Early History of Thailand

Archaeological discoveries in the north east of Ban Chiang gave us the idea that the oldest bronze age civilization was witnessed in Thailand over 5,600 years ago. Thailand was under the kingship of king Muang in 122BC.

The known early history of Thailand begins with the earliest main archaeological site in Ban Chiang. Although the dating of the artefacts is not generally agreed upon, there is a consensus that by at least 3600BC, the inhabitants had created bronze tools and had used them on wet rice cultivation thereby providing the necessary thrust for socio political organization.

Later, Malay, Mon and Khmer civilisations flourished in the region prior to the domination of the Thais. Most prominent were the kingdom of Srivijaya in the South, Dvara vati Kingdom in central Thailand and the Khmer Empire based at Angkor.

Thai Origins

According to various historical sources, the Thais might have originated from western or north—western Szechuan. One thing they have in common with the Chinese is the Mongolian connection.

The Chinese from the sixth century BC onwards referred to the Mon Thais as barbarians. Gradually, the Chinese usurped their lands and treated them with a certain ’unkindness’.

Due to lack of unity they could not resist the Chinese. Therefore most of them were eventually absorbed by the Chinese. Other independent—minded Thais started their Southward migration slowly but steadily.

The Thais followed the river valleys in their movement towards the South. The Western group of Thais settled down along Salween River and became Shans or the ’Great Thais’. The eastern group chose Mekong as it home, spread its influence to Toking and constituted the ancestry of the Laotians. While the middle group emigrated into Thailand. The last two have been referred to as the little Thais.

The Tai

The Thai are part of a larger ethno—linguistic group known as Tai. The Tai include the Lao, the people of Shan region of North—east Burma, the Zhuang people of Guangxi province in China and the Tho and Nung people of Northern Vietnam.

Migrations from Southern China to South East Asia took place primarily during the first millennium AD.

The Tai peoples were weakly organized in small communities known as Muang. Advanced cultures such as Khmer and Hindu cultures of India had a great impact on them. Most of the Tai accepted Hinduism.

This is obvious even today in some their religious worships. Buddhism was introduced into the Tai—speaking lands between 6th and 9th centuries. This was probably via Burma and is their major religion today. In 13th century the missionaries from Sri— Lanka introduced the Theravada Buddhism now practiced in Thailand.