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141-663: The story of the Twelve Sisters is part of the folk tradition of certain countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand , Cambodia and Laos and the folktales derived from it come in different versions, often under different titles depending from the country. This legend was also brought to Malaysia by the Malaysian Siamese where it became popular among the Malaysian Chinese community. It

282-551: A Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, which became a regional power by the end of the 15th century. Ayutthaya reached its peak during the 18th century, until it was destroyed in the Burmese–Siamese War . King Taksin the Great quickly reunified the fragmented territory and established the short-lived Thonburi Kingdom (1767–1782), of which he was the only king. He was succeeded in 1782 by Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I),

423-602: A 110 m (360 ft) wet vertical shaft at Gaping Gill , in Yorkshire , England, in 1895. He developed his own techniques using ropes and metallic ladders. In the 1930s, as caving became increasingly popular in France, several clubs in the Alps developed vertical cave exploration into a recognized outdoor sport. During World War II, a team composed of Pierre Chevalier , Fernand Petzl , Charles Petit-Didier and others explored

564-548: A 14-month siege, the capital city's walls fell and the city was burned in April 1767. The capital and many of its territories lay in chaos after the war. The former capital was occupied by the Burmese garrison army and five local leaders declared themselves overlords, including the lords of Sakwangburi, Phitsanulok , Pimai , Chanthaburi , and Nakhon Si Thammarat . Chao Tak , a capable military leader, proceeded to make himself

705-409: A broken heart crying bitterly at the shore of the lake. Phra Rothasen arrived back to his city and killed evil Santhumala with a magic club. He then went into the deep dark cave and healed the eyes of his mother and aunts by putting them back in their place with a special magic ointment. His mother and aunts left their deep cave and regained their former status with the king. They invited him to live in

846-583: A cave in 1934) can be traced historically to the exploration of the Dent de Crolles cave system. In the late 1950s, American caver Bill Cuddington further developed the single rope technique (SRT) in the United States. In 1958, two Swiss alpinists, Juesi and Marti, teamed up, creating the first rope ascender, known as the Jumar . In 1968, Bruno Dressler asked Petzl, who worked as a metals machinist, to build

987-526: A child; the elder eleven sisters devouring their own to feed themselves, while the youngest spares her baby, a boy. After seven days, hole men come to the cave and, seeing the beauty of the child, place a wand on him and he grows up in moments to a fifteen-year-old youth. Deity Sakya also appears to give the youth a magic "mak-nim", which he uses to play with the boys in the village. Whenever he wins, he asks for twelve portions of rice and curry, and twelve gourds of paddy, to give to his mother and his aunt. News of

1128-441: A concoction made from the eyes of her 12 pregnant co-wives could save her life. Rothtasith, enthralled by Santhamea's act, ordered his soldiers to gouge out the eyes of 11 of the 12 concubines, with Neang Pov allowed to preserve one of her eyes. Following their ritual mutilation, the now blind or almost blind women were imprisoned in a cave. Forced by the circumstance and hunger, they devoured their newborn infants, sharing pieces among

1269-543: A conventional horizontal cave passage. Pits typically form in limestone as a result of long-term erosion by water. They can be open to the surface or found deep within horizontal caves. Among cavers , a pit is a vertical drop of any depth that cannot be negotiated safely without the use of ropes or ladders. Exploration of pit caves ("vertical caving ", also called "potholing" in the UK and "pit caving" in US English) requires

1410-400: A forest. They are adopted by an ogress, Sandhamāra, but escape to Kutāra. After they are found in a banyan tree, emitting a golden aura, the king of Kutāra makes all of them his queens. Sandhamāra enraptures the king, is made his major queen, and persuades him to pluck out the twelve queens’ eyes, leaving only the youngest with sight in one eye. The eleven others become pregnant. Sakka sends down

1551-529: A general election was scheduled, but was invalidated by the Constitutional Court . The crisis ended with another coup d'état in 2014 . The ensuing National Council for Peace and Order , a military junta led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha , led the country until 2019. Civil and political rights were restricted, and the country saw a surge in lèse-majesté cases. Political opponents and dissenters were sent to "attitude adjustment" camps; this

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1692-435: A giant and followed Phra Rothasen crying and calling him with a loud voice. To stop her, Phra Rothasen threw a magic branch that turned the space between them into a deep lake and a high mountain. Seeing her husband escape from her Meri wailed in despair, asking him to stop. Phra Rothasen was moved by her sad screams and replied that he will back after he finished his urgent mission. Then Phra Rothasen flew away and left Meri with

1833-418: A group of kids and joined them in playing Ongkounh (អង្គុញ). He would wager with the local children that if they won, he would be their slave for the day, but if he won, they would have to give him 12 packets of rice. Every day, he would win 12 packets of rice for his mother and royal aunts, which raises a lot of questions from the aunts. Neang Pov decided that it was time to reveal everything so she did. Puthisen

1974-457: A handsome young man. When the king heard of him, he invited him to the palace where he played games of dice with the monarch displaying great skill. Santhumala found out that twelve sisters were alive and she was angry that her plan to get rid had failed. Again she feigned sickness and told the king that only a certain fruit growing in her kingdom could cure her. She also told the king that only Phra Rothasen would be able to fetch it. So she wrote

2115-408: A human being, a pleasant-looking woman, and brought the twelve sisters to her home. For many years she treated them as her own daughters and under her care the twelve girls grew up into beautiful young women. One day, while Santhumala was away hunting, the twelve sisters met an old man who told them that Santhumala was not a human, but an ogress who liked to eat young women like them. So they fled from

2256-547: A letter ordering him to use it for entry into the kingdom. The letter got manipulated by the Queen and became a death warrant that stated, "If arrives dawn, devour dawn. If it arrives at dusk, devour dusk." Luckily the letter was altered by a Rshi , Ta Eisei (តាឥសី), when Puthisen was resting in his Ashram to: "If arrives dawn, marry dawn. If it arrives at dusk, marry dusk." ("ពេលទៅដល់យប់សម្លាប់យប់ ទៅដល់ថ្ងៃសម្លាប់ថ្ងៃ" => "ទៅដល់ថ្ងៃរៀបការថ្ងៃ ដល់យប់រៀបការយប់") When Puthisen arrived in

2397-416: A local king as his co-wives. Meanwhile, in the land of the ogres, famine ravages their land. The ogress queen tells her husband, the ogre king, will find him food, then bathes in a magical pond to become a human maiden. The ogress queen, in disguise, goes to marry the local king and becomes his favourite co-wife, to the jealousy of the other twelve sisters. One night, the ogress queen uses her powers to summon

2538-540: A lord by right of conquest , beginning with the legendary sack of Chanthaburi . Based at Chanthaburi, Chao Tak raised troops and resources, and sent a fleet up the Chao Phraya to take the fort of Thonburi . In the same year, Chao Tak was able to retake Ayutthaya from the Burmese only seven months after the fall of the city. Chao Tak then crowned himself as Taksin and proclaimed Thonburi as temporary capital in

