History Of Thailand
Thailand An Amazing History of an Amazing Nation - Part 3

However, the history of Siam or Thailand, with its different peoples and backgrounds had produced a special race of Thai people with a resilience that even the Burmese invaders underestimated. Within 7 months, a new leader, later proclaimed King Taksin The Great, had reformed the Siamese army and navy and overthrew the Burmese. Not only that, but King Taksin also freed Chiang Mai from the Burmese and annexed areas of Lao into Siam as well.

Since it was by now considered that Ayutthaya, as the seat of power, was no longer the most auspicious site, King Taksin moved the capital to Thonburi, further down the great Chao Phraya river.

Modern Thai history was being fashioned. The small trading post of Bangkok became one of the major cities in South East Asia and the Kings of Bangkok, the Chakri Dynasty are still represented today, with King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great being the 9th Chakri monarch in the history of Thailand.

Successive Chakri Kings of Thailand rebuilt the rich cultural heritage and rituals of the Ayutthaya period of Siam and produced an even stronger national Thai spirit. The Grand Palace, huge temples and national monuments were built in Bangkok to that end.

In the 1800's, Thailand or Siam as the country was then still named, enacted new treaties with the powerful growing armies of the Imperialist Western nations and Siam sent its Royal Princess to the West for further education and strengthening of diplomatic ties.

Siam managed to preserve its independence, sometimes having to relinquish some territories to be able to do this, but it has managed to steer that "middle path" and retain its own identity, even during the difficult years of World War 2.

As befits a developing country, the late 1800's and early 1900's saw the abolishment of slavery in Siam, the start of road and rail transport systems, the establishment of universal education and the acceptance of the principles of democratic government in Thailand.

Since the 1960's Thailand has experienced a growth that has been unequalled by any of it's neighbors in South East Asia. Bangkok went from horizontal to vertical in five years.

At one stage in the 1980's the Bangkok skyline was just a forest of construction cranes. Huge industrial parks and complexes have been built and all the "big" names in international manufacturing are represented in Thailand. While agriculture is still an important part of the every day Thai economy, manufacturing gave it double digit GNP growth in the early 1990's.

The Asian economic crash at the end of the 20th century brought Thailand a new understanding of itself and its position in the world market-place.

The resilience shown after the burning of Ayutthaya has been seen again, and Thailand is leading the Asian nations in recovery from the impact of Asia's financial depression's