Ancient history of Thailand

In the central northern region of modern-day Thailand, the establishment of Sukhothai as the capital in 1238 can, in many respects, be regarded as the birth of the prototype Thai nation itself. Sukhothai was founded as the great Khmer empire, which had held sway for thousands of years, went into decline. Some Thais sentimentally perceive this era to have been a cultural golden age in Thailand’s history.

In 1350 King Uthorn established another Thai capital, which eventually overshadowed Sukhothai, at Ayuthaya (just north of present-day Bangkok). Ayuthaya held sway for over two centuries and was an extremely prosperous city. Thailand has a history of incessant warfare with Burma, and during this era they remained arch enemies. Eventually, in 1767 the Burmese totally destroyed Ayuthaya city after a prolonged siege. The Siamese (later known as Thais) regrouped and managed to expel the Burmese, but the great city was never rebuilt.

A new era in Thailand history

The new king founded a new capital on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River at Thonburi. Then 1782 saw the start of a new era in Thailand history. The new capital at Thonburi was moved across the river to its present site at Bangkok. The still-ruling Chakri Dynasty was then founded under King Rama I.

Thailand history in the 19th Century

During the 19th century, while the rest of SE Asia was being colonised, Siam (as Thailand was formerly known) managed to remain independent. By deftly playing off one European power against another King Mongkut (Rama IV) and Chulalongkorn (Rama V) managed to obtain many of the material benefits of colonialisation. This time saw an expansion of the road network and the introduction of railways, as well as many western-based reforms.

Modern Thailand history in short

More recently Thailand has been rocked between military dictatorships and democratic movements by a series of coup d’etat. In 1932 a peaceful coup against absolute monarchy led to the development of a constitutional monarchy. Three years later the king abdicated to retire in Britain and his nephew, Ananda, was promoted to the throne as Rama VII, though he didn’t return from school in Switzerland until 1945. The country officially became known as Thailand in 1949. His Majesty King Bhumibol (Rama IX) is now on the throne as the world’s longest reigning monarch.

From 1964 to 1973 the Thai nation was ruled by army officers with dictatorial power. Reacting to political repression many thousands of Thai students publicly demanded a genuine constitution in June 1973. In October of the same year the military brutally repressed a demonstration at Thammasat University in Bangkok. His Majesty King Bhumibol (Rama IX) and General Krit Sivara, who sympathised with the students, refused to support further bloodshed and forced the ruling dictators to leave Thailand.

Oxford-educated Kukrit Pramoj took charge of the new government. But his leftist agenda was to be a short-lived experiment. The government was continually plagued by factionalism and nobody was surprised when the military took over again. Elections were held in 1979 and a period of stability followed. The country enjoyed strong economic growth throughout the1980s. In February 1991, reasoning a corrupt government, the military regained control again through a bloodless coup. But then, during bloody demonstrations in Bangkok in May 1992 scores of people died and many more were injured. This led to the reinstatement of a civilian government led by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. Although respected for his honesty Leekpai achieved little, and in 1996 he lost to Banharm Silaparcha. Barnham was never popular with the Thai media and, amid corruption scandals, his government soon collapsed, to be replaced by Chavalit Yongchayudh. Chavalit was forced to leave office due to lack of confidence during the general SE Asia economic meltdown in 1997, during which time the Thai currency lost 40% of its value against the US dollar. By early 1998 the Thai baht had restabilised.