2679-499: A lot of money from his friends trying to fix his business problems. Yet, no matter what he did, his family kept getting poorer. The former rich man found it hard having so many mouths to feed. So he made a plan to abandon his daughters in the forest. He hid this plan from his wife but his youngest daughter named Phao heard about it. When their father left them alone in the deep forest, the twelve girls were able to find their way back home thanks to their younger sister who had left marks in

2820-520: A noble's servant noticed them and hurried to notify his master. The noble summoned the girls and presented them to the king. As soon as the king saw them entering the royal palace, he fell in love with all of them at first sight. They were wed en masse to the King, Preah Bath Rothtasith (ព្រះបាទរថសិទ្ធិ). Neang Santhamea was enraged by the news, so she concealed her identity using the Maya illusion magic, which

2961-433: A note, she remarked the number of sisters may be seven. In this tale, many years ago, a man tries to teach twelve sisters not to take any life. However, the twelve girls catch fishes in the river: the eleven elder sisters kill the fishes they caught by passing a string through the animals' eyes, while the youngest only passes through one eye of hers. In their next reincarnation, they are reborn as sisters again, and are given to

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3102-525: A population of almost 66 million, it spans 513,115 square kilometres (198,115 sq mi). Thailand is bordered to the northwest by Myanmar , to the northeast and east by Laos , to the southeast by Cambodia , to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia , and to the southwest by the Andaman Sea ; it also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast and Indonesia and India to

3243-598: A powerful faction in Thailand. In response, the royalists made up a story about how Thaskin and his "advisors gathered in Finland to plot the overthrow of the monarchy". Meanwhile, massive protests against Thaksin led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) started in his second term as prime minister. Eventually, the monarchy and the military agree to oust the leader. In this case, the military first sought permission from

3384-667: A princess of Isanavarman I , and two mandalas then became an ally. After Chenla sieged Funan and moved the center to Angkor , both Siamese Mon and the Angkorian eventually marched the troops to attack Vijaya of Champa in 1201 during the reign of Jayavarman VII , as recorded in the Cho-Dinh inscription (C.3). After the decline of the Khmer Empire and Kingdom of Pagan in the early 13th century, various states thrived in their place. The domains of Tai people existed from

3525-497: A privy council, and abolished slavery and the corvée system. The Front Palace crisis of 1874 stalled attempts at further reforms. In the 1870s and 1880s, he incorporated the protectorates up north into the kingdom proper, which later expanded to the protectorates in the northeast and the south. He established twelve krom in 1888, which were equivalent to present-day ministries. The crisis of 1893 erupted, caused by French demands for Laotian territory east of Mekong. Thailand

3666-527: A result. Bangkok also waged several wars with Vietnam , where Siam successfully regained hegemony over Cambodia. From the late-19th century, Siam tried to rule the ethnic groups in the realm as colonies. In the reign of Mongkut (1851–1868), who recognised the potential threat Western powers posed to Siam, his court contacted the British government directly to defuse tensions. A British mission led by Sir John Bowring , Governor of Hong Kong , led to

3807-465: A rope-ascending tool, today known as the Petzl Croll , which he had developed by adapting the Jumar to the specificity of pit caving. Pursuing these developments, in the 1970s Fernand Petzl started a small caving equipment manufacturing company. The development of the rappel rack and the evolution of mechanical ascension systems, notably helped extend the practice and safety of pit exploration to

3948-597: A stranded caver from his rope and returning him/her to the ground). Pit caving was pioneered by the English geologist John Beaumont (c. 1650–1731) who gave an account of his descent into Lamb Leer Cavern to the Royal Society in 1681. French caver Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859–1938) first achieved the descent and exploration of the Gouffre de Padirac , France, as early as 1889 and the first complete descent of

4089-458: A very beautiful young woman, more beautiful than any of the twelve sisters; then she went to the city of the king and asked to meet him. The king was spellbound by Santhumala's beauty and swiftly married her, promoting her to the rank of first queen. Jealous of the king's favoritism, the Twelve Sisters were not kind to the new queen. Although they were polite to her in front of the king, they were often mean to her in private. To take her revenge from

4230-437: Is a middle power in global affairs and a founding member of ASEAN . It has the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 23rd-largest in the world by PPP , and it ranks 91st by nominal GDP per capita. Thailand is classified as a newly industrialised economy , with manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism as leading sectors. Thailand was known by outsiders prior to 1939 as Siam . According to George Cœdès ,

4371-569: Is a long story about the life of twelve sisters abandoned by their parents and adopted by an ogress (a Rakshasa in Hinduism) ( Lao Sundara ; Khmer: Santhamea (យក្សសន្ធមារ); Thai: Santhumala) disguised as a beautiful lady. The conclusion is the sad love story about the only surviving son of the twelve sisters, Rathasena (Thai: Phra Rotthasen (พระรถเสน); Khmer: Puthisen (ពុទ្ធិសែន) or Rithisen ; Lao: Putthasen ) with Manora (Thai: Meri เมรี; Khmer: KongRei (នាងកង្រី); Lao: Kankari ; ),

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4512-557: Is evidence of continuous human habitation in present-day Thailand from 20,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest evidence of rice growing is dated at 2,000 BCE. Areas comprising what is now Thailand participated in the Maritime Jade Road , as ascertained by archeological research. The trading network existed for 3,000 years, between 2000 BCE to 1000 CE. Bronze appeared c.  1,250 –1,000 BCE. The site of Ban Chiang in northeast Thailand currently ranks as

4653-486: Is founded on blood and flesh'. The former name Siam may have originated from Sanskrit श्याम ( śyāma , 'dark') or Mon ရာမည ( rhmañña , 'stranger'), probably the same root as Shan and Assam . The word Śyâma is possibly not the true origin, but a pre-designed deviation from its proper, original meaning. Another theory is the name derives from the Chinese calling this region 'Xian'. The ancient Khmers used

4794-503: Is known as រឿងភ្នំនាងកង្រី​​ Puthisen Neang KongRei . The story goes thus: Once upon a time, there was an affluent couple who were unable to bear children of their own. They decided to travel to a giant Banyan tree, asking the tree's deity for children. Soon after, the wife gave birth to 12 daughters. The expense of providing for the 12 daughters has gradually reduced the man's fortune. They became impoverished and were unable to make ends meet, so he decided to abandon their 12 children in

4935-501: Is more dangerous than "horizontal caving". Vertical caving requires an understanding of ropes, knots, anchors, abseiling/ rappelling devices and ascending systems, and techniques for passing rebelays, deviations, knot passes (where two ropes are joined mid-hang) and changeovers (the act of switching from rappel to climb, or vice versa, whilst on rope). Experienced cavers are typically knowledgeable in self-rescue techniques such as rigging pulley-jammers and doing pick-offs (the act of rescuing

