The History of Thailand: from Prehistory to Colonial Era
In short: Thai has come to Indochina from south China near X CE. During few hundred years Thai culture was under strong influence of Khmer civilization. The heaviest battles in Thai history took place in XVIII century during a Burmese invasion. Thailand as the only one country of Indochina didn’t fall under a colonial rule. The monarchy has terminated in 1932. Until 90-ies the power remained in hands of the army. Current political situation is unstable; there are no free elections, no free media, in the western meaning of the term.
Prehistory
The most ancient traces reach a million year ago. The oldest paintings on the rocks are dated 10,000 years BC approximately. Chinese descriptions say about people “black, ugly, with curled hair and walking naked”. (This description refers not only to Thailand but to the entire peninsula of South-East Asia.) Khmer and Malay civilizations, cultures and states dominated there until the Thai has come. Near X century CE Buddhism has come to the almost entire peninsula. Monks from Burma and Ceylon introduced the most orthodox, rational form of Buddhism – Theravada.
Thais
There are no any overlapping borders of domination of Thai language with borders of any country or occurrence of similar gene structure. Thai languages are found in Thailand, Laos, and south China. On the other hand genetic similarities between Thai people and Taiwanese aborigine are strong. The last factor is cultural: influence of India in religion is stronger than Chinese. However it is traditionally recognized that Thailand women and men have come from south China.
Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya is located about 80kms north to Bangkok. It was a state capital from XIV to XVIII century that makes it a great place for Asian matchmaking. King Ramathiboldi I recognize Theravada as the official religion and has introduced Dharmashastra, a law based on Indian code. It was in force until the XIX century. Ayutthaya was known to Europeans as The Siam Kingdom. The first official contact with Europeans (Portuguese) has been established at the beginning of XVI century. Some sources quote that in 1700 Ayutthaya with the population over one million was the biggest city in the world. The kingdom spread from Muslim Malay states on the south, ports on the Andaman Sea on the west, mountains on the north and a Khmer state with the capital in Angkor Wat on the south. At the end of the XVIII century after long wars with Burma the kingdom has failed. Soon the capital was moved to Bangkok. The last king was dead from starvation.