Thailand Preiod Of Kingdoms
Due to the weakness of Khmer Empire, Thai state had the chance to be independent from this controlling power. The kingdom of Sukhothai was established as an independent sovereign by Pho Khun Si Indrathit in 1238.
1. THE KINGDOM OF SUKHOTHAI
Under the rule of Pho Khun Si Indrathit, Sukhothai Kingdom had ideal political feature called as “father governs children” which allowed everybody directly bring their problems to the king by ringing the bell in front of the palace. However, this kingdom could not last long. In 1365, after the death of King Ramkhamhaeng, Sukhithao went down and then emerged to the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Lanna is another state located in the east and co-existing with Sukhothai. It was founded by King Phya Mangrai with the centre in Chiang Mai. In the long time, Lanna was the close alliance of Sukhothai until Ayutthaya Kingdom had expanded its influence to the Chao Phraya valley, then Chiang Mai became the vassal of Autthaya. The independent time of Lanna Kingdom ended in 1558 when it was defeated and invaded by Burmese.
2. KINGDOM OF AYUTTHAYA
Located on a small island surrounded by three rivers, Ayutthaya Kingdom was endowed with favorable location for political as well as economic development. The founder of Ayutthaya Kingdom was King Ramathibodi. Under the rule of this great King, two important contributions to the Thai history were made. The first was the establishment and promotion of Theravada Buddhism as official religion and the compilation of the legal code which remained as the basics for Thai law until 19th century. During 417 years of existence, Ayutthaya Kingdom has put strong impact on the culture and traditions of Thailand. Despite some frequent internal fighting, Ayutthaya still stayed as the major power in Southeast Asia. Especially, the Ayutthaya was also called as “The golden period of medicine in Thailand” due to important progress in medicine at that time. Finally, in the 18th century, under the attack of Burmese, like Lanna, the Ayutthaya royal line was defeated, putting the end to the Kingdom of Autthaya.
3. KINGDOM OF CHAKRI
After more than 400 years of existence and ruling, the Kingdom of Ayutthaya was finally invaded by Burmese armies leading to the territory split. In 1769, General Taksin reunited the Thai Kingdom and declared himself as the King of Thailand. However, later, under the great stress and many negative factors, King Taksin went into mad. He decided to live a religious life and disappeared in the forest. After the abdication of King Taksin, General Chakri (King Rama I) became the first king of Chakri Dynasty. In the 1790s, Chakri’ army defeated Burma and took over Siam. Since 1782, Chakri Dynasty has ruled the Kingdom of Thailand. After Siam being shifted into, Bangkok has become the capital of Thailand. As many other countries in Southeast Asia, the Kingdom of Chakri was under threat of European colonialism. Due to the signing of numerous treaties with foreign powers during the reign of King Mongkut and King Chulalongkorn, Thailand was the only country in Southeast Asia avoiding European colonialisation.
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