao , prevailed mainly through giving in to conflicts and building good relations influential clans in the country.
During Rama II's reign, the kingdom saw a cultural renaissance after the massive wars that plagued his predecessor's reign; particularly in the fields of arts and literature. Foreign relations were initially dominated by relations with the neighboring states, while those with European colonial powers started to enter in the background. In the s, however, the Khmer themselves succeeded in expelling the Vietnamese, which subsequently led to the greater influence of Siam in Cambodia.
At the same time, Siam kept sending tribute to China. There was a serious touch with British colonial interests when Siam conquered the Sultanate Kedah on the Malay Peninsula in Kedah belonged to the sphere of interest of Great Britain. In the following year, Siam had to recognize the pre-conquest status after tough negotiations with the British envoy John Crawfurd. There was also the cautious resumption of trade and missionary activity in this epoch.
In an agreement was signed with British emissary Henry Burney ; Siam recognized British colonial possessions on the Malay Peninsula and made commercial concessions. They were, however, destroyed, which strengthened the position of Siam in Laos. The Lao-population of the areas west of the Mekong were relocated to Thai provinces in Isan.
The reign of Rama III. A small group of advocates of the takeover of Western technologies and other achievements were opposed by conservative circles, which proposed a stronger isolation instead. When King Mongkut ascended the Siamese throne, he was severely threatened by the neighboring states. The colonial powers of Britain and France had already advanced into territories which originally belonged to the Siamese sphere of influence. Mongkut and his successor Chulalongkorn Rama V recognized this situation and tried to strengthen the defense forces of Siam by modernization, to absorb Western scientific and technical achievements, thus avoiding colonization.
The two monarchs, who ruled in this epoch, were the first with Western formation. King Mongkut had lived 26 years as a wandering monk and later as an abbot of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara. He was not only skilled in the traditional culture and Buddhist sciences of Siam, but he had also dealt extensively with modern western science, drawing on the knowledge of European missionaries and his correspondence with Western leaders and the Pope. He was the first Siamese monarch to speak the English language. Under the influence of Britain's achievements in neighboring Burma, King Mongkut signed the so-called " Bowring Treaty ", which abolished the royal foreign trade monopoly, abolished import duties, and granted Britain a most favorable clause.
The Bowring Treaty meant the integration of Siam into the world economy, but at the same time, the royal house lost its most important sources of income. Similar treaties were concluded with all Western powers in the following years, such as in with Prussia and with Austria-Hungary.
The survival diplomacy, which Siam had cultivated abroad for a long time, reached its climax in this epoch. The integration into the global economy meant to Siam that it became a sales market for Western industrial goods and an investment for Western capital. King Mongkut actively promoted the expansion of agricultural land by tax incentives, while the construction of traffic routes canals, roads and later also railways and the influx of Chinese immigrants allowed the agricultural development of new regions.
Mongkut's son, Chulalongkorn Rama V , ascended to the throne in He was the first Siamese king to have a full Western education, having been taught by a British governess, Anna Leonowens , whose place in Siamese history has been fictionalised as The King and I. At first Rama V's reign was dominated by the conservative regent, Somdet Chaophraya Sri Suriwongse , but when the king came of age in 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. The two kings, Mongkut and Chulalongkorn, witnessed both France and Great Britain continue to expand their colonial territories in Southeast Asia and encircle Siam. From the west, the British conquered India , Burma and Malaya , and from the east, the French conquered South Vietnam , Vietnam and claimed to be "protecting" Cambodia , while Siam lost its extraterritorial rights in these areas to the new conquerors.
The construction of Kra Isthmus Canal , which a group of entrepreneurs pursued around the engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps , did not occur after British intervention. A major event was the Paknam incident , when, on July 13, , French cannon boats headed the Chao Phraya River toward Bangkok and were fired by the Siamese coastal fort, which led to the Franco-Siamese War. In the same year, Siam was compelled to conclude a treaty with France, in which the territory of Laos, located east of the Mekong , was annexed to French Indochina.
The French forced Siam to refrain from any influence on its former vassal state. In , the Indo-Chinese Union was founded. In , British and French concluded a treaty which made a border between their colonies, and Siam was defined as buffer state. After the Franco-Siamese War , King Chulalongkorn realized the threat of the western colonial powers, and made an intention to accelerated the extensive reforms in the administration, the military, the economy and society. This thus ended the development of Siam from a traditional feudalist structure based on personal domination and dependencies, whose peripheral areas were only indirectly bound to the central power the King , to a centrally-governed national state with established borders and modern political institutions.
