The region's first distinctive civilization,
Dvaravati
, was established around two thousand years ago by an Austroasiatic-speaking people known as the Mon. One of its mainstays was Theravada Buddhism, which had been introduced to Thailand during the second or third century BC by Indian missionaries. In the eighth century, peninsular Thailand to the south of Dvaravati came under the control of the Srivijaya empire, a Mahayana Buddhist state centred on Sumatra which had strong ties with India.
From the ninth century onwards, however, both Dvaravati and Srivijaya Thailand succumbed to invading
Khmers
from Cambodia, who took control of northeastern, central and peninsular Thailand. They ruled from Angkor and left dozens of spectacular temple complexes throughout the region. By the thirteenth century, however, the Khmers had overreached themselves and were in no position to resist the onslaught of a vibrant new force in Southeast Asia, the Thais.
The earliest Thais
The earliest traceable history of the
Thai people
picks them up in southern China around the fifth century AD, when they were squeezed by Chinese and Vietnamese expansionism into sparsely inhabited northeastern Laos. Their first significant...
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Sukhothai
Some time around 1238, Thais in the upper Chao Phraya valley captured the main Khmer outpost in the region at
Sukhothai
and established a kingdom there. When the young Ramkhamhaeng came to the throne around 1278, he seized control of much of...
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The growth of Ayutthaya
After the death of Ramkhamhaeng around 1299, however, his empire quickly fell apart, and
Ayutthaya
became the capital of the Thai empire. Soon after founding the city in 1351, the ambitious king Ramathibodi united the principalities of the...
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Taksin and Thonburi
Out of this lawless mess emerged
Phraya Taksin
, a charismatic general, who was crowned king in December 1768 at his new capital of
Thonburi
, on the opposite bank of the river from modern-day Bangkok. Within two years, he had...
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The early Bangkok empire: Rama I
With the support of the Ayutthayan aristocracy, Chakri - reigning as
Rama I
(1782-1809) - set about consolidating the Thai kingdom. His first act was to move the capital across the river to what we know as Bangkok, on the more defensible east...
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Rama II and Rama III
The peaceful accession of Rama I's son as
Rama II
(1809-24) signalled the establishment of the Chakri dynasty, which is still in place today. This Second Reign is best remembered as a fertile period for Thai literature; indeed, Rama II himself...
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Mongkut
Rama IV, more commonly known as
Mongkut
(1851-68), had been a Buddhist monk for 27 years when he succeeded his brother. But far from leading a cloistered life, Mongkut had travelled widely throughout Thailand, and had taken an interest in...
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Chulalongkorn
Mongkut's son,
Chulalongkorn
, took the throne as Rama V (1868-1910) at the age of only fifteen, but he was well prepared by an excellent education which mixed traditional Thai and modern Western elements - provided by Mrs Anna Leonowens,...
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The end of absolute monarchy
Chulalongkorn was succeeded by a flamboyant, British-educated prince, Vajiravudh (Rama VI, 1910-25). By the time the young and inexperienced Prajadhipok - seventy-sixth child of Chulalongkorn - was catapulted to the throne as Rama VII (1925-35),...
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Up to World War II
Phibun
emerged as prime minister after the decisive elections of 1938, and a year later officially renamed the country Thailand ("Land of the Free") - Siam, it was argued, was a name bestowed by external forces, and the new title made it...
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Postwar upheavals
With the fading of the military, the election of January 1946 was for the first time contested by organized political parties, resulting in Pridi's becoming prime minister. A new constitution was drafted, and the outlook for democratic, civilian...
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The American (Vietnam) War
Sarit died in 1963, whereupon the military succession passed to General Thanom. His most pressing problem was the
Vietnam War
. The Thais, with the backing of the US, quietly began to conduct military operations in Laos, to which North Vietnam...
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The democracy movement and civil unrest
Poor farmers in particular were becoming increasingly disillusioned with their lot, and many turned against the Bangkok government. At the end of 1964, the Communist Party of Thailand and other groups formed a broad left coalition which soon had the...
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Premocracy
The military-appointed prime minister, Thanin Kraivichien, forced dissidents to undergo anti-communist indoctrination, but his measures seem to have been too repressive even for the military, who forced him to resign in October 1977. General Kriangsak...
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The 1992 demonstrations
The new prime minister was indeed an elected MP, Chatichai Choonhavan. He pursued a vigorous policy of economic development, but this fostered widespread corruption. Following an economic downturn and Chatichai's attempts to downgrade the political role...
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Chuan, Banharn and Chavalit
In the elections on September 13, 1992, the Democrat Party, led by
Chuan Leekpai
, a noted upholder of democracy and the rule of law, gained the largest number of parliamentary seats. Despite many successes through a period of continued...
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The economic crisis
At the start of Chavalit's premiership, the Thai
economy
was already on shaky ground. In February 1997, foreign-exchange dealers began to mount speculative attacks on the baht, alarmed at the size of Thailand's private foreign debt - 250...
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