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158-516: Their purpose, and any practical function, remains unclear and "enigmatic". They may have had a specific religious purpose or a more general one such as promoting fertility. They may have been used to make components of jewelry by pressing metal foil over the designs. Approximately 70 have been found, many only as fragments, with a 2014 find in Thailand being the first from outside the Indian subcontinent ; it

316-568: A Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities , and multi-party elections were held in 1951–1952 , 1956 and 1960 . The geographical area Burma encompasses today can be traced to the Panglong Agreement , which combined Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been administered separately by the British. In 1961, U Thant ,

474-547: 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),

632-471: A "physical contraceptive device". Some examples have brief and informal inscriptions on the blank obverse. As of 2019, they had not been translated or interpreted. Apart from the recent Thai find, the findspots are distributed (such as Mauryan territory) across north India, ranging from Taxila in the Punjab (now Pakistan) in the northwest to Patna , Bihar in the east. Most have been found in urban centres on

790-539: 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

948-504: A border of fifteen animals in profile with their feet also toward the central hole. After another rope border there is one of "cross-and-reel" or a four-pointed star motif, then a final rope border before a plain and smooth outer zone. This ringstone is more elaborate than most examples, which are often similar, but without the animal zone. The example found in Thailand has an animal border but no "cross-and-reel" or star border, whereas those in

1106-520: 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

1264-589: A long vowel: [ˈmjænmɑː, ˈbɜːmə] . So the pronunciation of the last syllable of Myanmar as [mɑːr] by some speakers in the UK and most speakers in North America is in fact a spelling pronunciation based on a misunderstanding of non-rhotic spelling conventions. However, Burma is pronounced [ˈbɜːrmə] by rhotic speakers of English due to a phonotactic constraint, as /ɜː/ occurs only before /r/ in those accents. Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in

1422-529: 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

1580-435: A plain circular space in the center, rather than a hole that pierces the object. They also are manufactured in stone, but are not quite so precisely carved, with mostly plant-based decoration that is not divided into narrow circular zones in the same way, and they have abstract designs or symbols. The illustrated example (right) has relatively simple decoration, with narrow tendril-like elements. Discstones usually are dated to

1738-533: 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

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1896-651: 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

2054-497: 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

2212-676: A prosperous economy for more than 80 years. From the 1720s onward, the kingdom was beset with repeated Meithei raids into Upper Myanmar and a nagging rebellion in Lan Na. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom . Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava in 1752, ending the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty. After the fall of Ava, the Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War involved one resistance group under Alaungpaya defeating

2370-522: 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

2528-485: A smaller, more manageable kingdom, encompassing Lower Myanmar , Upper Myanmar , Shan states , Lan Na and upper Tenasserim . The restored Toungoo kings created a legal and political framework whose basic features continued well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and secular administrative reforms built

2686-413: A stalemate, exchanging Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Ayutthaya). Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Ayutthaya in the east, King Bodawpaya turned west, acquiring Arakan (1785), Manipur (1814) and Assam (1817). It was the second-largest empire in Burmese history but also one with a long ill-defined border with British India . In 1826, Burma lost Arakan, Manipur , Assam and Tenasserim to

2844-627: A unified state. Aung Zan Wai , Pe Khin, Bo Hmu Aung , Sir Maung Gyi, Sein Mya Maung, Myoma U Than Kywe were among the negotiators of the historic Panglong Conference negotiated with Bamar leader General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Myanmar, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members. On 4 January 1948,

3002-452: A variety of arrangements. Typically the innermost zone, which runs down the sloping sides of the hole, has four standing female figures, many are nude "with fully exposed genitalia", bent knees pointing outward, and heels together, with jewelry and elaborate hairstyles, and trees separate them. Four-pointed stars are featured in motifs surrounding the rims of many of the stones. The women may be described as "goddesses", or "mother goddesses", and

3160-464: Is "Republic of the Union of Myanmar" ( Burmese : ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် , Pyihtaungsu Thamada Myanma Naingngantaw , pronounced [pjìdàʊɴzṵ θàɴməda̰ mjəmà nàɪɴŋàɴdɔ̀] ). Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form "Union of Burma" instead. In English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar . In Burmese, the pronunciation depends on

3318-494: 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 ,

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3476-659: Is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula . With 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

3634-580: Is bordered by India to its west, Bangladesh to its southwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw , and its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon). Early civilisations in the area included the Tibeto-Burman -speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Myanmar and

