Thailand

Prehistory
Main articles: Prehistoric Thailand, Early history of Thailand, and Tai peoples

Map showing geographic distribution of Tai-Kadai linguistic family. Arrows represent

general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes along the rivers and over the
lower passes.[26]:27
There is evidence of continued human habitation in present-day Thailand dated to
20,000 years before present.[27]:4 Earliest evidence of rice growing was dated 2,000
BCE.[26]:4 Bronze appeared during 1,250–1,000 BCE.[26]:4 The site of Ban Chiang in
Northeast Thailand currently ranks as the earliest known center of copper and bronze
production in Southeast Asia.[28] Iron appeared around 500 BCE.[26]:5 Kingdom of
Funan was the first and most powerful South East Asian kingdom at the time (2nd
century BCE).[27]:5 Mon people established principalities of Dvaravati and kingdom
of Hariphunchai in the 6th century. Khmer people established Khmer empire centered
in Angkor in the 9th century.[27]:7 Tambralinga, a Malay state controlling trade through
Malacca Strait, rose in the 10th century.[27]:5 Indochina peninsula was heavily
influenced by the culture and religions of India, starting with the Kingdom of Funan to
the Khmer Empire.[29]
Thai people are in Tai ethnic group, which were characterized by common linguistic
roots.[30]:2 Chinese chronicles first mentioned Tai peoples in 6th century BC. While
there are many assumptions regarding the origin of Tai peoples, David K. Wyatt, a
prominent historian on Thailand, argued that their ancestors which at the present
inhabit Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, India and China came from Điện Biên Phủ area
around 5th and 8th century.[30]:6 Thai people began migrating into present-day
Thailand around 11th century, which Mon and Khmer people occupied at the
time.[31] Thus Thai culture was influenced by Indian, Mon and Khmer cultures.[32]
According to French historian George Cœdès, "The Thai first enter history of Farther
India in the eleventh century with the mention of Syam slaves or prisoners of war
in" Champaepigraphy, and "in the twelfth century, the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat"
where "a group of warriors" are described as Syam.[33]
Early states
Main article: Initial states of Thailand
After the decline of the Khmer Empire and Kingdom of Pagan in the early 13th century,
various states thrived in their place. The domains of Tai people existed from the
northeast of present-day India to the north of present-day Laos and to the Malay
peninsula. During the 13th century, Tai people have already settled in the core land
of Dvaravati and Lavo Kingdom to Nakhon Si Thammarat in the south. There are,
however, no records detailing the arrival of the Tais. Around 1240s, Pho Khun Bang
Klang Hao, a local Tai ruler, rallied the people to rebel against the Khmer. He later
crowned himself the first king of Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238. Mainstream Thai
historians count Sukhothai as the first kingdom of Thai people. Sukhothai expanded
furthest during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng (1279–98). However, it was mostly a
network of local lords who swore fealty to Sukhothai, not directly controlled by it. He is
believed to invent Thai script and Thai ceramics was an important export goods in his
era. Sukhothai embraced Theravada Buddhism in the reign of Maha Thammaracha
I (1347–68).
To the north, Mangrai who descended from a local ruler linage of Ngoenyang, founded
the kingdom of Lan Na in 1292, centered in Chiang Mai. He unified the surrounding
area and his dynasty would rule the kingdom continuously for the next two centuries.
He also created a network of state through political alliance to the east and north
of Mekong. While in the port in Lower Chao Phraya Basin, a federation
around Phetchaburi, Suphan Buri, Lopburi and Ayutthaya area was created in the
11th century.
Ayutthaya Kingdom
Main articles: Ayutthaya Kingdom and Thonburi Kingdom
Ayutthaya's zone of influence and neighbours, c. 1540
According to the most widely accepted version of its origin, Ayutthaya Kingdom rose
from the earlier, nearby Lavo Kingdom and Suvarnabhumi with Uthong as its first king.
Ayutthaya was a patchwork of self-governing principalities and tributary provinces
owing allegiance to the king of Ayutthaya under mandala system. Its initial expansion
is through conquest and political marriage. Before the end of the 15th century,
Ayutthaya invaded Khmer Empire twice and sacked its capital Angkor. Ayutthaya then
became a regional great power in place of Khmer Empire. Constant interference of
Sukhothai effectively made it a vassal state of Ayutthaya and was finally incorporated
in to the kingdom. Borommatrailokkanat brought about bureaucratic reforms which
lasted into the 20th century and created a system of social hierarchy called Sakdina,
where common male was conscripted into corvée for six months a year. Ayutthaya
was interested in Malay peninsula but failed to conquer Malacca Sultanate which was
supported by Chinese Ming Dynasty.
European contact and trade started in the early 16th century, with
the envoy of Portuguese duke Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511, followed by the
French, Dutch, and English. Rivalry for supremacy over Chiang Mai and Mon people
pitted Ayutthaya against Burmese Kingdom. Multiple war with its ruling
dynasty Taungoo Dynasty starting in the 1540s in the reign
of Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung were ultimately ended with capture of the capital in
1570. Then was a period of brief vassalage to Burma until Naresuan proclaimed
independence in 1584.

Painting by Johannes Vingboons of Ayutthaya, c. 1665

Ayutthaya then seek to improve relations with European powers for many successive
reigns. The kingdom especially prospered during cosmopolitan Narai's reign (1656–
88) where some European travelers regarded Ayutthaya as Asian great powers
alongside China and India.[26]:ix However, growing French influence later in his reign
was met with nationalist sentiment and led eventually to the revolution of 1688.
However, overall relations remain stable with French missionaries still active in
preaching Christianity.
After that, there was a period of relative peace but the kingdom's influence gradually
waned, partly because of bloody struggles over each succession, until the capital
Ayutthaya was utterly destroyed in 1767 by Burma's new Alaungpayadynasty.
Anarchy followed destruction of the former capital, with its territories split into five
different factions, each controlled by a warlord. Taksin rose to power and
proclaimed Thonburi as temporary capital in the same year. He also quickly subdued
the other warlords. His forces engaged in wars with Burma, Laos, and Cambodia,
which successfully drove the Burmese out of Lan Na in 1775, captured Vientiane in
1778 and tried to install a pro-Thai king in Cambodia in the 1770s. In his final years
there was a coup which was caused by his supposedly "insanity," and eventually
Taksin and his sons were executed by longtime companion General Chao Phraya
Chakri (future Rama I). He was the first king of the ruling Chakri Dynasty and founder
of Bangkok (Rattanakosin Kingdom) on April 6, 1782.