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The first ruler of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, King Uthong (r. 1351–1369), made two important contributions to Thai history: the establishment and promotion of Theravada Buddhism as the official religion to differentiate his kingdom from the neighbouring Hindu kingdom of Angkor and the compilation of the Dharmaśāstra, a legal code based on ...
In the early 20th-century however, Thai elites, influenced by Western ideas of European nationalism and the nation state, used that framework to create a nationalist history of Thailand, implementing it in ways deemphasized Ayutthaya's importance to Thai history by portraying the Sukhothai Kingdom as the first "Thai" kingdom or golden age of ...
The known early history of Thailand begins with the earliest major archaeological site at Ban Chiang.Dating of artifacts from this site is controversial, but there is a consensus that at least by 3600 BCE, inhabitants had developed bronze tools and had begun to cultivate wet rice, providing the impetus for social and political organisation.
The history of Thailand from 1932 to 1973 was dominated by military dictatorships which were in power for much of the period. The main personalities of the period were the dictator Plaek Phibunsongkhram, who allied the country with Japan during the Second World War, and the civilian politician Pridi Banomyong, who founded Thammasat University and was briefly prime minister after the war.
The succession of Thai monarchs began with Si Inthrathit at the establishment of the first Thai kingdom in 1238. With brief interruptions, 55 monarchs have ruled over four successive kingdoms, the current monarch being Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) of the Chakri dynasty .
Thailand, [i] officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), [ii] is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, [8] it spans 513,115 square kilometres (198,115 sq mi). [9]
The history of Thailand since 2001 has been dominated by the politics surrounding the rise and fall from power of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and subsequent conflicts, first between his supporters and opponents, then over the rising military influence in politics.
Previously, studies on the initial state of Thai history were confined to the preconception that both its origin and existence were the results of Indian influences alone. These influences were seen as being a significant cause of early Thai states becoming a unified state with territorial power covering areas of the Indochina peninsula. [18]