5076-485: Is often stated that the folktale was based on the jātaka. Possibly, it was the other way round. The jātaka version is much shorter, in particular, omitting the romantic finale. Several key points in the plot are missing. The verses have in part been taken from well-known passages in classical jātaka stories such as the Vessantara Jataka . A rich man, who is ruined after having twelve daughters, abandons them in

5217-522: Is the only Southeast Asian state never to have been colonised by a Western power, in part because Britain and France agreed in 1896 to make the Chao Phraya valley a buffer state . Not until the 20th century could Siam renegotiate every unequal treaty dating from the Bowring Treaty, including extraterritoriality . The advent of the monthon system marked the creation of the modern Thai nation-state. In 1905, there were unsuccessful rebellions in

5358-683: The Cold War , Thailand became a major ally of the United States and played an anti-communist role in the region as a member of SEATO , which was disbanded in 1977. Apart from a brief period of parliamentary democracy in the mid-1970s and 1990s, Thailand has periodically alternated between democracy and military rule . Since the 2000s, the country has been in continual political conflict between supporters and opponents of twice-elected Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra , which resulted in two coups (in 2006 and 2014 ), along with

5499-447: The Dent de Crolles cave system near Grenoble , France. It became known as the deepest cave in the world (658 m (2,159 ft)) at that time. The lack of available technical equipment during the war forced Chevalier and his team to innovate and develop their own. The scaling-pole (1940), nylon ropes (1942), use of explosives in caves (1947), and mechanical rope ascenders (Henri Brenot's "monkeys", first used by Chevalier and Brenot in

5640-530: The Great Depression , sharply falling rice prices, and a significant reduction in public spending caused discontent among aristocrats. In 1933, a counter-revolutionary rebellion occurred which aimed to reinstate absolute monarchy, but failed. Prajadhipok's conflict with the government eventually led to abdication. The government selected Ananda Mahidol , who was studying in Switzerland, to be

5781-477: The Nguyễn lords for control of Cambodia starting around 1715. The last fifty years of the kingdom witnessed bloody succession crises, where there were purges of court officials and able generals for many consecutive reigns. In 1765, a combined 40,000-strong force of Burmese armies invaded it from the north and west. The Burmese under the new Alaungpaya dynasty quickly rose to become a new local power by 1759. After

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5922-641: The Shan people , the Bru people , or the Brau people . However, mainland Southeast Asian sources from before the fourteenth century primarily used the word Syam as an ethnonym , referring to those who belonged to a separate cultural category different from the Khmer, Cham, Bagan, or Mon. This contrasts with the Chinese sources, where Xian was used as a toponym . Theoretically, Tai-Kadai -speaking people formed as early as

6063-529: The Simhanavati legend given in several chronicles, the first Tai city-state in northern Thailand, Singhanavati , was found around the 7th century; however, several modern geology and archaeology studies found that its center, Yonok Nahaphan, dates from 691 BCE–545 CE, coinciding roughly with the establishment of Shan States , another Tai's federated principalities in the present-day northeast Myanmar . as well as Muang Sua ( Luang Prabang ) in

6204-659: The Thai highlands , with the highest point being Doi Inthanon in the Thanon Thong Chai Range at 2,565 metres (8,415 ft) above sea level. The northeast, Isan , consists of the Khorat Plateau , bordered to the east by the Mekong River . The centre of the country is dominated by the predominantly flat Chao Phraya river valley, which runs into the Gulf of Thailand . Southern Thailand consists of

6345-602: The Thammasat University massacre in October 1976. A coup d'état on that day brought Thailand a new ultra-right government, which cracked down on media outlets, officials, and intellectuals, and fuelled the communist insurgency . Another coup the following year installed a more moderate government, which offered amnesty to communist fighters in 1978. Fuelled by Indochina refugee crisis , Vietnamese border raids and economic hardships, Prem Tinsulanonda became

6486-593: The 12th century BCE in the middle of the Yangtze basin . Some groups later migrated south to Guangxi . However, after several bloody centuries against Chinese influence in Guangxi from the 333 BCE-11th centuries, hundreds of thousands of Tais were killed, thus, Tai people began to move southwestward along the rivers and over the lower passes into the mountain north of Southeast Asia and river valleys in present-day Assam of India . Some evidence indicates that

6627-933: The 17th century by the French, Dutch, and English. Rivalry for supremacy over Chiang Mai and the Mon people pitted Ayutthaya against the Burmese Kingdom. Several wars with its ruling Taungoo dynasty starting in the 1540s in the reign of Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung were ultimately ended with the capture of the capital in 1570 . Then was a brief period of vassalage to Burma until Naresuan proclaimed independence in 1584. Ayutthaya then sought to improve relations with European powers for many successive reigns. The kingdom especially prospered during cosmopolitan Narai 's reign (1656–1688) when some European travelers regarded Ayutthaya as an Asian great power, alongside China and India. However, growing French influence later in his reign

6768-576: The 1868–1910 reign of Chulalongkorn (Rama V). In World War I , Siam sided with the Allies , a political decision made in order to amend the unequal treaties. Following a bloodless revolution in 1932, it became a constitutional monarchy and changed its official name to Thailand, becoming an ally of Japan in World War II . In the late 1950s, a military coup under Sarit Thanarat revived the monarchy's historically influential role in politics. During

6909-745: The 20th century and created a system of social hierarchy called sakdina , where male commoners were conscripted as corvée labourers for six months a year. Ayutthaya was interested in the Malay Peninsula , but failed to conquer the Malacca Sultanate which was supported by the Chinese Ming dynasty . European contact and trade started in the early-16th century, with the envoy of Portuguese duke Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511. Portugal became an ally and ceded some soldiers to King Rama Thibodi II. The Portuguese were followed in

7050-619: The 8th–10th centuries. This is also reflected in the language since over half of the vocabulary in the central Thai language is derived from or borrowed from the Mon language as well as Pali and Sanskrit . Moreover, the Jinakalamali chronicle of Tai's Lan Na also called the southern region occupied by the Mon Haripuñjaya of Dvaravati as Shyam Pradesh ( lit.   ' the land of Siam people ' ), which indicates that

7191-572: The 9th century. Tambralinga , a Malay state controlling trade through the Malacca Strait , rose in the 10th century. The Indochina peninsula was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India from the time of the Kingdom of Funan to that of the Khmer Empire. The Thai people are of the Tai ethnic group , characterized by common linguistic roots. Chinese chronicles first mention

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7332-475: The Bodhisatta Rathasena to be conceived by the youngest. The king has all twelve imprisoned in a cave. When the eleven give birth, they share their babies’ flesh as food. The youngest gives birth to Rathasena. On growing up, Rathasena appeals to Sakka to provide them with cloth and ornaments, and to teach him to gamble. To feed the twelve, he gambles, first with cowherds, later with the king. When

