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Did
you know!
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That: Southern
Thailand has been inhabited since the early days of mankind by ancient tribes
who settled and or adapted their lifestyles to the local environment. Who
arrived first and who pushed out or assimilated who has kept archaeologists
occupied for a long time, and promises to keep them working for a good while
to come.
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Read
more
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From our
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Travelers Guide to Phuket
History
- Sukhothai
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Sukhothai
In
1238, King Si Intharathit declared full independence and
established the Sukhothai Kingdom (rising of happiness). He
expanded the kingdom's sphere of influence not only at the expense
of the Khmer Empire but by pushing deep into what is now southern
Thailand, an area then controlled by the Sirivijaya Empire. During
the of the reign of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great(1279-1300)
the Thai army completed its conquest south as far as the present
day location of Singapore. The Sirivijaya Empire based on the
Indonesian island of Sumatra had controlled the Malaya Peninsula
and the vital trade routes between China and India since before
the 8th century.
For well over two thousand years,
traders from India and the Arab world and China had been plying
the ocean trade routes through Southeast Asia. During the Thai
conquest of this area in the 12th century; the amount of trade,
and the degree of interdependence, between India, the kingdoms of
Southeast Asia, and China and Japan was staggering. The pattern of
exchange was for the Southeast Asia kingdoms to import cotton
cloth from India, silver and copper from Japan, silk, porcelain
and tea from China, in exchange for Chinas exports of tin,
teak, pepper, spices, aromatic woods, resins, rhinoceros horn,
pearls, birds nests, deerskin and sugar. The Chinese did not
navigate directly to India, nor did Indian or Persian vessels go
all the way to China. The southern Thailand cities of Chaiya (near
Surat Thani) Nakorn Si Thammarat, Pattani and Songkhla were the
halfway houses and served as huge trade bazaars where they met and
exchanged their commodities.
To
prevent disrupting the lucrative international trade, and to deter
uprisings and rebellions by the conquered Muslim Malaysian states,
King Ramkhamhaeng developed a policy of establishing tributary
kingdoms on the borders of his kingdom. He allowed the hereditary
sultans of the Malay states to remain in power, but he kept the
Thai army nearby, and made the sultans pay substantial annual
tribute. Forcing neighboring kingdoms to pay tribute became a
major part of Thai foreign policy, which continued well into the
eighteenth century. This policy no doubt greatly added to the
national treasury but the lack of definite boundaries over the
areas controlled by Thailand would lead to problems with both
England and France during the colonial period of Southeast Asia.
About this time Thailand started
paying tribute to the emperor in China. Some historians believe
this was the price for not being invaded by Kublai Khan and his
Mongol hordes who did conquer parts of Burma, Viet Nam, and some
Indonesian Islands to the south. Many Thai historians dispute the
claim that Thailand ever paid tribute to China, they contend the
kings of Thailand simply offered elaborate gifts on a regular
basis to foster trade with the Chinese ruler. There is; however,
no record of China feeling obliged to reciprocate in exchanging
gifts of friendship, and Thailand continued paying tribute to
China until being abolished during the reign of Rama IV (1851-68).
In
southern Thailand, much of the international trade was controlled
by Indian and Arab merchants who had settled there centuries
before. Many had acquired great wealth and now curried favor with
their new Thai rulers. Their knowledge and experience in the
shipping and financial transactions -- necessary to conduct trade
with foreign countries -- allowed some of them to attain high
positions in the Thai government. As court ministers, these
foreigners issued orders and decrees and conducted business in the
name of the king. The Thais needed foreign experts, because up to
that point they had been mostly rice farmers and on occasion
warriors, not merchants, and did not possess the skills or
technology needed to operate a fleet of ships to the far-flung
ports of Asia.
Thai control of the mineral rich
west coast of southern Thailand, including Phuket Island, remained
tenuous at first, in part because of the great distance involved,
and the great resistance from the Chao Nam people and others who
inhabited the area. Gradually, though, the Thai royal court
organized the area and like a colonial power started siphoning off
the wealth through a royal monopoly on mineral extraction and
collecting a tax on the commerce of the area. By the end of the
Sukothai period royal tin mines on and around Phuket were the
leading source of revenue for the king of Siam. It was the wealth
generated from tin and trade that financed the army that allowed
Thailand to bind itself together as a nation and to be the
dominant power in the area for the next four centuries.
The
first westerner known to visit Thailand was Marco Polomin 1288.
His journal The Travels of Marco Polo describes the wonders
of the Sukhothai Kingdom but he used the Khmer word for Thailand,
Siam. To the outside world Thailand continued to be known as
The Kingdom of Siam until 1939 when it was officially
changed. On his last return journey from China in 1294, Marco Polo
is known to have traveled by ship through the Straits of Malacca
and visited the nearby island of Sumatra. Entries in his journal
mention stopping for provisions along the mainland of present day
Thailand. He did not mention Phuket Island but it was a normal
replenishment stop during this period, and on many maps of that
time Phuket was shown as a peninsula not an island. Marco Polos
journals about exotic Asia and its treasures were to have a major
impact on the history of Asia, as a wave of explorers and traders
from the west would follow in his footsteps.
The Sukhothai kings who followed
King Ramkhamhaeng the Great were not warriors nor did they share
his wisdom or vision. They spent most of their time battling
amongst themselves over succession to the throne while events in
other parts of the kingdom engulfed them. The Sukhothai Kingdom
lasted until being annexed by Ayutthaya in 1376.
Many Thais consider the Sukothai
era as the birth of their nation and as a time when Thai language,
culture, art, politics, and religion all flourished and the
kingdom was at peace.
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