The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of defined the modern border between Siam and British Malaya , The treaty stated that Siam relinquished their claims over Kelantan , Terengganu , Kedah and Perlis to Great Britain , which were previously part of the semi-independent Malay sultanates of Pattani and Kedah. A series of treaties with France fixed the country's current eastern border with Laos and Cambodia. In , and , there were new border corrections in favor of France and Great Britain. When King Chulalongkorn died in , Siam had the borders of today's Thailand.
In he was peacefully succeeded by his son Vajiravudh , who reigned as Rama VI. Indeed, one of Siam's problems was the widening gap between the Westernised royal family and upper aristocracy and the rest of the country. It took another 20 years for Western education to extend to the rest of the bureaucracy and the army. He had studied law and history as the Siamese crown prince in Great Britain. After his ascension to the throne, he forgave important officials for his devoted friends, who were not part of the nobility, and even less qualified than their predecessors, an action which had hitherto been unprecedented in Siam.
In his reign many changes were made, which brought Siam closer to modern countries. For example, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, all the citizens of his country had to accept a Family names , women were encouraged to wear skirts and long hair fringements and a citizenship law, Principle of the " Ius sanguinis " was adopted.
In the Chulalongkorn University was founded and school education was introduced for all 7 to year-olds. King Vajiravudh was a favor of literature, theater, he translated many foreign literatures into Thai. He created the spiritual foundation for a kind of Thai nationalism , a phenomenon unknown in Siam. He was based on the unity of nation, Buddhism, and kingship, and demanded loyalty from his subjects to all these three institutions. King Vajiravudh also took refuge in an irrational and contradictory anti-Sinicism. As a result of the mass immigration, in contrast to previous immigration waves from China, women and entire families had also come into the country, which meant that the Chinese were less assimilated and retained their cultural independence.
In an article published by King Vajiravudh under a pseudonym, he described the Chinese minority as Jews of the East. King Vajiravudh also created some new social associations, for example, the Wild Tiger Corps , a kind of Scout movement. In , a Palace revolt , plotted by young military officers, tried unsuccessfully to overthrow and replace the king. The members of the conspiracy consisted of military and the navy, the status of the monarchy, had become challenged. Siam's token participation in World War I secured it a seat at the Versailles Peace Conference , and Foreign Minister Devawongse used this opportunity to argue for the repeal of the 19th-century unequal treaties and the restoration of full Siamese sovereignty.
The United States obliged in , while France and Britain delayed until This victory gained the king some popularity, but it was soon undercut by discontent over other issues, such as his extravagance, which became more noticeable when a sharp postwar recession hit Siam in There was also the fact that the king had no son. He obviously preferred the company of men to women a matter which of itself did not much concern Siamese opinion, but which did undermine the stability of the monarchy due to the absence of heirs.
Thus when Rama VI died suddenly in , aged only 44, the monarchy was already in a weakened state. He was succeeded by his younger brother Prajadhipok.
By —, Siamese extraterritorial rights were restored a period of five years thereafter. A small circle from the rising bourgeoisie of former students all of whom had completed their studies in Europe - mostly Paris , supported by some military men, seized power from the absolute monarchy on June 24, in an almost nonviolent revolution. This was also called the " Siamese Revolution ".
The group, which called themselves Khana Ratsadon or sponsors , gathered officers, intellectuals and bureaucrats, who represented the idea of the refusal of the absolute monarchy. The Khana Ratsadon installed a constitutional monarchy with Prajadhipok as king at the top - a corresponding constitution was proclaimed on 10 December of the year.
On the same day, the experienced and rather conservative lawyer Phraya Manopakorn Nititada , was appointed as first Siamese Prime Minister. By selecting a non-party head of government, the Khana Ratsadon wanted to avoid the suspicion that the coup had only been carried out in order to come to power itself.
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However, the overthrow of the monarchy did not lead to free elections, political unions were forbidden. Bureaucracy and the military shared the power in the National Assembly. The constitution was annexed to the monarchist ideology "nation, religion, king" as a fourth pillar. In the following period it became clear how heterogeneous the group of Khana Ratsadon was, and it fell into several rival wings, especially those of the high officers, the younger officers and the civilians. For the predecessor of the liberal and civilian wing, Pridi Phanomyong it was not done with the mere change of government form.
He sought a profound transformation of the country's social and economic system. To this end, he presented an economic plan in January , which became known as a "Yellow Cover Dossier" Thai: Among other things, he proposed the nationalization of farmland, Industrialization by Public Company , general health care and pension insurance. Fearing that Pridis's liberal wing, who had the majority in the National Assembly, would decide to take a decision, Phraya Manopakorn dissolved the parliament in April, imposed the emergency, and rescinded the constitutional part, which had not yet been a year old.