7473-572: The First World War on the side of the Allies . In the aftermath, Siam had a seat at the Paris Peace Conference and gained freedom of taxation and the revocation of extraterritoriality. A bloodless revolution took place in 1932, in which Prajadhipok was forced to grant the country's first constitution, thereby ending centuries of feudal and absolute monarchy . The combined results of economic hardships brought on by

7614-510: The Khmer. He later crowned himself the first king of Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238. Mainstream Thai historians count Sukhothai as the first kingdom of Thai people. Sukhothai expanded furthest during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng ( r.  1279–1298 ). However, it was mostly a network of local lords who swore fealty to Sukhothai, not directly controlled by it. He is believed have invented Thai script and Thai ceramics were an important export in his era. Sukhothai embraced Theravada Buddhism in

7755-480: The Kingdom of the Yakk, the sentinel giants read the letter and followed its orders. She fell in love when she saw the heroic, virtuous and handsome young man. Unbeknownst to Neang Santhamea, her beloved daughter Neang KongRei (នាងកង្រី) became the adoring wife of her greatest enemy. From then on, they reigned peacefully and had two sons named, "Chum Sen" (ជុំសែន) and "Reth Sen" (រថសែន). One day, she told her husband about

7896-582: The Prime Minister from 1980 to 1988. The communists abandoned the insurgency by 1983. Prem's premiership was dubbed " semi-democracy " because the Parliament was composed of all elected House and all appointed Senate. The 1980s also saw increasing intervention in politics by the monarch, who rendered two coups in 1981 and 1985 attempts against Prem failed. In 1988 Thailand had its first elected prime minister since 1976. Suchinda Kraprayoon , who

8037-567: The Sanskrit आज्ञा , ājñā , of the same meaning), and -chak (from Sanskrit चक्र cakra- 'wheel', a symbol of power and rule). The Thai National Anthem ( Thai : เพลงชาติ ), written by Luang Saranupraphan during the patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as prathet Thai ( Thai : ประเทศไทย ). The first line of the national anthem is: prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai ( Thai : ประเทศไทยรวมเลือดเนื้อชาติเชื้อไทย ), 'Thailand

8178-501: The Tai peoples in the 6th century BCE. While there are many assumptions regarding the origin of Tai peoples, David K. Wyatt , a historian of Thailand, argued that their ancestors who at present inhabit Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, India, and China came from the Điện Biên Phủ area between the 5th and the 8th century. Thai people began migrating into present-day Thailand gradually from the 6th to 11th century, which Mon and Khmer people occupied at

8319-485: The Takéo inscriptions (K.79) written in 682 during the reign of Bhavavarman II of Chenla also mention Siam Nobel: Sāraṇnoya Poña Sayam, which was transcribed into English as: the rice field that was given to the poña (noble rank) who was called Sayam (Siam) . The Song Huiyao Jigao (960–1279) indicate Siamese people settled in the west central Thailand and their state was called Xiān guó ( Chinese : 暹國 ), while

8460-438: The Twelve Sisters, Santhumala, the favorite queen, feigned sickness and the king became worried. She told the king that the cause of her disease was the ill-treatment of the twelve other wives and the only thing that would heal her would be a medicine distilled from the eyes of the Twelve Sisters. The king was so infatuated with Santhumala that he assented. Under his orders eleven of his wives had both of their eyes gouged out, but

8601-484: The United States and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom, whose colony Malaya was under immediate threat from Thai forces, responded in kind, but the United States refused to declare war and ignored Thailand's declaration. The Free Thai Movement was launched both in Thailand and abroad to oppose the government and Japanese occupation. After the war ended in 1945, Thailand signed formal agreements to end

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8742-406: The adopted daughter of ogress Sundara . At the end both died together upon the long and lonely shore of a lake. A long time ago, there was a rich merchant and his beautiful wife who lived happily in a big house. Despite their good fortune, the couple didn't have any children. One day, they went together to a shrine and made an offering of twelve banana hands to a tree spirit . Not long thereafter

8883-417: The ancestors of Tai people migrated en masse southwestwards out of Yunnan only after the 1253 Mongol invasion of Dali , but not generally accepted. Tais defeated indigenous tribes and emerged as the new power in the new region, several Tai city-states were established, scattered from Điện Biên Phủ in present-day northwestern Vietnam and highland Southeast Asia to northeastern India . According to

9024-465: The ancient Patani area, Ubon Ratchathani, and Phrae in opposition to an attempt to blunt the power of local lords. The Palace Revolt of 1912 was a failed attempt by Western-educated military officers to overthrow the Siamese monarchy. Vajiravudh ( r.  1910–1925 ) responded by propaganda for the entirety of his reign, which promoted the idea of the Thai nation . In 1917, Siam joined

9165-510: The ancient Siamese and the Mon people in central Thailand were probably the same ethnolinguistic group. The earliest evidence to mention the Siam people are stone inscriptions found in Angkor Borei of Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 661 CE, the slave's name is mentioned as "Ku Sayam" meaning "Sayam female slaves" (Ku is a prefix used to refer to female slaves in the pre-Angkorian era), and

9306-530: The city of Lord Krishna (Nakhon Pathom) in the early era of the Sukhothai Kingdom . The signature of King Mongkut (r. 1851–1868) reads SPPM ( Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha ) Mongkut Rex Siamensium (Mongkut, King of the Siamese). This usage of the name in the country's first international treaty gave the name Siam official status, until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand . There

9447-608: The country's 40 years of uninterrupted economic growth. Chuan Leekpai 's government took an IMF loan with unpopular provisions. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit the country, mostly in the south, claiming around 5,400 lives in Phuket , Phang Nga , Ranong , Krabi , Trang , and Satun , with thousands still missing. The populist Thai Rak Thai party , led by prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra , governed from 2001 until 2006. His policies were successful in reducing rural poverty and initiated universal healthcare in

9588-569: The country. In May 2023, Thailand's reformist opposition, the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) and the populist Pheu Thai Party , won the general election , meaning the royalist-military parties that supported Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha lost power. On 22 August 2023, Srettha Thavisin of the populist Pheu Thai party, became Thailand's new prime minister, while the Pheu Thai party's billionaire figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand after years in self-imposed exile. Thavisin

9729-401: The country. However, Thaksin was viewed as a corrupt populist who was destroying the middle class in order to favor himself and the rural poor. He also faced criticism over his response to a South Thailand insurgency which escalated starting from 2004. Additionally, his recommendations to the rural poor directly conflicted with King Bhumibol's recommendations, drawing the ire of royalists,

9870-503: The dark cave. While showing him the palace, Meri had told Rothasen about certain magic medicines kept in a locked room including Phra Rothasen's mother and aunts’ eyes. Then he made a plan to get Meri to sleep by making her drink wine and take the eyes for his mother and aunts. Thus one night, after Meri was sleeping, Phra Rothasen stole many medicines and the eyes from the locked room. Meri woke up and looked for her husband but she saw him far away riding his flying horse. She suddenly grew into

