History of Thailand - from ancient times to the present

Content:

• The Birth and Formation of a New Country
• Ayutthaya period
• Of kings and kingdoms
• Siam-Thailand in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

The ancient history of Thailand is sometimes as mysterious as the country itself. Scientists all over the world struggle over its mysteries, but not everyone in Siam gives the keys to its secrets.

For thousands of years, what is now Thailand was covered with impenetrable jungle. Roads through these thickets were built by the then monopolists in this industry, the elephants. Their trails were also used by other animals and, later, by humans.

The fertile territory came to the taste of the first people in the history of Thailand a long time ago - five hundred thousand years ago, who inhabited the territory of Siam already whole civilized tribes. If scientists believe it was a man upright, and he lived in the northwestern part of the country. Ten thousand years ago, these tribes left the first cave paintings in Thailand.

In addition to painting, they were engaged in agriculture and pottery, as well as quite successfully processed metal. There is an assumption that later the technology of metal processing of these tribes migrated to China, but where the settlers themselves went is not known for certain.

It is believed that the modern people of Thailand descended from immigrants from China, referred to in history as the tribes of "Tai" (泰; pinyin: tài) means "Dawn. Migrants migrated deep into the new land along riverbeds for several centuries until they reached the Khmer Empire with its capital city of Angkor. By the way, the mysterious Angkor, forgotten in the jungle and overgrown with vines, still exists. You can hardly find a more mysterious and enigmatic place on earth, exactly created for the adventure plots of books and movies. Once a prosperous city with the highest level of culture was abandoned by its inhabitants to the will of fate and Mother Nature. The latter gradually destroys the stone, and with it the traces of human presence in its bosom.

But back to the ancient Thais, also known as Protais. The first Thais appear in the chronicles as Siamese. The Thais quickly reached a fairly high level of culture, had a well-developed social organization, and after some time the newcomers began to play a very important role in the life of the Khmer Empire. They maintained active communication with both the locals and the other tribes, and thus rose high in the level of their culture and social life.

The Birth and Formation of a New Country

The history of Thailand as a whole is very peaceful. There are practically no bloody coups and heavy wars, although there have been some armed conflicts. Having settled in Khmer territory, the Siamese first achieved autonomy, and as early as 1238 independence. All, naturally, peacefully and without bloody civil wars. Having received the long-awaited freedom and independence, the Thais founded their own state - Sukhothai, as it is called traditionally, or Sukhothai, as it sounds in the modern transcription.

It was located in the north of the central plains territories. Small separate Thai principalities arose also in the northern part of Thailand (Lanna Principality), in the south of present-day Laos (Phayaou Principality), as well as in the southern part of the central plains (Lopburi Principality).

The kingdom of Sukhothai existed happily for only 150 years, until the fourteenth century, when it was subjugated by another state, Donburi, also called the kingdom of Ayutthaya. The kingdom's capital was Ayutthaya, now known as Ayutthaya.
The Donburi subjugated the southern territories of Laos and Burma and most of the peninsula. The history of Thailand was given a new page, the so-called Ayutthaya period.

Ayutthaya period

During the four centuries that this period lasted, Thailand's unique culture was formed and the system of government was formed and fine-tuned. This is a period of unprecedented flourishing of all kinds of arts, and the desire of various segments of the population to move to Ayutthaya.

The first contacts began with Europeans, particularly the Portuguese, who were then active navigators and very influential people in the region. The Thais were among the first in Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Europeans. It was the Portuguese who shared the secrets of making weapons with the Thais. But the Thais were still very reluctant to use them.

In the north Ayutthaya was adjacent to another kingdom, Lanna, with Chiang Mai as its capital. This is now the north of modern-day Thailand. The two young states were at war with Burma and the Khmer Empire until one day it ended quite predictably: in 1569, the Burmese captured Ayutthaya, but the ruler, Prince Naresuan, was able to defend his country and expel the invaders. He had to rebuild the city. The overall victory united the kingdoms. Ayutthaya and Lanna unite with some more neighboring lands to form the kingdom of Siam.

For nearly two centuries, Siam enjoyed a flourishing culture and economy, but its prosperity collapsed again. Inspired by their earlier successes, the Burmese stormed into the city of Ayutthaya and burned it to the ground this time. Thousands of people are enslaved by the Burmese. This time the country was defended by General Piya Taksin, under his leadership, the Burmese were defeated and driven out of the country. The country was headed by an associate of the general. The newly proclaimed King Pia Chakrit (Rama I), who founded the Chakri dynasty of kings which still reigns in Thailand, moved the capital to another town 30 kilometers to the south. So the main city of Siam in 1782 was Bangkok, at that time still a small Thai settlement, in stark contrast to the developed and successful Ayutthaya.

Of kings and kingdoms

The history of Thailand is usually of little interest to most tourists. We believe that it is in vain. It may not be as well-known and popular as the history of Greece or Egypt, but it is no less interesting. Unlike almost all neighboring countries, Siam was not colonized by Europeans and managed to preserve its identity as much as possible.

England and France, having shared influence in the region with other European countries, decided to leave Siam as a buffer "no man's land. There is a period in Thailand's history which is conventionally called "colonial," but it was not fully so. Colonization manifested itself only in the signing of a large number of treaties of cooperation with various European states.

It was almost always like in a fairy tale - the kingdom of Thailand and its kings, the quiet life of a peaceful ancient country, mysterious and unlike anyone else.

After unification into one state, Siam continues to develop rapidly and gently, as is characteristic of the inhabitants of this country, resists colonization by Europeans. In its first 100 years as capital, Bangkok has grown from a small village to a prosperous city of half a million inhabitants.

In 1878 the Thai army captures and loots Vientiane, Laos, and captures several thousand Lao opponents, who are then sent to central Thailand.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, during the reigns of the two kings, Rama the Second and Rama the Third, Siam developed extraordinarily rapidly. The reason for this was a policy of trade and openness little practiced by other states. Rama the Fourth expanded ties with Europe and modernized the system of government. The next king, Rama the Fifth, was the only one in the history of Thailand to be named "The Great. Rama the Great actually brought Siam to the international level as an independent country.

Siam-Thailand in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

In 1932 an almost peaceful revolution took place, making Siam a constitutional monarchy. In the new century, compulsory education was introduced, and Thais were given names (before that there were only first names). In 1939, which became a significant year for the whole world, Siam was renamed the Kingdom of Thailand, which means "country of the free" in Russian.

In World War II the country sided with Japan, after the war Thailand was supported by the United States.

For the next two decades, there were all sorts of political upheavals in the country. Now the Kingdom of Thailand has become a democratic state. Here reign secular laws on a par with Buddhism. This is a unique country with the same unique culture and history, which is worth exploring closer. Despite the sometimes aggressive colonial policies of various countries, the speed of the modern world and globalization, Thailand-Siamese remains popular among tourists mainly because of its centuries-old preserved unique culture, so acutely and vividly different from the culture of other Asian countries.