Historic Overview Of Thailand

One of the world’s first Bronze Age civilisations was established in the Mekong valley in Thailand, about 5600 years ago. Gradually, over the centuries immigrants (Thais, Mons and Khmers) entered the area and by the 12th century, the Khmers held dominion over most of the region.

By the early 13th century, the Thais had set up small city-states- Lanna, Phayao and Sukhothai (which means "Dawn of Happiness") in northern Thailand. Sukhothai later became the first truly independent Thai kingdom, when, in 1238, two Thai chieftains rebelled against their Khmer overlords. Sukhothai prospered tremendously over the next few decades, and oversaw the expansion of the kingdom till the Chao Phraya river. Simultaneously, Buddhism became the religion of the people, and Thai art forms too started to take shape. However, by the 1300s, Sukhothai declined and had to give way to the kingdom of Ayutthaya, further south. Established in 1350, Ayutthaya lasted only till 1767, when Burmese invaders destroyed it, thus causing a severe blow to the Thais, who rallied around, and within a few months, succeeded in ousting the Burmese.

In 1782, the first king of the Chakri dynasty (the present ruling house) established the new capital, Bangkok. His descendants, most notably, King Mongkut (Rama IV) and King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), between 1851 and 1910, managed to protect the country from western imperialism, while allowing selective modernisation, a trend which has continued in the years since then.