10011-483: The death of his wife and arranged a funeral for her. Puthisen returned to his parents' kingdom after the funeral and reigned happily ever after. Phnom Kong Rei is a mountain in Kampong Chhnang Province , Central Cambodia. The silhouette of the mountain seen from afar looks like a sleeping lady . According to local folklore this mountain is related to the story. Kampong Cham province of Cambodia as

10152-635: The death of the Sukhothai king Ram Khamhaeng . According to the Wat Kud Tae inscription (K.1105), dated c. 7th century, during the period that the eastern Mon entity, Lavo , was strongly influenced by the Chenla , the Siamese Mon in the west also established a royal intermarriage with Chenla as Sri Chakatham, prince of Sambhuka (ศามภูกะ, in the present-day Ratchaburi province ), married to

10293-405: The deep wilderness. When the 12 girls realized that their parents had abandoned them, they sobbed loudly, uncertain of what to do next. They wandered around the forest aimlessly, gathering leaves and wild fruits for nourishment. They came across a pond and each caught a fish. All the elder sisters poked both the fish eyes out playfully except for the youngest, Neang Pov (នាងពៅ), who carved only one of

10434-512: The depths of the forest. As Puthisen took medicine to cure the eyes of his mother and royal aunts, King Rothtasith realized his mistakes and allowed his 12 wives back to the palace. Puthisen said his farewell to his parents and returned to his wife and children after fulfilling his duties. Unfortunately, Puthisen discovered his wife's corpse, as she wept till death and became a mountain ( Phnom Kong Rei ) in Kampong Chhnang . Puthisen mourned

10575-444: The divine drum (ស្គរជ័យ). If you knock it, the hidden magical weapons will come out, especially the eyes of the 12 concubines. When the opportunity arose, Puthisen went in to steal the divine drum, in order to help his long-suffering mother and royal aunts. When KongRei learned her husband had departed, she followed him, sobbing and begging him to return, but he had to reject since he valued filial piety over personal romantic passion. She

10716-512: The earliest known centre of copper and bronze production in Southeast Asia. Iron appeared around 500 BCE. The Kingdom of Funan was the first and most powerful Southeast Asian kingdom at the time (2nd century BCE). The Mon people established the principalities of Dvaravati and Kingdom of Hariphunchai in the 6th century. The Khmer people established the Khmer empire , centred in Angkor , in

10857-607: The east. After Singhanavati was submerged below Chiang Saen Lake due to an earthquake in 545, the survivors then founded a new seat at Wieng–Prueksha  [ th ] , the kingdom lasted for another 93 years. In addition to Singhanavati , another northern principality probably related to the Tai people, Ngoenyang , was established as the successor of Singhanavati in 638 by Lavachakkaraj  [ th ] , also centered in Wieng–Prueksha  [ th ] (present-day Mae Sai District , Chiang Rai ). Its seat

10998-442: The eastern plain belonged to the Mon of Lavo ( Chinese : 羅渦國 ), who later fell under the Chenla and Khmer hegemony around the 7th–9th centuries. Those Mon political entities, which also included Haripuñjaya in the north and several city-states in the northeast , are collectively called Dvaravati . However, the states of Siamese Mon and Lavo were later merged via the royal intermarriage and became Ayutthaya Kingdom in

11139-528: The eleventh century with the mention of Syam slaves or prisoners of war in Champa epigraphy", and "in the twelfth century, the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat " where "a group of warriors" are described as Syam , though Cham accounts do not indicate the origins of Syam or what ethnic group they belonged to. The origins and ethnicity of the Syam remain unclear, with some literature suggesting that Syam refers to

11280-450: The establishment of its current constitution , a nominally democratic government after the 2019 Thai general election , and large pro-democracy protests in 2020–2021 , which included unprecedented demands to reform the monarchy. Since 2019, it has been nominally a parliamentary constitutional monarchy ; in practice, however, structural advantages in the constitution have ensured the military's continued influence in politics. Thailand

11421-640: The establishment of the Tai people's independent state, Sukhothai Kingdom , in the upper Chao Phraya River valley in 1238. The earliest conflict between Tai people and the preexisting ethnics was recorded in the mid-4th century when the ruler of  Singhanavati , Pangkharat  [ th ] , forcibly lost the seat at Yonok to King Khom from Umongasela (present-day Fang ). He then fled to Vieng Si Tuang ( เวียงศรีทวง ; present-day Wiang Phang Kham, Mae Sai district ) but had to send tributes to Yonok annually until his son, Phrom , took back Yonok and expelled King Khom from Umongasela. Phrom also marched

11562-622: The etymon *k(ə)ri: 'human being'. Thais often refer to their country using the polite form prathet Thai ( Thai : ประเทศไทย ). They also use the more colloquial term mueang Thai ( Thai : เมืองไทย ) or simply Thai; the word mueang , archaically referring to a city-state , is commonly used to refer to a city or town as the centre of a region. Ratcha Anachak Thai ( Thai : ราชอาณาจักรไทย ) means 'kingdom of Thailand' or 'kingdom of Thai'. Etymologically, its components are: ratcha ( Sanskrit : राजन् , rājan , 'king, royal, realm'), ana- ( Pali āṇā 'authority, command, power', itself from

11703-465: The eyes and stopped. They continued their journey after their meal until they arrived to the Kingdom of the Yakk ( Rakshasa ), which was ruled by a Yakkani Queen named Neang Santhamea (យក្សសន្ធមារ). There, Neang Santhamea appointed the 12 sisters as servants for her toddler, KongRei. They lived with her for a while, until the youngest sister met an elderly man who warned her about the Yakk and advised her to flee. She did not listen, but one day when feeding

11844-457: The first monarch of the current Chakri dynasty . Throughout the era of Western imperialism in Asia , Siam remained the only state in the region to avoid colonization by foreign powers, although it was often forced to make territorial , trade, and legal concessions in unequal treaties. The Siamese system of government was centralised and transformed into a modern unitary absolute monarchy during

11985-421: The first time that the king had intervened in Thai politics directly since 1932. The aftermath of the event marked a short-lived parliamentary democracy, often called the "era when democracy blossomed" (ยุคประชาธิปไตยเบ่งบาน). Constant unrest and instability, as well as fear of a communist takeover after the fall of Saigon , made some ultra-right groups brand leftist students as communists. This culminated in

12126-402: The following letter to her adoptive daughter, Meri, in the language of the ogres: "If this young man arrives to our kingdom in the morning, devour him in the morning; but if he arrives in the night, devour him in the night" On the way to the kingdom Phra Rothasen met an old Rishi who gave him a flying horse named Pachi to ride and who gave him hospitality. While the boy slept the sage altered

