Thailand History

The origin of the Thai (or Tai) race is shrouded in mystery. Many theories and hypothesis have been put forward, some more convincing than others.

One theory is that the Thai race immigrated southwards into Southeast Asia from the Altai mountain range in northwestern China-Mongolia. Since archaeological, ethnographic, and linguistic researches do not bear this out, the theory now has few champions. Another unconvincing hypothesis contends that the Thai, having migrated from Sichuan province in central China, founded a kingdom in southern China called Nanchao, from whence they were driven further south by the all-conquering Mongol ruler Kubilai (Kublai Khan) in 1253, into Indochina and present-day Thailand. This theory is not very tenable because Nanchao was not a Thai-dominated kingdom, and it appears too that Thai had immigrated into the area that is now Thailand well before 1253.

A third theory propounds that the Thais were originally of Austronesian, rather than Mongoloid, stock and had migrated northwards from the Malay Archipelago. The most convincing theory, however, is that which relies largely on linguistic evidence. From research done in the southern Chinese provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yunnan, where the Thai language is still spoken, the proponents of this theory maintain that the Thais migrated southward from these provinces.

The fifth, and latest, hypothesis claims that archaeological and anthropological evidence proves that Thailand has been inhabited continuously even since prehistoric times. Ethnic groups mixed with each other until it was difficult to tell them apart. Animism, material culture, and folklore, however, point to continuity in the settlement of this area. This hypothesis has been cogently put forward by its proponents, but it sidesteps too conveniently the issue of Thai migration by maintaining that the Thai have been here all along, the present-day Thai nation being but a mixture of various races.

The controversy over the origin of the Thais shows no sign of abating, and further research is needed before we can draw any definite conclusions. What is beyond dispute, however, is that by the 13th century the Thais had become a force to be reckoned within mainland Southeast Asia, and Thai princes ruled over states as far apart as Lanna, Suphannaphum (Suphanburi), Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Sukhothai.

In the heart of Southeast Asia an idyllic kingdom once prospered, forgotten now except by those whose roots lay there. Below the rugged mountains and deserts of central Asia, with no access to the sea, its position was that of a backwoods crossroads. With many cultural influences significant in Asian history impacting on life there, it became an important cradle of civilization, from which significant styles in writing, music, weaving, swordplay and husbandry emerged. Its name meant, "Land of a million rice fields."

Long ago, political union related to allegiance rather than geographical boundaries. This started to change when Europeans began using maps, navigating far seas and establishing colonies. When a new Siamese royal dynasty recognized need of a nationalist history to help in countering European acquisitiveness, Lanna had only recently come under suzerainty of their small Rattanakosin empire. So, to add duration and physical extent to the kind of national development myth European colonists would respect, the royals focused on Sukhotai rather than the more important Chiang Mai. Lanna, T'ai rather than Siamese (though Chiang Mai itself was often considered Siamese) became marginalized. This was easy - after all, the leaders necessary for making allegiances, and indeed the populace itself, were mostly gone: Lanna had been devastated by diseases coming on the footsteps of a long series of wars.

Lanna was founded by a young man whose parents conveniently leave the stage just at the time of his majority, thus also the time of his ascendancy (1259 AD). His subsequent actions were perspicacious; without them, the cradle of cultural significance that Lanna became is unlikely to have emerged. The region still retains its distinct dialect, still respects its ancient royal lineages, and remains happy to be itself. Its unique culture, its music, beliefs, cuisine and stylings all remain, throughout the land of the ancient kingdom. Many aspects of life may have now modernized, but though the jungle is gone, traditions remain widely revered. Most of Lanna became the 8 northern provinces of Thailand: Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phayao, Phrae, Nan, Lamphun, Lampang and Mae Hong Son. Adjacent areas, particularly Keng Tung in Shan State of Myanmar (northeast Burma), Chiang Rung and SipsongPanna (Xishuangbanna) in Yunnan, China, and Lan Xang (Luang Prabang), Laos were affiliated, sometimes included. Each had sufficient intimate involvement with the others to be considered part and parcel of this unique culture. Lanna, as advanced and civilized as any place in the world in its time, hosted the Eighth World Buddhist Council in 1455 AD, long was home to the famous Emerald Buddha, and gave birth to the wonderful, unforgettable cities Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.

The founder of Lanna, Paw Khun Mengrai (Good Father King Rai) laid the basis for the long-enduring Thai political independence by creating a reliable alliance of T'ai and related, or neighboring, peoples, in the 13th century. This enabled him to resist expansionist aggression by the Mongols, whose Yuan Dynasty of China conquered elsewhere pretty much as they pleased. A contemporary, neighboring king, Paw Khun Ramkamhaeng, is officially acknowledged as the first Thai king for his promulgation of Thai written language and of Theravada Buddhism with the king as its top defender and advocate. The accuracy of this assessment, however, has become questionable. Unlike Mengrai, Ramkamhaeng was at least nominally a vassal of others, both of the Mongol empire (which he visited twice), under Kublai Khan, and also of the Angkor Khom, his antecedents. It's not entirely clear what his court language would have been! The historical revisionism involved here was an effective diplomatic response to 'historic' mumbo-jumbo used by European colonialists to 'justify' some forced acquisitions.

