It is said that Thailand was the only Southeast Asian country that survived the onslaught of western colonialism, which swept the world between the 15^th and 19^th centuries. That itself is a provocative food for thought.

Thailand also emerged relatively unscathed from World War II, as it immediately pledged alliance with Japan after coming under a five-day invasion by Japan in 1941.

There had to be a way that Thailand was unique as a nation in surviving the disastrous currents of history. With these two points in mind, I learned something about Thailand’s history.

A Brief History of Thailand

Early Settlement

In times beyond immemorial, there were early settlement in this area of Southeast Asia by the prehistoric humans. The fossils of the Lampang man dated to one million to 500,000 years ago, suggesting that the early Homo erectus have found it home here.

Perhaps as early as 2000 B.C., what were akin to civilizations showed their traces in the excavated artefacts consisting of skilled metallurgy, such as complex bronze instruments. This historical fact suggests that the Bronze Age had a flourishing presence in this part of the world as well.

Modern day Thailand is a large mass of land in the north with a southern coast, and a panhandle in the southwest that would extend to the Malaysian Peninsula. Its long southern coastline enables the maritime trade that was a lifeline for multiple kingdoms in its history.

At this part of the world, Thailand falls within the center of a melting pot, where the sweeping influences of various ancient religions and cultures slowly bound themselves together and resulted in myriad expressions of norms, practices and faiths of the modern Thai’s. Between 2000 B.C. and 1000 A.D., Thailand was part of the maritime jade trade for three thousand years. The traveling merchants from India was the great driving force that introduced Hinduism and Buddhism to Southeast Asia.

The Emergence of Strong Powers and Influences

The first known kingdom in Thailand’s history was Funan, existing as early as 1^st century B.C. (or even earlier, in 4^th century B.C.). There was little known of Funan that is definitive, but the Indianization of this kingdom that spanned parts of modern-day Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia is beyond contest. Scholars have found evidence that the Funan kingdom engaged in heavy maritime trade, with control of part of an established sea route that went from India to China via the Gulf of Siam. Furthermore, it had a sophisticated bureaucracy that hired Brahmin clerks for administration, and the language of the court was Sanskrit. This kingdom had fallen by 6^th century A.D.

The Mon people would be the first in Southeast Asia to adopt Buddhism. Between 6^th and 11^th centuries, the Mon kingdoms were known to be Dvarati and they contended for influence in this part of the world against the Srivijaya Empire, which was based in Sumatra and had vast influence in the southern part of modern day Thailand and the Malay peninsula. Maritime trade was also critical for Srivijaya.

A History of Migration by the Tai People

The modern country of Thailand began with the migration of Tai people, who are the ancestors of the Thai people today. There are contesting theories about where the Tai people originated. The older generation of historians believed that the Tai people moved from southwestern China into this land mass by the ocean. The scholars now believe that the Tai people came from northern Vietnam, in the Dien Bien Phu area. Whatever the origin was, the Tai people’s migration would go on between the 8^th and 10^th centuries.

Between the 9^th and 13^th centuries, the Khmer kingdom rose to dominance. The Khmer kingdom had a territory that extended about half of modern-day Thailand. As opposed to the Mon people, who were predominantly Buddhists, the Khmers were heavily influenced by Hinduism, as the world-famous Angkor Wat attests. The Tai people then began to borrow these ideas of the Khmers, from royal etiquettes to literature and dance.

As the Khmer empire declined and fell during the 13^th to 14^th centuries, there followed a period of various states in the area, known as the Tai, Mon, Khmer and Malay Kingdoms. The Tai kingdom would eventually prevail. The first unified Thai kingdom that would lay the foundation for the development of the country that would be known as Siam was established in the mid 14^th century.

A Thai Identity – The Thai Kingdoms that will Define the Modern Nation

The Sukhothai Kingdom

The Sukhothai kingdom existed between 1238 and 1438 following the Tai people’s revolt against the Khmer kingdom. Sukhothai was the capital of this kingdom. The era is known for the development of art, architecture and governance, with particular emphasis on the embrace of Theravada Buddhism (as opposed to Mahayana Buddhism) from Ceylon. Theravada Buddhism was established as the official state religion at this time. Most Thai people today still abide by Theravada Buddhism.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom

The Ayutthaya kingdom was established in 1351 and ushered in an age of glory for this part of Southeast Asia. With territorial expansion centered along Menam, the Ayuthaya kingdom would eventually overtake the influence of the Sukhothai kingdom. In 1431, the rising kingdom invaded Angkor, resulting in the Khmer abandoning it. The kingdom instituted a system of governance that balanced central authority with local autonomy, maintaining the room for growth in its regions.

Ayutthaya would prove itself to be a thriving center for trade in Asia with the network of riverways within its ever-expanding territory. This would be the opening by which European involvement began in this part of the world.

Soon enough, Siam would be known to the European powers as it caught on with the world relations that would necessitate significant modernization in Asia. The Chakri dynasty of Siam followed the heels of the fall of the Ayutthaya kingdom.

Sources

Britannica on the History of Thailand.

Thailandembassy.org on Thailand History.

www.thethailandlife.com on A Brief History of Thailand.

The Wikipedia on History of Thailand

The Wikipedia on Bronze Age.

The Wikipedia on Funan.