He imposed a law against Communist activities, which was directed not so much against the almost insignificant Communist Party of Thailand , but rather against the alleged Communist projects Pridis. In his reign, the younger officers of the Khana Ratsadon, chiefly their leader Phibunsongkhram , played a decisive role.
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Pridi Phanomyong was expelled from the charge of communism, but his economic plan was largely ignored. Only a few of his ideas, such as the expansion of primary schools and industrialization with state enterprises, were gradually implemented. In , Pridis founded the Thammasat University in Bangkok, which with its liberal self-image has remained a symbol of freedom and democracy.
At the same time, the nationalist group led by Phibunsongkhram strengthened in the People's Party, oriented to the totalitarian ideas of Italy, Germany, Japan, but also the "young Turks" Kemal Ataturk. The many unsettled constitutional roles of the crown and the dissatisfaction with Khana Ratsadon's seizure of power culminated in October in a counter-coup, the Boworadet Rebellion staged by royalist factions. The royalists were led by Prince Boworadet , a grandson of Mongkut and one-time minister of defence, led an armed revolt against the government.
He mobilised various provincial garrisons and marched on Bangkok, capturing the Don Muang Aerodrome along the way, this led Siam into small-scale civil War, The prince accused the government of disrespecting the king and promoting communism, and he demanded that the government leaders resign. He had hoped that some of the garrisons in the Bangkok area would join the revolt, but they remained loyal to the government.
Meanwhile, the navy declared itself neutral and left for its bases in the south. After heavy fighting in the northern outskirts of Bangkok, the royalists were finally defeated and Prince Boworadet left for exile in French Indochina. After the Boworadet rebellion, King Prajadhipok abdicated the throne and left Siam never to return, he exiled in Britain, He was replaced as king by his nine-year-old nephew Prince Ananda Mahidol King Rama VIII , who at that time was attending school in Lausanne , Switzerland , the Khana Ratsadon believing that he would be more pliable than Prajadhipok.
After the Boworadet Rebellion, Plaek Pibulsonggram influences over politics increased, to purge the country of his political enemies and rivals one of them just happened to be Phraya Songsuradet. Phraya Songsuradet was a supporter of Phraya Manopakorn and many of his companions were barred from politics for life by Phibun.
When Phibulsonggram succeeded Phraya Phahon as Prime Minister of Thailand on the 11 September , there were many resistance to his premiership based on his dictatorial style and cronyism. The military, now led by Major General Phibun as Defence Minister, and the civilian liberals led by Pridi as Foreign Minister, worked together harmoniously for several years, but when Phibun became prime minister in December this co-operation broke down, and military domination became more overt.
In , Phibunsongkhram , an open supporter of Mussolini and Hitler, began moving the government towards the right. By he had issued a series of cultural decrees' ' ratthaniyom ' or Thai cultural mandates, which reflected the desire for social modernization, but also an authoritarian and exaggerated nationalist spirit. This was directed against the ethnic diversity in the country Malay, Chinese, Lao, Shan, etc.
Other decrees urged the citizens only to call themselves "Thai", urged the use of regional dialects and other languages, demanded respect for the flag, the national and royal anthem, and the purchase of Thai products. Chinese names had to be changed into Thai ones, and candidates for the military academy had to prove that they were "pure-blooded" Thais. Finally, the use of Western clothing and customs including hats for men and women, gloves and high heels for women, the man should kiss the woman before he went to work was prescribed.
The defeat of France in Battle of France was the catalyst for Thai leadership to begin an attack on French colonies in Indochina. This began with smaller conflicts in and resulted in the Franco-Thai War in It had to accept a heavy defeat in the sea Battle of Ko Chang , but it dominated on land and in the air. The Empire of Japan , already the dominant power in the Southeast Asian region, took over the role of the mediator. In celebration of the victory, Phibun called himself Than phu nam Thai: After the Franco-Thai war ended, the Thai government declared neutrality.
When the Japanese invaded Thailand on 8 December , a few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor , Japan demanded the right to move troops across Thailand to the Malayan frontier. Phibun turned crisis into opportunity by ordering an armistice. Shortly thereafter Japan was granted free passage, and on 21 December , Thailand and Japan signed a military alliance.
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Subsequently, Thailand undertook to "assist" Japan in its war against the Allies. Phibun was forced to order a general ceasefire after just one day of resistance and allow the Japanese armies to use the country as a base for their invasions of Burma and Malaya. South Africa and New Zealand declared war on Thailand on the same day. Australia followed soon after. Pridi Phanomyong was appointed acting regent for the absent King Ananda Mahidol , while Direk Jayanama , the prominent foreign minister who had advocated continued resistance against the Japanese, was later sent to Tokyo as an ambassador.
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