Kublai Khan, also known as Setsankhan, the "Wise Khan," grandson of perhaps the world's greatest conqueror, Genghis Khan, and a mighty conqueror in his own right, was completing annexation of the Yunnan area, and thus the kingdoms of Mengrai's parents, just before Mengrai became king. It's likely Mengrai's parents had chosen to submit to vassalage rather than die at Mongol hands. It's also quite significant that Mengrai's first remembered act as king was to relocate!

From the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe and Persia, Kublai Khan's horsemen were going where they willed. Certainly, Mengrai could not have maintained his position as king without removal of his court and people to a less vulnerable position. But, in the end, it's clear that no-one else averted overthrow by Kublai Khan's Mongol hoards with the skill and success of Mengrai. Kubilai used public relations and propaganda as much as military means, though, and brought efficient, modern methods into use; because of him, Southeast Asia became Indo-China, with Indian cultural domination becoming hybridized, Sinicized.

Realizing the need to avoid direct confrontation between his army and the much stronger Mongol one, Mengrai moved away from Mongol/Chinese hegemony (led from Beijing after 1264). He took his subject people south across buffering waters (the Mekong, the Kok and the Chiang Saen Lake), away from his patrimonial kingdom, the semi-mythical Ngoen Yang, and matrimonial Chiang Rung (in southern Yunnan). His people made a new capital and named it after their new king: Chiang Rai. The Chiang Saen Lake, lying between Ngoen Yang and Chiang Rai, and also between the Mekong (Mae Nam Kong) and Kok rivers, was quite large back then after a big earthquake in about 800, or perhaps 1015 AD brought waters down from the Keng Tung area of what is now Shan State. Most of the lowland between the rivers was jungle swamp; it was a difficult area to cross except along thin pathways, where high, thickly vegetated hills met wetlands.

Six years before Mengrai's ascendancy, the Mongols took Yunnan's northern neighbor, Nanchao. With Mengrai's leaving, they had all of Yunnan. In 1279, all of China was theirs. By 1290 Kublai Khan had annexed past the Volga to the Danube, with Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, most of northern Burma and coastal northern Vietnam incorporated into his 'Yuan' Empire. Kublai Khan sent armies to attack and conquer south of the Kok, but Mengrai's successful harassment tactics, which disrupted supply lines, persuaded them not to remain. The Mongols conquered the similar Irrawaddy region (taking Pagan in 1297), but in Lanna found no established urban center to lay siege to. Mengrai stayed fairly mobile, transplanting his capital from place to place, unpredictably. Unable to take a major city or establish any permanent base in Lanna, the Mongols never approached the Chao Phraya River basin. Thus the soon much greater kingdom, then empire, of Ayudhaya was able to prosper, grow, and become Siam.

Mengrai established good relations, at least peaceable when not actively supportive, with his newly closer neighbors, more than a few of whom must have noticed a need for more protection than they could provide for themselves. To arrange secure and lasting local peace, Mengrai found himself ironing out a problem between Paw Khun Ngam Muang, king of neighboring Phayao, and Ramkamhaeng, king of Sukhotai, just beyond Phayao. Ramkamhaeng had seduced a consort of his friend Ngam Muang: the beautiful Lady Ua. Ngam Muang captured Ramkamhaeng (called King Ruang in the Chiang Mai Chronicles), and asked Mengrai to act as judge on the matter. As both feuding kings had been paying tribute to the Mongols, Mengrai stressed the importance of connections to the far south, to ancient Ligor (then a bustling trading port, now called Nakorn Sri Thammarat) and to the Theravada Buddhism disseminated from there, where relatives of Ramkamhaeng ruled. Ramkamhaeng paid Ngam Muang an indemnity of 440,000 cowry shells, and the enmity was dispelled.

Strengthened co-operation between the three kings allowed unparalleled success. While elsewhere the Mongolian horsemen advanced and conquered, all the way to Egypt (with even an attempt on Japan), Lanna took in many craftsmen from elsewhere, and prospered. Mengrai developed a book of law known as the Mengraisat ("The Judgments of Mengrai"), based on the code of ethics of Mon Haripunchai. He sought stable relations with T'ai neighbors, and the ChaoPhraya river basin remained able to develop on its own. Thus, Mengrai's uniquely successful resistance laid the groundwork for emergence of Siamese empire, and the Kingdom of Thailand thriving today.