12267-473: The horse, she came upon a barn that was filled with human carcasses. She panicked and remembered the old man's remarks. She alerted her sisters and fled, they each stole a crown and some valuables from the Yakk queen. They made their way to the neighboring Kingdom of Injakbat Borey (នគរឥន្ទបត្តបុរី). The sisters bathed in the pond water while playfully adorned themselves with the crowns and jewels they stole. Looking as if they were Apsaras descending from heaven,

12408-592: The junta agreed to schedule a general election in March . Prayut continued his premiership with the support of Palang Pracharath Party -coalition in the House and junta-appointed Senate, amid allegations of election fraud. The 2020–21 pro-democracy protests were triggered by increasing royal prerogative , democratic and economic regression from the Royal Thai Armed Forces supported by the monarchy in

12549-424: The king learns that this remarkable boy is his own son, Sandhamāra maneuvers to have him sent to the ogre realm carrying a letter. On the way he meets a rishi who reads the letter, finds that Rathasena is being sent to the ogre realm to be eaten, and changes the wording. On Rathasena's arrival, the ogress's daughter falls in love with him, and he is anointed with her to rule the realm. After a dalliance, he takes her to

12690-423: The king to oust Thaksin, the permission was denied. But then, the king rejected Thaksin's choice to lead the army, allowing a military leader to be put into power who wanted the coup.  Then, the army dissolved Thaksin's party with a coup d'état in 2006 and banned over a hundred of its executives from politics. After the coup, a military government was installed which lasted a year. Coming back to democracy

12831-401: The land of the ogres next to the human realm, and steals the eyes of the twelve sisters, leaving the twelfth blind in one eye. The next day, the ogress queen lies that the twelve sisters are cannibal ogres who, in desperation, devoured her own eyes. The king, in shock and horror, orders them to be banished from the palace. The twelve sisters take refuge in a cave, and each of them gives birth to

12972-423: The late 10 century, Tai people began to migrate further south to the present-day upper central Thailand . Around the 1100s period, several cities in this area, such as Songkwae, Sawankhalok, and Chakangrao, were ruled by the Tai people, and they eventually launched several battles against the pre-existing Mon of Lavo , who had been falling under Chenla and Khmer influences since the 7th century, thus bringing

13113-464: The latter of which ended with a violent military crackdown causing more than 70 civilian deaths. After the general election of 2011 , the populist Pheu Thai Party won a majority and Yingluck Shinawatra , Thaksin's younger sister, became prime minister. The People's Democratic Reform Committee organised another anti-Shinawatra protest after the ruling party proposed an amnesty bill which would benefit Thaksin. Yingluck dissolved parliament and

13254-541: The meaning of the letter by replacing the words "devour him" with "marry him". Thus, when he arrived at the kingdom of the ogres Phra Rothasen went straight to Meri and showed her the letter. Meri was surprised and pleased at seeing the virtuous-looking and handsome young man and she fell in love with him, celebrating her wedding with him straight away as directed. Meri was a kind-hearted and beautiful lady and Phra Rothasen lived with her very happily for some time, but he remembered his blind mother and aunts who still stayed in

13395-539: The mid-14th century, while the southwestern Isan principalities, centered in Phanom Rung and Phimai , later pledged allegiance to Siamese's Ayutthaya during the reign of Borommarachathirat II ( r. 1424–1448). The remaining principal city-states in Isan region became Lan Xang around 1353 after the twin cities of Muang Sua ( Luang Prabang ) and Vieng Chan Vieng Kham ( Vientiane ) became independent following

13536-505: The mid-20th century. Several genetic studies published in the 21st century suggest that the so-called Siamese people (central Thai) might have had Mon origins since their genetic profiles are more closely related to the Mon people in Myanmar than the Tais in southern China , and they probably later became Tais via cultural diffusion after the arriving of Tai people from the north around

13677-691: The narrow Kra Isthmus that widens into the Malay Peninsula . Pit cave A pit cave , shaft cave or vertical cave —or often simply called a pit (in the US) and pothole or pot (in the UK); jama in Slavic languages scientific and colloquial vocabulary (borrowed since early research in the Western Balkan Dinaric Alpine karst )—is a type of cave which contains one or more significant vertical shafts rather than being predominantly

13818-435: The new king. Later that decade, the army wing of Khana Ratsadon came to dominate Siamese politics. Plaek Phibunsongkhram who became premier in 1938, started political oppression and took an openly anti-royalist stance. His government adopted nationalism and Westernisation , anti-Chinese and anti-French policies. In 1939, there was a decree changing the name of the country from "Siam" to "Thailand". In 1941, Thailand

13959-461: The northeast of present-day India to the north of present-day Laos and to the Malay Peninsula . During the 13th century, Tai people had already settled in the core land of Dvaravati and Lavo Kingdom to Nakhon Si Thammarat in the south. There are, however, no records detailing the arrival of the Tais. Around 1240, Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao , a local Tai ruler, rallied the people to rebel against

14100-436: The ogre kingdom and wandered for days until they arrived to a clear river where they took a bath to refresh themselves. The local king saw the twelve ladies playing in the water and fell in love with them. So he brought them to his palace and married the twelve sisters. When Santhumala came back to her home and found that the girls were gone, she flew into a rage. She quickly found out where they were and transformed herself into

14241-401: The ogre kingdom he realized it was too late. He heard about her vow and carried his wife's body. Full of sadness at having lost everything, he dropped dead while holding his wife in his arms. Finally, their spirits flew together to their next rebirth where they would be joined again. In Tambon Mon Nang, Phanat Nikhom District , Chonburi Province , there is a shrine to the Twelve Sisters with

14382-438: The other sisters to eat. When Phao gave birth to a beautiful boy who was alive, she lied to her sisters that her son was dead. Phao named her son Rothasen and looked after him well. As he grew he found a secret way out of the deep cave. He had a cock that won in all the cockfights . With the prize money he bought rice and from then onward he brought regularly food for his mother and his eleven aunts. As years went by Rothasen became

14523-452: The palace again but Phra Rothasen told them that he had to hurry back to live with Meri who was waiting for him. But meanwhile Meri had died of sorrow. During her long wait she had shed so many tears that she had become blind. Before she died, she solemnly vowed that she would follow Phra Rothasen in every future reincarnation . Then she died with her grandmother crying at her side and surrounded by her servants. When Phra Rothasen arrived to

14664-442: The path. But their father tried again and this time they were not able to find their way back home. They spent days walking deeper and deeper into the forest and became very hungry. Their father had given them twelve packets of rice, but when they opened them they found out that eleven of them were filled with sand and only one had rice in it. They shared that little rice and ate it crying, lamenting their misfortune. Wandering aimlessly

