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INTRODUCTION TO THAILAND # 2
The first true Thais had arrived in Thailand by as early as the ninth century. They developed villages and principalities in lands controlled by the Khmer to whom they
were subservient. The majority of the Thai people at this time lived in central and southern China, but the arrival of the conquering Monguls quickly changed this.
Forced by these invaders to leave their homes in China, they began to migrate in large numbers to the south. By the thirteenth century, the Thai population was
sufficient for them to rebel against their Khmer rulers and found the first Thai kingdom of Sukothai (the Dawn of Happiness).
This was a very important and much cherished development in Thai history. Ramkhamhaeng, the second ruler of Sukothai, is one of the greatest men in the history of
Thailand. He was responsible militarily for the expansion of Sukothai’s territory in all directions. More important, however, was his introduction of a written language to
match the spoken Thai language and introduction of Theravada Buddhism.
The Sukothai period ended with the emergence of a new Thai kingdom at Ayudhya in the Chao Phya valley of central Thailand. The first ruler of Ayudhya, King
Ramathivodi, managed to defeat the Khmer who had ruled the area, unite all of Thailand and promulgate a set of codified laws for his country. The Kingdom of
Thailand was ruled for over 400 years from Ayudhya. These were years of artistic development, foreign contact, increasing wealth and nationalism, but, not of peace.
Almost endless wars were fought with either the Burmese of Khmer. Great battles were won and lost, territory was captured and recaptured, but all remained basically
unchanged. Then in 1767 disaster struck. After laying siege to the city for 2 years, a Burmese army entered the capitol and destroyed it. Treasures were stolen,
records burned, buildings destroyed, and the people slaughtered or taken as slaves When the Burmese left, this city, which had been one of the most important and
beautiful in Asia, was nearly deserted. Of the nearly 1 million people who had lived there, only 10 thousand remained. The ruin of the Thai nation seemed
almost complete.
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