Thailand Bloggers Mentor
Cultural Profile: Sukhothai Kingdom, Dawn of Thailand
A brief history of the Sukhothai Kingdom, the first Thai kingdom in the country's heartland to overthrow the Angkorian Khmer Empire for independence.
A quick glance at Thai history will tell you that the Thai city-state of Sukhothai was the “first capital of Siam” or the beginnings of the Thai country, which led in a line through Ayutthaya to the modern nation-state of Thailand. While this isn’t wholly inaccurate, the history of the Sukhothai Kingdom and its relationship to the greater realm of Thailand and Southeast Asia is much more intricate and, in all honesty, much more interesting.
Paths UnwrittenCultural Profile: Lanna Kingdom, Heirs of Northern Thailand
A brief history of the Thai Lanna Kingdom, which inherited the Hariphunchai Buddhist tradition & prospered in northern Thailand for centuries.
The city of Chiang Mai in Thailand is often referred to at the capital of the north, a reference to its position as a large and historic city long-established in the northern region of the country. It’s an apt name, but not an entirely accurate one. Chiang Mai, like the historic cities of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, was once the center of a wholly independent kingdom for most of its existence: The Kingdom of Lanna.
Ancient Chansen: Moated City of the Dvaravati
Archaeological travel guide to temples and ancient ruins of the moated Dvaravati city of Chansen in Central Thailand.
Long before the early Thai kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya spread their dominance over the Central Plains of Thailand, the moated cities of the Dvaravati dotted the landscape. Often taking the shape of circular settlements, with larger moated cities expanding into more irregular shapes, these Dvaravati settlements would lay the foundations that future generations of settlers, namely the Angkorian Khmers and Ayutthayan Thais, would build their civilizations upon.