3792-549: 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

3950-481: 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

4108-603: Is not a member of the Commonwealth of Nations despite once being part of the British Empire . Myanmar is a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization . The country is very rich in natural resources , such as jade , gems , oil , natural gas , teak and other minerals , as well as also endowed with renewable energy , having the highest solar power potential compared to other countries of

4266-421: Is presumed this was imported from India. Ringstones were first described by Alexander Cunningham , who published an image of one in the late nineteenth century. By the time of the S. P. Gupta survey of 1980, at least 32 ringstones and 36 discstones were recorded; the numbers have continued to rise. The designs vary, but all examples are finely carved, despite their small size. A number of components appear in

4424-458: Is standard. Pronunciations with two syllables are found most often in major British and American dictionaries. Dictionaries—such as Collins —and other sources also report pronunciations with three syllables. As John Wells explains, the English spellings of both Myanmar and Burma assume a non-rhotic variety of English , in which the letter r before a consonant or finally serves merely to indicate

4582-526: Is that they were matrices for moulding as jewelry created by beating thin sheets of metal, probably gold foil that always has been important in Indian culture, but evidence to support that theory has very few surviving examples from ancient times. Although not favored by some scholars, this theory may have gained some ground following the 2014 discovery in Thailand that was found near fragments of thin gold foil, one of which had an animal pattern very similar to that on

4740-515: 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

4898-497: The 8888 Uprising then resulted in a nominal transition to a multi-party system two years later, but the country's post-uprising military council refused to cede power, and has continued to rule the country through to the present. The country remains riven by ethnic strife among its myriad ethnic groups and has one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars . The United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systemic human rights violations in

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5056-522: The Ayutthaya Kingdom , Lan Xang and southern Arakan. However, the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia unravelled soon after Bayinnaung's death in 1581, completely collapsing by 1599. Ayutthaya seized Tenasserim and Lan Na, and Portuguese mercenaries established Portuguese rule at Thanlyin (Syriam). The dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese in 1613 and Siam in 1614. It restored

5214-554: The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). During this period, Myanmar became one of the world's most impoverished countries. There were sporadic protests against military rule during the Ne Win years, and these were almost always violently suppressed. On 7 July 1962, the government broke up demonstrations at Rangoon University , killing 15 students. In 1974, the military violently suppressed anti-government protests at

5372-728: 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

5530-463: The Grand Trunk Road . As they are easily portable and have very consistent characteristics, they all may have been made in a single centre, for which Pataliputra (now Patna), the capital of the successive Mauryan and Sunga empires, is one obvious candidate. The ringstone tradition seems to have developed into the manufacture of the discstone, which is similar in shape, but having a flat top with

5688-516: 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

5846-456: The Han Chinese , Wa , and Kachin . During 8–12 August, the first days of the conflict, as many as 10,000 Burmese civilians fled to Yunnan in neighbouring China. Civil wars have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since the attainment of independence in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding

6004-604: The Mon kingdoms in Lower Myanmar . In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley, and following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language , culture , and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell to Mongol invasions , and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by

6162-477: 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

6320-891: The Rohingya Muslims and the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State ; and a conflict between the Shan , Lahu , and Karen minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. In addition, al-Qaeda signalled an intention to become involved in Myanmar. Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on

6478-526: The Rohingya conflict , continued to be a source of international tension and consternation. Following the 2020 Myanmar general election , in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won a clear majority in both houses, the Burmese military (Tatmadaw) again seized power in a coup d'état . The coup, which was widely condemned by the international community , led to continuous ongoing widespread protests in Myanmar and has been marked by violent political repression by

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6636-580: 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

6794-523: 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

6952-466: The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalised plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989. SLORC changed the country's official English name from the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" on 18 June 1989 by enacting the adaptation of the expression law. In May 1990,

7110-523: The Taungoo dynasty , the country became the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a short period. The early 19th-century Konbaung dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Assam , the Lushai Hills , and Manipur as well. The British East India Company seized control of the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century, and

7268-632: 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

7426-588: 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

7584-493: The Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum each have two of those, but no animals. In one example the animals in a border are "lizards or crocodiles". A somewhat similar ivory disc with a central hole only has the standing figures of women in its single zone. It is dated to the second century BCE. Various purposes and uses for ringstones have been proposed, but without any theories gaining general acceptance. One suggestion

7742-666: The Victoria and Albert Museum in London (holding the only example with a provenance, from Taxila), and Los Angeles County Museum of Art . A number are in private collections and at least three were up for sale on the art market in the 2010s. 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),

