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Welcome To Thailand
Brief History
The word "Thai" means free, and therefore Thailand means
the "land of the free". Previously the country was
well-known to the world as "siam" and only on May 11,
1949 did an official proclamation changed the name of
the country into " Prathet Thai" or "Thailand" by which
it has since come to be known throughout the world.
In childhood, our school textbooks told us that our
ancestors had their roots in Southern China where they
originated some 4,500 years ago. Under pressure from
China, they moved southward through Burma down to the
Indo-Chinese peninsula, the "Thai Noi" then established
their capital in Sukhothai, the northern province of
Thailand.
Now there are conflicting opinions and theories about
the origin of the Thais since the discovery of many
instruments and artifacts at the village of Ban Chiang
in Nong Han District of the northeastern province of
Udon Thani. The theory about the origin of the Thai
people has now changed, it appears that the Thais might
have first settled down here in Thailand and later
scattered to various parts of Asia, even to some parts
of China.
The controversy over the origin of the Thais shows no
sign of definite conclusion as many more theories have
been put forward and some even go further to say that
the Thais were originally of Austronesian rather than
Mongoloid. What the outcome of the dispute may be, by
the 13th century the Thais had already settled down
within the Southeast Asian mainland with Sukhothai as
the "first kingdom". The Sukhothai era marked a period
of great cultural development. Under King Ramkhamhaeng
the Great who ruled from 1275 to 1315, the land of
Sukhothai was thriving. There were fish in the water and
rice in the fields. Due to the kingdom's prosperity, it
is regarded as a "golden age" in the Thai history.
Then in the 1350, a new dynasty led by King Ramathibodi
I (Uthong) established a new capital at Ayutthaya, and
in 1378 during the reign of King Borommaracha I,
Sukhothai was subdued to become a tributary state of
Ayutthaya. The Ayutthaya kingdom survived several wars
with Burma before falling to the invading Burmese in
1767.
Following this defeat, the Thais led by King Taksin
retreated south and established another capital at Thon
Buri. On his death in 1782, the King was succeeded by
King Phra Buddha Yodfah Chulaloke (Rama I) who moved the
capital across the river to the present location in
Bangkok as Thon Buri was too vulnerable to Burmese
attack. The King founded the Chakri dynasty which rules
the country to the present day.
