History of Thailand

Recent History

The Kingdom of Thailand has been ruled since 1782 by the Chakri dynasty based in Bangkok. Formerly called Siam, the country was officially renamed Thailand in 1939 (although the old name was briefly reinstated from 1945-49). ‘Thai’ refers to the ethnicity of most of the population, as well as having connotations of freedom. Thailand is the only South-East Asian country to have avoided colonisation. In 1932 a bloodless coup stripped the King of his absolute powers, transforming the country into a constitutional monarchy and handing power to a mixed military-civilian government. The military faction soon gained the upper hand and retained it for most of the next 60 years, intervening frequently to end brief periods of civilian rule. While stifling democracy, the military sided with business and bureaucrats in promoting economic development, partly to limit the spread of communism. The resulting expansion of the middle class contributed to growing pressure for civilian rule and a series of confrontations between the military and pro-democracy activists. The most recent confrontation, in May 1992, led to the resignation of the military leadership and unbroken civilian rule, which has seen five peaceful changes of government. Thailand is now one of the liveliest democracies in South-East Asia.

Longer Historical Perspective

The geographical area of Thailand has been inhabited for thousands of years, but the country’s emergence as a nation is usually traced back to the Sukothai Kingdom (1238-1376), which saw the introduction of the Thai writing system and the first efforts to codify the Thai form of Theravada Buddhism. Sukothai was later eclipsed by Ayuthaya, which served as Siam’s capital for over 400 years before its destruction in 1765 by Burmese invaders. After a brief period of rule from Thonburi (1769-82), the first Chakri monarch ascended the throne in 1782 and moved the capital across the Chao Phraya River to Bangkok. The Chakri kings consolidated Siam’s territorial boundaries and introduced a wide range of social, legal and administrative reforms, including the establishment of a professional civil service. King Mongkut (1851-68) and King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910) played key roles in this process, opening Siam to outside influence while managing, through skilful diplomacy, to preserve its independence.

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