14805-471: The reign of Maha Thammaracha I (1347–1368). According to the most widely accepted version of its origin, the Ayutthaya Kingdom rose from the earlier, nearby Lavo Kingdom and Suvarnabhumi with Uthong as its first king. Ayutthaya was a patchwork of self-governing principalities and tributary provinces owing allegiance to the King of Ayutthaya under the mandala system . Its initial expansion

14946-457: The repercussions of him becoming Crown Prince. In order to avoid any possible acts of vengeance by Puthisen, Santhamea put a curse on the King. He fell ill, no matter who or what could not cure him. She told the King that there was a panacea in the Kingdom of the Yakks that might be able to cure him and told him that Puthisen should go and get it. The King decided to follow her words and gave Puthisen

15087-600: The right bank of the Mekong are named Phu Tao and Phu Nang, after Putthasen and Kankari. Several stories written in the style of a jātaka appeared in Southeast Asia. Several were assembled into collections often known as the “Fifty Jātaka” (Pali: Paññāsa Jātaka) even though the number of stories varies. Rathasena appears in the collection assembled at National Library of Thailand in the 1920s by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab , and translated from Pali into Thai. The Rathasena story does not appear in any other of these collections. It

15228-469: The rock they used as pillow when they wandered in the wilderness and a Carissa carandas tree. Sa Siliam (สระสี่เหลี่ยม), also in Chonburi Province, is said to be the pond where Phra Rothasen brought his cock to drink water when he ran cockfights to make a living for the twelve sisters while they were banished in the deep dark cave, according to a legend of the area. In Cambodia this legend

15369-449: The royal park, gets her drunk, learns from her the means to restore the sight to the twelve sisters, and escapes. On failing to follow him, the ogress's daughter dies of a broken heart. On seeing him return, the ogress Sandhamāra dies of defeat. Rathasena restores sight to the twelve, who again become queens. Anthropologist Mrs. Leslie Milne collected a tale from the Shan people which she titled The Story of Twelve Sisters , although, in

15510-622: The rural populace sought work in growing cities. Rural farmers gained class consciousness and were sympathetic to the Communist Party of Thailand . Economic development and education enabled the rise of a middle class in Bangkok and other cities. In October 1971, there was a large demonstration against the dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn (premiership 1963–1973), which led to civilian casualties. Bhumibol installed Sanya Dharmasakti (premiership 1973–1975) to replace him, marking

15651-535: The same year. He also quickly subdued the other warlords. His forces engaged in wars with Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, which successfully drove the Burmese out of Lan Na in 1775, captured Vientiane in 1778 and tried to install a pro-Thai king in Cambodia in the 1770s. In his final years there was a coup, caused supposedly by his "insanity", and eventually Taksin and his sons were executed by his longtime companion General Chao Phraya Chakri (the future Rama I). He

15792-473: The signing of the Bowring Treaty , the first of many unequal treaties with Western countries. This, however, brought trade and economic development to Siam. The unexpected death of Mongkut from malaria led to the reign of underage King Chulalongkorn , with Somdet Chaophraya Sri Suriwongse (Chuang Bunnag) acting as regent. Chulalongkorn ( r.  1868–1910 ) initiated centralisation, set up

15933-448: The sisters to satiate their hunger. Neang Pov kept the meat of her nieces and nephews, giving it to her sisters instead of her newborn. She raised Puthisen (ពុទ្ធិសែន) through many hardships in the darkness of the cave, surrounded by his blind, grief-stricken aunts. Puthisen grew up and became curious about the outside world; he begged his mother to let him go out and play with the villagers' children. Neang Pov decided to let him go. He met

16074-495: The southwest. Bangkok is the state capital and largest city. Thai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 6th to 11th centuries. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon , Khmer Empire , and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang , Sukhothai , Lan Na , and Ayutthaya , which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with

16215-526: The state of war with the Allies . In June 1946, young King Ananda was found dead under mysterious circumstances. His younger brother Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended to the throne. Thailand joined the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to become an active ally of the United States in 1954. Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat launched a coup in 1957, which removed Khana Ratsadon from politics. His rule (premiership 1959–1963)

16356-762: The story of the Twelve Ladies is ever popular and is found in traditional theatre, dances, poetry and songs. Thailand – in Asia  (dark grey & grey) – in ASEAN  (dark grey) Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula . With

16497-586: The temple of the 12 sisters rest in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The story was adapted to movie and released in 1968. The Lao version of the Twelve Sisters, the story of Putthasen (Buddhasen), was translated into French by Louis Finot in 1917. A merchant fell into poverty and abandoned his twelve daughters in the forest. Instead of a magical branch or potion, in this version of the story Putthasen throws magical limes or lime seeds as he runs from his wife. Two mountains located close together facing Luang Prabang on

16638-555: The time. Thus Thai culture was influenced by Indian, Mon, and Khmer cultures. Tai people intermixed with various ethnic and cultural groups in the region, resulting in many groups of present-day Thai people. Genetic evidences suggested that ethnolinguistics could not accurately predict the origins of the Thais. Sujit Wongthes argued that Thai is not a race or ethnicity but a culture group. According to French historian George Cœdès , "The Thai first enter history of Farther India in

16779-422: The troops south to occupy Chakangrao from the enemy as well as founding the city of Songkwae . Some historians suggest that Lavo 's capital, Lopburi , was once seized by Phrom . In contrast, Tai people instead established relationships with Siamese Mon via royal intermarriages . As is generally known, the present-day Thai people were previously called Siamese before the country was renamed Thailand in

16920-519: The twelve girls came to a lake, where they tried to catch fish to satiate their hunger. Each of the sisters succeeded in catching a fish and eleven of them playfully poked the eyes of their fish with sharp twigs, except for the youngest one who poked only one eye. Finally they arrived to the Yaksha kingdom, where an ogress named Santhumala saw the exhausted and emaciated girls resting under a tree and decided to adopt them. The ogress transformed herself into

17061-519: The use of equipment such as nylon kernmantle rope or cable ladders. The specialized caving techniques of single rope technique (SRT) are common practice and the preferred method of pit exploration for cavers worldwide. SRT involves the use of 8–11 mm nylon static rope and mechanical descenders/ascenders. Vertical caving is a specialized sport that should be undertaken only after acquiring knowledge of, and expertise in, proper vertical caving equipment and its use. For obvious reasons, vertical caving

17202-408: The wake of the coup d'état in 2014 , dissolution of the pro-democracy Future Forward Party , distrust in the 2019 general election and the current political system, forced disappearance and deaths of political activists including Wanchalearm Satsaksit , and political corruption scandals, which brought forward unprecedented demands to reform the monarchy and the highest sense of republicanism in

17343-435: The wife became pregnant and the rich man wished with all his might that the child would be a boy, but his wife gave birth to a girl. His wife, however, conceived again and again. She became pregnant twelve times and each time she had a daughter. By that time his business started to go wrong for him since the ships that took his goods to sell in another country were robbed several times. Finally the rich merchant ended up borrowing