7900-533: The economy is controlled by cronies of the military junta . Myanmar is one of the least developed countries ; as of 2020, according to the Human Development Index , it ranks 147 out of 189 countries in terms of human development , the lowest in Southeast Asia . Since 2021, more than 600,000 people were displaced across Myanmar due to the surge in violence post-coup, with more than 3 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The name of

8058-447: The military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's colonial period or earlier, including that of the country itself: Burma became Myanmar . The renaming remains a contested issue. Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy or authority of the military government. The country's official full name

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8216-612: The register used and is either Bama ( pronounced [bəmà] ) or Myamah ( pronounced [mjəmà] ). Official United States foreign policy retains Burma as the country's name although the State Department 's website lists the country as Burma (Myanmar) . The United Nations uses Myanmar , as does the ASEAN and as do Australia , Russia , Germany , China , India , Bangladesh , Norway , Japan , Switzerland , Canada and Ukraine . Most English-speaking international news media refer to

8374-583: 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

8532-873: 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

8690-566: 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

8848-431: The 1947 Constitution, successive military governments construed the use of the term ' federalism ' as being anti-national, anti-unity and pro-disintegration. On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état , and the government had been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by

9006-574: The 19th century, Burmese rulers sought to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan. Pressing them, however, was the British East India Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the same territory. Over the next 60 years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises, known collectively as the Anglo-Burmese Wars , continued until Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma. With

9164-724: 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

9322-446: 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

9480-422: The 9th century, several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu in the central dry zone, Mon along the southern coastline and Arakanese along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu came under repeated attacks from Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Bamar people founded a small settlement at Bagan . It was one of several competing city-states until

9638-406: 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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9796-542: The British in the First Anglo-Burmese War . In 1852, the British easily seized Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War . King Mindon Min tried to modernise the kingdom and in 1875 narrowly avoided annexation by ceding the Karenni States . The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina , annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885. Konbaung kings extended Restored Toungoo's administrative reforms and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. For

9954-407: The Chairmanship – effectively the position of Myanmar's top ruler – from General Saw Maung in 1992 and held it until 2011. On 23 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On 27 March 2006, the military junta, which had moved the national capital from Yangon to a site near Pyinmana in November 2005, officially named the new capital Naypyidaw , meaning "city of

10112-449: The Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943. Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. The battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma with 1,700 prisoners taken. Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese as part of the Burma Independence Army, many Burmese, mostly from

10270-445: The Chinese side of the border. During the incident, the government of China was accused of giving military assistance to the ethnic Chinese rebels. Clashes between Burmese troops and local insurgent groups have continued, fuelling tensions between China and Myanmar. The military-backed Government had promulgated a "Roadmap to Discipline-flourishing Democracy" in 1993, but the process appeared to stall several times, until 2008 when

10428-433: 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

10586-501: The Government published a new draft national constitution, and organised a (flawed) national referendum which adopted it. The new constitution provided for election of a national assembly with powers to appoint a president, while practically ensuring army control at all levels. A general election in 2010 - the first for twenty years - was boycotted by the NLD . The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party declared victory, stating that it had been favoured by 80 per cent of

10744-418: The Great Mekong Subregion. However, Myanmar has long suffered from instability , factional violence, corruption , poor infrastructure, as well as a long history of colonial exploitation with little regard to human development . In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$ 56.7 billion and its GDP ( PPP ) at US$ 221.5 billion. The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of

10902-510: 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

11060-459: 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

11218-519: The Restored Hanthawaddy, and by 1759 he had reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur and driven out the French and the British, who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had subdued much of Laos and fought and won the Burmese–Siamese War against Ayutthaya and the Sino-Burmese War against Qing China . With Burma preoccupied by the Chinese threat, Ayutthaya recovered its territories by 1770 and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855, but all resulted in

11376-558: 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

11534-467: The Shan states were all multi-ethnic polities. Despite the wars, cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for Burmese culture . Burmese literature "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes as well as the earliest pan-Burma chronicles emerged. Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that later spread to

11692-498: 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

11850-481: 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

12008-465: The Union of Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former secretary to the prime minister, was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations , a position he held for ten years. When the non-Burman ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or federalism, alongside having a weak civilian government at the centre, the military leadership staged a coup d'état in 1962. Though incorporated in

12166-477: 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

12324-417: 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

12482-460: 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

12640-500: 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

12798-517: 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

12956-514: The country became a British colony . After a brief Japanese occupation , Myanmar was reconquered by the Allies. On 4 January 1948, Myanmar declared independence under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947 . Myanmar's post-independence history has been checkered by continuing unrest and conflict to this day. The coup d'état in 1962 resulted in a military dictatorship under the Burma Socialist Programme Party . On 8 August 1988,

