Thonburi Kingdom

Thon Buri (Thai: ธนบุรี) was the capital of Thailand for a short time during the reign of King Taksin the Great, after the ruin of capital Ayutthaya by the Myanmar. King Rama I removed the capital to Bangkok on the other side of the Chao Phraya River in 1782. Thon Buri stayed an independent town and province, and was merged into Bangkok in 1972.

Reunification of Thailand

In 1767, after dominating southeast Asia for almost 400 years, the Ayutthaya kingdom was demolished. The royal palace was burnt and the territory was occupied by the Burmese army. During the occupation by Burma, Thailand had begun to rapidly recover. The resistances to Burma were led by a noble of Chinese descent, Taksin, a capable military leader. Initially based at Chanthaburi in the south-east, within a year he was able to defeat the Myanmar occupation army and reestablished the Thai state with the capital at Thonburi on the west bank of the Chao Phraya river, 20 km. from the Mouth of Menam (Chao Phraya river).
In 1768 he reigned the throne of Thonburi and was named King Krung-Thonburi (generally known as King Taksin the Great). King Taksin rapidly reunified the central Thai heartlands, in 1769 Thonburi was able to conquere the western Cambodia. Afterward Thonburi army marched south and reestablished Thai power over the Malay Peninsula include Penang and Terengganu. In order to secure his base in Thailand, Thonburi attacked the Myanmar in 1774. Next came the capture of Chiang Mai in 1776, permanently unifying Thonburi and Lanna kingdom. In 1778 Thonburi captured Vientiane and reestablished Thai domination over Laos.

Political trouble

Despite these successes, by 1779 King Taksin was in a trouble. He was recorded in the Rattanahosin's gazettes as a religious mania, alienating the powerful Buddhist monkhood by claiming to be a "sotapanna" or divine figure. He began to lose his kingship. The servants were divided into 2 groups which one still supports him but the other one does not. In 1782 Thonburi sent army to subjugate the Cambodia again, but while they were away a rebellion broke out in the area of the capital. The rebels, who had wide popular support, offered the throne to King Taksin's commander in chief. He marched back from Cambodia and deposed Taksin, who was secretly executed shortly after.

Rattanakosin establishment

After the execution, The commander in chief reigned the throne of Thonburi kingdom and named King Ramathibodi or Rama I. King Rama I removed his royal seat across the Chao Phraya river to the village of Bang-Koh (meaning "place of the island") which he had built. And estabhished the new capital in 1782, named Rattanakosin. Then Thonburi lessened and became a part of Bangkok metropolitan.

See also

*King Taksin the great

*Thonburi province

*Thon Buri (district)