Thailand - Southest Asian Country

 

Hello everyone, Welcome to my blog! In this blog, we are going to share some facts and history about the southeast Asian country- Thailand, formally known as Siam.

Thailand is known for its tropical beached, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins, and ornate temples displaying figures of Buddhha. In Bangkok, the capital, an ultramodern city space rises next to quiet canalside communities and iconic temples.

Throughout the era of Western imperialism in Asia, Siam remained the only nation in the region to avoid being colonized by foreign powers, although it was often forced to cede both territory and trade concessions in unequal treaties. 

HISTORY :

There is evidence of continuous human habitation in present-day Thailand from 20,000 years ago to the present day. The site of Ban Chiang in northeast Thailand currently ranks as the earliest known center of copper and bronze production in Southeast Asia. Iron appeared around 500BCE. 

The Mon people established the principalities of Dvaravati and the Kingdom of Hariphunchai in the 6th century. In the 9th century, Tambralinga, a Malay state controlling trade through the Malacca Strait, rose in the 10th century. The  Indochina Peninsula was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India from the time of the Kingdom of Finan to that of the Khmer Empire. These kingdoms served as a notable influence on the culture of contemporary Thailand, as did some of the other peoples who began to show up in the area over the following centuries. By the mid-seventh century, the Thai people of nan Chao were migrating to the mainland of Southeast Asia and began to settle under the dominion of the Khmer empire. In 1238 Sri intraditia, a chieftain of the Thai people formed a new kingdom as Sukhothai and declared independence from the Khmers. The people of this new kingdom became known as the Thais, a word that fittingly means free. Throughout the following centuries, the Sukhothai kingdom began to grow and extend its rule across the region of today's Thailand. 

The leaders of this monarchy were known t be kind in comparison to others and created impressive diplomatic relations with foreign powers, such as that of the yuan dynasty in china. Unfortunately for the ties though, the kingdom began to fall apart from that point on Sukhothai's vassal states began to abandon them and the monarchy was unable to recover before the newly founded Ayuthaya kingdom inserted themselves into the equation. 

In 1378 the Sukhothai were initially forced to surrender to their opposition. By 1438 not even a full century later, the former great kingdom became fully absorbed by the ayattayas. The ayat Taya kingdom first came about in the 14th century around which time the city-state of ayatai was founded in 1350 to be exact. 

The Thai first enter history of Farther India in the eleventh century with the mention of Syam slaves or prisoners of war in  Champa epigraphy. And in the twelfth century, the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat where a group of warriors is described as Syam.

The first parliamentary elections were held in November of 1933 shortly after world war II broke out the Thai people collaborated with the Japanese, allowing them to pass through to the British-controlled Malay peninsula and Burma. In January of 1942, the prime minister of Thailand agreed to a mutual defense pact with Japan which included a declaration of war against Britain and the united states. Thankfully for the nation, the Thai ambassador charged with delivering the declaration to the U.S. government refused to do so. In 1944, the prime minister was forced to resign and was subsequently tried for war crimes. The following decades were filled with governmental uncertainty as power was repeatedly passed between democracy and military dictatorship after the resolution of world war II economic struggles ensued as well. In 2017, after the crowning of prince vajra ralankorn as king, a new constitution was signed with its aim at finally bringing democracy back to the nation.