The word Thai, means free and therefore; Thailand; means The Land of the Free Conflicting opinions and theories have prevailed over time as to the origins of the Thais. Two decades ago we could say with presumed certainty that the Thais originated in Northwestern Szechuan of China about 4,500 years ago. But since the discovery of many instruments and artifacts at the village of Ban Chiang, Nong Han District, Udon Thani Province, the prevailing theory about the origins of the Thai people has changed.
It now appears that the Thais might have first settled down here in Thailand and then later scattered to various parts of Asia, even to some parts of China.
New knowledge - a result of Carbon 14 tests of artifacts - indicates that Thailand might be the first place in which Bronze Age culture has been discovered anywhere in the world, for some artifacts uncovered there have been revealed to be some 500 years older than those unearthed in the Near East.
“Siam” is the name by which the country was well known to the world until 1939 and again between 1945 and 1949. On May 11, 1949 an official proclamation changed the name of the country into “Prathet Thai” or “ Thailand”, the name by which it has since come to be popularly known throughout the world.
Six Major Periods of the Thai History
The history of the Thais is regularly divided into six major periods:
(1) The Ancient Period, some 4,500 years ago, when the Thai people settled down in Northwestern Szechuan and scattered in a fan-like manner along the valley of the Yangtse River.
(2) The Nanchao Period, which lasted 588 years (650-1238 A.D.) and during which the Kingdom was situated in Yunnan in the southern part of China.
(3) The Sukhothai Period, which lasted 121 years (1257-1378 A.D.) Sukhothai was the first capital city when the Thai people moved into and settled down in the northern part of present Thailand, overcoming the Khmers’ influence. There were six kings altogether of the ‘Phra Ruang’ dynasty during this period of 121 years.
(4) The Ayutthaya Period, which lasted 417 years. (1350-1767 A.D.) With a new dynasty, Ayutthaya, situated in the central part of Siam, became the country’s first capital city. Thirty-four kings, of various dynasties, ruled during the four centuries of this period.
(5) The Thon Bun Period, which lasted only 15 years. (1767-1782 A.D.) After the fall of Ayutthaya, King Tak Sin established Thon Burl, a new capital on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, opposite Bangkok.
(6) The Bangkok or Rattanakosin Period, from 1782 to the present. The capital was moved to Bangkok on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River and has remained so during the reigns of nine successive kings of the Chakri dynasty for 199 years to this day.