Thonburi and King Taksin: raising Siam again in fifteen years (1767–1782)
In April 1767, Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese army. The Siamese kingdom was left with neither capital nor dynasty, and several leaders vied for what…
Understand 13 min read
Period
Thonburi
- Dates
- 1767 – 1782
Articles
Pahurat, Bangkok's ‘Little India’: a royal road, Punjabi merchants and a quarter still finding itself
A few steps from Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, a handful of streets in the old city sell saris, gold braid and lengths of fabric. Above them rises…
Understand 12 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
Kudi Chin, on the Thonburi bank: the descendants of the Portuguese and the memory of a plural neighbourhood
On the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, facing old Bangkok, the neighbourhood of Kudi Chin brings together a Catholic church, a Buddhist temple, a…
Understand 13 min read
Rattanakosin Island, the historic heart of Bangkok: a capital shaped by water, contested by its memory
On 21 April 1782, on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya, a wooden pillar is planted in the ground. This act founds the capital of the new Chakri…
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From the Ramayana to the Ramakien: how the Indian epic became Siamese
On the walls of Wat Phra Kaew, as on the stages of the *khon*, Phra Ram has been doing battle with Thotsakan for more than two centuries. Their story…
Understand 11 min read