13114-589: The country by the name Myanmar , including the BBC , CNN , Al Jazeera , Reuters , and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ( ABC )/ Radio Australia . Myanmar is known by a name deriving from Burma in Spanish , Italian , Romanian , and Greek . French-language media consistently use Birmanie . There are at least nine different pronunciations of the English name Myanmar , and no single one

13272-442: The country has been a matter of dispute and disagreement, particularly in the early 21st century, focusing mainly on the political legitimacy of those using Myanmar versus Burma . Both names derive from the earlier Burmese Mranma or Mramma , an ethnonym for the majority Burman ethnic group, of uncertain etymology. The terms are also popularly thought to derive from Sanskrit Brahma Desha , 'land of Brahma '. In 1989,

13430-604: 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

13588-564: 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

13746-401: 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,

13904-433: The country. In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election , and a nominally civilian government was installed. Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners were released and the 2015 Myanmar general election was held, leading to improved foreign relations and eased economic sanctions , although the country's treatment of its ethnic minorities , particularly in connection with

14062-556: The critical days following this disaster, Myanmar's isolationist government was accused of hindering United Nations recovery efforts. Humanitarian aid was requested, but concerns about foreign military or intelligence presence in the country delayed the entry of United States military planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies. In early August 2009, a conflict broke out in Shan State in northern Myanmar. For several weeks, junta troops fought against ethnic minorities including

14220-614: 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

14378-504: 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

14536-607: 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

14694-442: 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

14852-520: 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

15010-543: The emergence of iron-working settlements in an area south of present-day Mandalay . Evidence also shows the presence of rice-growing settlements of large villages and small towns that traded with their surroundings as far as China between 500 BCE and 200 CE. Iron Age Burmese cultures also had influences from outside sources such as India and Thailand , as seen in their funerary practices concerning child burials. This indicates some form of communication between groups in Myanmar and other places, possibly through trade. Around

15168-450: 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

15326-640: 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

15484-644: The ethnic minorities, served in the British Burma Army. The Burma National Army and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944 but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945. Overall, 170,000 to 250,000 Burmese civilians died during World War II. Following World War II, Aung San negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the independence of Myanmar as

15642-543: The ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. Foreign journalists and visitors require a special travel permit to visit the areas in which Myanmar's civil wars continue. In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict , between the Pro-Christian Kachin Independence Army and the government; a civil war between

15800-622: 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

15958-527: The fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being annexed on 1 January 1886. Throughout the colonial era, many Indians arrived as soldiers, civil servants, construction workers and traders and, along with the Anglo-Burmese community, dominated commercial and civil life in Burma. Rangoon became the capital of British Burma and an important port between Calcutta and Singapore . Burmese resentment

16116-581: The first Prime Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule, and he opposed the participation of Britain, and by extension Burma, in World War II . He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before Japan formally entered the war , Aung San formed the Burma Independence Army in Japan. As a major battleground, Burma

16274-813: The first century BCE. In 2019, a contemporary report was published about a discstone found in Myanmar . The largest collection of ringstones is in the Patna Museum . Other large Indian museums also have examples. Several major museums outside India have examples, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan (3), the Cleveland Museum of Art , the British Museum (2), the Berlin State Museums , and

16432-453: 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

16590-422: The first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to predominate the entire Irrawaddy valley. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued, aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females). Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism. In

16748-421: 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

16906-583: The form of cave paintings in Padah-Lin Caves . The Bronze Age arrived c.  1500 BCE when people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice and domesticating poultry and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so. Human remains and artefacts from this era were discovered in Monywa District in the Sagaing Region . The Iron Age began around 500 BCE with

17064-582: The four-century-old kingdom in 1287. Pagan's collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. Like the Burmans four centuries earlier, Shan migrants who arrived with the Mongol invasions stayed behind. Several competing Shan States came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley. The valley too was beset with petty states until

17222-408: The funeral of U Thant. Student protests in 1975, 1976, and 1977 were quickly suppressed by overwhelming force. In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the 8888 Uprising . Security forces killed thousands of demonstrators, and General Saw Maung staged a coup d'état and formed

17380-575: The general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalised or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialism , which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and central planning . A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974. Until 1988, the country was ruled as a one-party system , with the general and other military officers resigning and ruling through