17484-491: The word Siam to refer to people settled in the west Chao Phraya River valley surrounding the ancient city of Nakhon Pathom in the present-day central Thailand ; it may probably originate from the name of Lord Krishna , which also called Shyam , as in the Wat Sri Chum Inscription , dated 13th century CE, mentions Phra Maha Thera Sri Sattha  [ th ] came to restore Phra Pathommachedi at

17625-445: The word Thai ( ไทย ) means 'free man' in the Thai language, "differentiating the Thai from the natives encompassed in Thai society as serfs". According to Chit Phumisak , Thai ( ไท ) simply means 'people' or 'human being'; his investigation shows that some rural areas used the word "Thai" instead of the usual Thai word khon ( คน ) for people. According to Michel Ferlus , the ethnonyms Thai-Tai (or Thay-Tay) would have evolved from

17766-487: The youngest one had only one eye removed. Following this the Twelve Sisters were banished to a deep dark cave from where there was no way out. Then the king instructed his servants not to bring any food and not to help the Twelve Sisters in any way. All the twelve sisters were pregnant and they all successively gave birth to babies but all died. Since the women were being starved under Santhumala's strict orders, each one chopped her baby's body into twelve pieces to share with

17907-600: The youth's requests reach the king's ears, and the monarch becomes so fond of him he dresses him in fine clothes. Meanwhile, the ogress queen, noticing the boy, realizes that the twelve sister survived, and plans to get rid of the boy. First, she gives him a letter to be given to the ogress queen's father in the land of ogres. The story has been adapted to Thai films , Thai television soap operas (ละคร) and Khmer films . The Twelve Sisters story has been adapted as well to printed media, such as books, children's books , Thai comics in classical style and in manga . The theme of

18048-426: Was the coup leader in 1991 and said he would not seek to become prime minister, was nominated as one by the majority coalition government after the 1992 general election . This caused a popular demonstration in Bangkok, which ended with a bloody military crackdown . Bhumibol intervened in the event and signed an amnesty law, Suchinda then resigned. The 1997 Asian financial crisis originated in Thailand and ended

18189-425: Was a precocious child, his genius causing him to win against everyone in every sort of game. His genius was soon revealed to the king, who asked Puthisen to visit the imperial palace so he could challenge him. He recognized the King as his father as soon as he saw him. Neang Pov revealed to him about the past and sent him to live in the royal palace. When Puthisen reached adulthood, Neang Santhamea began to worry about

18330-712: Was a process that took very active participation of the people. The people frequently stormed government buildings and the military threatened yet another coup. Finally, in 2007, a civilian government led by the Thaksin-allied People's Power Party (PPP) was elected . Another protest led by PAD ended with the dissolution of PPP, and the Democrat Party led a coalition government in its place. The pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) protested both in 2009 and in 2010 ,

18471-532: Was autocratic; he built his legitimacy around the god-like status of the monarch and by channelling the government's loyalty to the king. His government improved the country's infrastructure and education. After the United States joined the Vietnam War in 1961, there was a secret agreement wherein the U.S. promised to protect Thailand. The period brought about increasing modernisation and Westernisation of Thai society. Rapid urbanisation occurred when

18612-437: Was described by academics as showing the rise of fascism. Bhumibol, the longest-reigning Thai king, died in 2016, and his son Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne. The referendum and adoption of Thailand's current constitution happened under the junta's rule. The junta also bound future governments to a 20-year national strategy 'road map' it laid down, effectively locking the country into military-guided democracy . In 2019,

18753-616: Was in a brief conflict with Vichy France , resulting in Thailand gaining some Lao and Cambodian territories. On 8 December 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an invasion of Thailand , and fighting broke out shortly before Phibun ordered an armistice . Japan was granted free passage, and on 21 December Thailand and Japan signed a military alliance with a secret protocol, wherein the Japanese government agreed to help Thailand regain lost territories . The Thai government then declared war on

18894-410: Was later dismissed from his prime ministerial role on 14 August 2024 by the Constitutional Court for his "gross ethics violations." Totalling 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi), Thailand is the 50th-largest country by total area. Thailand comprises several distinct geographic regions, partly corresponding to the provincial groups. The north of the country is the mountainous area of

19035-555: Was met with nationalist sentiment and led eventually to the Siamese revolution of 1688 . However, overall relations remained stable, with French missionaries still active in preaching Christianity. After a bloody period of dynastic struggle, Ayutthaya entered into what has been called the Siamese " golden age ", a relatively peaceful episode in the second quarter of the 18th century when art , literature , and learning flourished. There were seldom foreign wars, apart from conflict with

19176-556: Was moved to Chiang Mai in 1262 by King Mangrai , which considered the foundation of the Lan Na kingdom. Mangrai unified the surrounding area and also created a network of states through political alliances to the east and north of the Mekong . His dynasty would rule the kingdom continuously for the next two centuries. Lan Na expanded its territory southward and annexed the Mon Hariphunchai of Dvaravati in 1292. In

19317-476: Was no small feat given her physical stature and reputation. She charmed Preah Bhat Rothtasith into making her his 13th concubine but most beloved consort, and was soon raised to the Queen position, the highest rank in the royal harem court. After gaining her new husband's affection and sympathy, Santhamea pretended to be ill with a fatal ailment that no doctor or medicine could heal. Neang Santhamea took advantage of Rothtasith's rising desperation and told him that only

19458-498: Was the first king of the ruling Chakri dynasty and founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom on 6 April 1782. Under Rama I (1782–1809), Rattanakosin successfully defended against Burmese attacks and put an end to Burmese incursions. He also created suzerainty over large portions of Laos and Cambodia. In 1821, Briton John Crawfurd was sent to negotiate a new trade agreement with Siam – the first sign of an issue which

19599-432: Was through conquest and political marriage. Before the end of the 15th century, Ayutthaya invaded the Khmer Empire three times and sacked its capital Angkor . Ayutthaya then became a regional power in place of the Khmer. Constant interference of Sukhothai effectively made it a vassal state of Ayutthaya and it was finally incorporated into the kingdom. Borommatrailokkanat brought about bureaucratic reforms which lasted into

19740-663: Was to dominate 19th century Siamese politics. Bangkok signed the Burney Treaty in 1826, after the British victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War . Anouvong of Vientiane, who mistakenly held the belief that Britain was about to launch an invasion of Bangkok, started the Lao rebellion in 1826 which was suppressed. Vientiane was destroyed and a large number of Lao people were relocated to Khorat Plateau as

19881-413: Was unable to keep up with the flying horse, Mony Keo and fell. Puthisen arrived at the Kingdom of Injakbat Borey. Santheama realized what had occurred and transformed into her true Yakk form, aiming to murder Puthisen, but Puthisen was prepared and struck on the divine drum, causing the magical weapon to fly out and instantly pierced Neang Santhamea. Neang Santhamea's body turned to stone and was abandoned in

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