Countless headless statues of Buddha line the ruins of Ayutthaya,
destroyed when the Burmese attacked in the 1500’s. The Grand Palace was built during the reign of King Rama I after he
moved the capital across the river from Thonburi to Bangkok. The figure above represents Thailand's most current population
pyramid, and shows the distribution between gender and age. |
The Early Settlement
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TIMELINE of Notable Event Throughout Thailand’s History
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3000 BC
The Bronze Age culture at Ban Chiang. Many bronze-made artifacts have been discovered that date back 3,500 years ago. 600 BC Originating from the Northwest Szechuan, the Chinese Thai migrated to Thailand. However, it has recently been indicated that Thai peoples actually originated from Thailand and scattered away later. They divided up into two main groups. One in the North became the kingdom of “Lanna” and another in the South which was later defeated by the Khmers (dominant ethnic group in Cambodia at the time). These events ultimately lead to the formation of the kingdom of “Sukothai”. 300 BC Indian settlements brought the Hindu religion. 200 BC Buddhism began to spread southwards from its origin in northern India, making its way towards countries in Southeast Asia such as Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, Korea, and China. 900 - 1100 AD One of the Mons’ groups known as the Dvaravati start to inhabit Centrail Thailand and their lineage becomes connected with the Khmers which in turn strengthens their influence during the Khmer/Lopburi period. In addition, the Dvaravati brought art, music, and religion with them, influencing that time of period as well. 1057 - 1153 AD The religious movement of Buddhism began in the sixth century BC, mainly by Prince Siddhartha Gutama Sakyamuni. Eventually, he became known as the prophet, Buddha. Throughout most of his life he encouraged his followers to follow the Middle Way as well as practice in moderation in all aspects of living. In essence, Buddha taught the lesson that in life we could experience pain and suffering, but only in the presence of our own cravings and desires. Therefore, it was his belief, which would eventually become a shared belief among all Buddhists that the only way to put an end to suffering would be if those cravings and desires ceased to exist. Thus, once the end of suffering was achieved, one had reached Nirvana. In the eyes of Buddhists, the state of Nirvana, also considered enlightenment, is known as the absence of craving and by extension suffering. In the nest few centuries, Buddhism spread through Asia. Buddha’s teachings were interpreted differently by different groups and resulted in several sects including Theravada Buddhism. In Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka, the teachings were put into written form in Pali (an Indo-Aryan language related to Sanskrit). Later, these teachings from the Theravada school od Buddhism were imported to Thailand around the sixth century AD and became the state religion during the Thai kingdom of Sukothai is the thirteenth century AD. The last form of Buddhism introduced to Thailand was called Ceylon (Lankavamsa) Buddhism. Around 1153 AD there was a powerful king of Ceylon that was a strong supporter of Theravada Buddhism. Buddhist monks from neighboring countries, like Burma, Kambuja, Lanna (Northern Thailand), Pegu (Lower Burma), and Lanchang (Laos) migrated to Ceylon in order to learn the form of Dhamma practiced there. Some Ceylonese monks returned with the local monks and settled in Nakon Sri Thammarat in the South of Thailand. many kings from the Sukothai and Ayuthaya period supported Ceylon Buddhism. Today, Thailand is called a Theravada Buddhist country, although there are a few Mahayan monks and monasteries that have a Chinese influence. The various forms of Buddhism in Thailand have never competed with each other and seemed to blend gracefully with each other, influencing the beliefs of different regions of Thailand to different degrees. Other forms of Buddhism reached Thailand at different periods in Thai history. Theravada Buddhism is though tot be the first. Next was the Mahayana school of Buddhism that spread from India to Sumatra, Java, and Kambuja (Cambodia) starting in the fifth century AD. This form of Buddhism is more evident in the south of Thailand and is believed to have been at its height when Thailand was part of the Sryavarman dynasty in Cambodia. For awhile, Theravada and Mahayana both existed in Thailand, but Theravada already had a large following and Mahayana never eclipsed it in popularity. In 1057 AD, Burma’s borders extended into areas of modern-day Thailand, including Chiangmai, Lopburi, and Nakon Pathom. At the time, Buddhism in India was declining and the Theravada Buddhism common in Burma at the time altered from its original form. This type of Buddhism became known as Burma Buddhism. 1001 - 1100 AD [ 11th Century ] — The spread of Buddhism in 200 BC was a fortunate event as Buddhism died out in the 11th century in the origin, India therefore by this growth of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, this religion didn’t die out completely. 