At the Wellspring of Visual Storytelling: The Art of Sukhothai and Its Legacy
The history of Thai art tends to begin at Sukhothai, in the 13th century, in what UNESCO presents as the first kingdom of Siam. Here we find brick…
Understand 12 min read
Period
Sukhothai
- Dates
- 1238 – 1438
Articles
Mount Meru in the City: How Siam's Temples and Royal Pyres Reproduce the Hindu-Buddhist Universe
At the centre of the Buddhist universe rises a mountain, Meru, encircled by seven ranges, seven seas and four continents. In the 14th century the…
In depth 13 min read
Ayutthaya: Four Centuries of a Cosmopolitan Capital (1350–1767)
For more than four centuries, from its foundation in the mid-fourteenth century to its destruction by Burmese armies in 1767, Ayutthaya was far more…
Understand 12 min read
'Thainess': the history of a national identity constructed, imposed and contested
In official speeches, at school and in public debate, *khwam pen thai*, 'Thainess', literally 'the fact of being Thai', is taken as self-evident. Yet…
Understand 14 min read
Lanna, Kingdom of the North: from Mangrai to Dara Rasmi, Chiang Mai between Ayutthaya, Burma and Bangkok
For nearly six centuries, the north of present-day Thailand answered to a capital other than Sukhothai, Ayutthaya or Bangkok. Founded in 1296 by…
Understand 13 min read
Sukhothai, ‘the dawn of happiness’: kings, rivals and the birth of a Tai kingdom
In the 13th century, Tai chiefs broke away from Khmer authority and established at Sukhothai a power that rose to prominence, then, in little more…
Understand 13 min read
Temples, roads and Angkorian power: the Khmer imprint on the lands of the future Siam
From the Khorat Plateau to the Chao Phraya valley, stone sanctuaries are a reminder that between the 11th and 13th centuries much of present-day…
Understand 13 min read
Thailand's Festivals and Celebrations: The Year's Calendar, Month by Month
In Thailand, the year is not divided into months alone. It also follows the moon, the rice harvest, the rainy season and the rhythm of the…
Discover 26 min read