Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Burmese in 1556 and was later eclipsed by Sukhothai and Ayuthaya as the progen-
itor of the modern Thai state.
Sukhothai Kingdom
Then just a frontier town on the westernmost edge of the ailing Khmer empire, Suk-
hothai expelled the distant power in the mid-13th century and crowned the local
chief as the first king. But it was his son Ramkhamhaeng who led the city-state to
become a regional power with dependencies in modern-day Laos and southern
Thailand. The city-state's local dialect (known as Siamese Tai) became the lan-
guage of the ruling elite and the king is credited for inventing an early version of the
script used today. Sukhothai replaced Chiang Mai as a centre of Theravada
Buddhism on mainland Southeast Asia. The monuments that were built and created
many surviving monuments that helped define a distinctive architectural style. After
his death, however, Ramkhamhaeng's empire disintegrated. In 1378 Sukhothai be-
came a tributary of Ayuthaya.
Ayuthaya Kingdom
Close to the Gulf of Thailand, the city-state of Ayuthaya grew rich and powerful from
the international sea trade. The legendary founder was King U Thong, one of 36
kings and five dynasties that steered Ayuthaya through a 416-year lifespan.
Ayuthaya presided over an age of commerce in southeast Asia. Its main exports
were rice and forest products, and many commercial and diplomatic foreign mis-
sions set up headquarters outside the royal city.
Ayuthaya adopted Khmer court customs, honorific language and ideas of king-
ship. The monarch styled himself as a Khmer
devaraja
(divine king) instead of the
Sukhothai ideal of
dhammaraja
(righteous king). Ayuthaya paid tribute to the
Chinese emperor, who rewarded this ritualistic submission with generous gifts and
commercial privileges.
Ayuthaya's reign was constantly under threat from the expansionist Burmese.
The city was occupied in 1569 but later liberated by King Naresuan. In 1767
Burmese troops successfully sacked the capital and dispersed the Thai leadership
into the hinterlands. The destruction of Ayuthaya remains a vivid historical event in
the nation, and the tales of court life are as evocative as the stories of King Arthur.