1150 AD Angkor Wat was build by Suriyavarman II, a Khmer king during his reign, but was fully completed after his death. He is also described as one of the empire’s greatest king. 1279 AD This was the year of the death of Khun Pha Muang, former king and was succeeded by King Ramkhahaeng. In addition, he arranged a writing which at one point became the basis for writing which eventually developed to modern Thai letters. It was in this year that the first ever written word of the Thai people was created and preserved. 1238 - 1438 Sukhothai means “Dawn of Happiness” was founded by two Thai chieftains, Khun Bang Klang Tao and Khun Pa Muang. It was the first true independent kingdom and was considered the Golden Age of culture. To be more specific, during this period, Thailand/Siam had developed a strong bond of friendship with neighboring countries like Cambodia and China. It’s boundary started from Lampang all the way to North, Vientiane which was present day Laos to South Malay peninsula. 1438 End of Sukothai period. 1529 - 1569 War with Burma 1600 Despite European pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation that has ever been colonized. Thailand remained a buffer state between parts of Southeast Asia that were colonized by the two colonizing powers, Great Britain and France. Thai Kings were set upon maintaining independence, having executed a French emissary to underscore their determination. As the French, British, and Dutch carved up the entire region over the next hundred years, the Kings of Siam shrewdly played the competing Europeans against each other, ensuring that no one power would gain a dominant presence. The strategy paid off handsomely, as Siam remained autonomous while reaping most of whatever benefits the colonial system had to offer. 1782 The Chakri Dynasty had ruled the Kingdom of Siam since 1782. 1800 The colonization brought disease and destruction to southeast Asia countries, darkening the culture of the area for centuries. Europeans introduced modern technology and expanded commerce and industry in southeast Asia. During the 1800s Thailand had kings who not only engaged in trade and diplomatic relations with powerful countries around the world, but also traveled the world and gained a Western education. They started to modernize the country and started to establish modern education and transportation such as railroads. Western influence nevertheless led to many reforms and major concessions, most notably being the loss of a large territory on the east side of the Mekong to the French and the step-by-step absorption by Britain of the Malay Peninsula. 1905 Slavery was abolished in Thailand. 1909 Great Britain established protectorates. 1932 A successful coup created a lawful monarchy and gave Thailand its first regulations. Revolution and the obsolete monarchy is abolished. 1939 The name of the country (Siam) was officially changed to Thailand, to reflect the unity of the Thai people. The meaning of Thailand: “Land of the Free”. 1930 - 1945 WWII Thailand declares war on the Allies. 1945 Thailand stood in close alliance to the United States, and had gained membership into the United Nations. 1947 Between 1947 and 1992, the military governed, on and off. This was a period characterized by coups attempts and popular protests. 1980 Thailand became a stable republic and started to rapidly develop economically. The 1980s saw a relatively stable democratic rule under Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda. This decade also saw important economic growth and development. Manufacturing and tourism took off, and became even more economically important than the export of rice. 1997 Financial crisis hit Thailand. 2001 The January 2001 general election, the first election under the 1997 Constitution, was called the most open, corruption-free election in Thai history. 2004 December 26th, 2004 was the day Thailand was struck by one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike the nation. The tsunami damage caused the Thai people to suffer tremendous loss of life as well as major damage to property, the environment, as well as the economy. For instance, given the severe impact this disaster had on the natural environment, this in turn posed serious threats on the fishing and tourism industries, and by extension, thousands of families’ livelihoods. 2006 The Thai government was overthrown in a coup. As a result, the nation was placed into a severe political crisis and economic slump. 2008 Since 2008, the nation has remained in a state of political crisis with the major issues stemming from the formation of a conflict between the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the People’s Power Party (PPP). 2009 Since 2009, Thai troops have sporadically clashed with Cambodian forces in several disputed areas along the two countries’ border. 2011 It wasn’t until the general elections on July 3rd, 2011 that Thaskin’s supporters came back to power. The Red Shirts’ demands for general elections had finally been met, and the Pro-Thaskin PTP party won in a landslide victory. ___________________________ Timeline Bibliographical References
Thailand profile - timeline - BBC News. (2015, August 19). Retrieved January 25, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15641745 |
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