17538-624: The government held free multiparty elections for the first time in almost 30 years, and the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won earning 392 out of a total 492 seats (i.e., 80% of the seats). However, the military junta refused to cede power and continued to rule the nation, first as SLORC and, from 1997, as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) until its dissolution in March 2011. General Than Shwe took over

17696-526: 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

17854-423: 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

18012-561: The kings". In August 2007, an increase in the price of fuel led to the Saffron Revolution led by Buddhist monks that were dealt with harshly by the government. The government cracked down on them on 26 September 2007, with reports of barricades at the Shwedagon Pagoda and monks killed. There were also rumours of disagreement within the Burmese armed forces, but none was confirmed. The military crackdown against unarmed protesters

18170-423: 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

18328-608: The late 10th century, when it grew in authority and grandeur. Pagan gradually grew to absorb its surrounding states until the 1050s–1060s when Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Pagan Empire and the Khmer Empire were two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia. The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in

18486-580: The late 14th century when two sizeable powers, Ava Kingdom and Hanthawaddy Kingdom , emerged. In the west, a politically fragmented Arakan was under competing influences of its stronger neighbours until the Kingdom of Mrauk U unified the Arakan coastline for the first time in 1437. The kingdom was a protectorate of the Bengal Sultanate at different time periods. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Ava fought wars of unification but could never quite reassemble

18644-464: 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

18802-469: The lost empire. Having held off Ava, the Mon -speaking Hanthawaddy entered its golden age, and Arakan went on to become a power in its own right for the next 350 years. In contrast, constant warfare left Ava greatly weakened, and it slowly disintegrated from 1481 onward. In 1527, the Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555. Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, Hanthawaddy and

18960-529: 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

19118-447: 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

19276-498: The military, as well as a larger outbreak of the civil war . The military also arrested Aung San Suu Kyi in order to remove her from public life, and charged her with crimes ranging from corruption to violation of COVID-19 protocols; all of the charges against her are "politically motivated" according to independent observers. Myanmar is a member of the East Asia Summit , Non-Aligned Movement , ASEAN , and BIMSTEC , but it

19434-547: The narrow Kra Isthmus that widens into the Malay Peninsula . Myanmar in ASEAN  (dark grey)  –  [ Legend ] Myanmar , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also rendered Burma (the official English form until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia . It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It

19592-448: The nation became an independent republic, under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947 . The new country was named the Union of Burma , with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first president and U Nu as its first prime minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and overseas territories, Burma did not become a member of the Commonwealth . A bicameral parliament was formed, consisting of

19750-435: 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

19908-457: 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

20066-407: The region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago. The first evidence of Homo sapiens is dated to about 25,000 BP with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar. Evidence of Neolithic age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE has been discovered in

20224-510: 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

20382-476: The rest of the country. Political unification returned in the mid-16th century, through the efforts of Taungoo , a former vassal state of Ava. Taungoo's young, ambitious King Tabinshwehti defeated the more powerful Hanthawaddy in the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War . His successor Bayinnaung went on to conquer a vast swath of mainland Southeast Asia including the Shan states, Lan Na , Manipur, Mong Mao ,

20540-435: The ringstone discovered at the same time. Ananda Coomaraswamy has suggested that the ringstones might have been worn as jewellery, however, consensus exists among the other scholars that the ringstones are too heavy to have been worn. Others speculate that they may have been objects used in meditation, or somehow connected with fertility rituals. One scholar even suggested without explanation that they might have been used as

20698-610: 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

20856-530: 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

21014-589: The second century BCE the first-known city-states emerged in central Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu people, the earliest inhabitants of Myanmar of whom records are extant, from present-day Yunnan . The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have an enduring influence on later Burmese culture and political organisation. By

21172-466: 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

21330-535: The southeast and Indonesia and India to 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

21488-512: 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)

21646-551: 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

21804-429: The trees, apparently of various species or apparently of palm species, may be described as the tree of life , but these interpretations are not universally accepted. The example in the Cleveland Museum of Art , where its three pairs of standing female figures with wide, full-length skirts are standing in the innermost section with their feet pointing toward the hole, it is followed by a cable or rope pattern border, then

21962-422: 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

22120-507: The upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu , Mon and Pali norms by the late 12th century. Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level, although Tantric , Mahayana , Hinduism , and folk religion remained heavily entrenched. Pagan's rulers and wealthy built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone alone. Repeated Mongol invasions in the late 13th century toppled

22278-648: The votes; fraud, however, was alleged. A nominally civilian government was then formed, with retired general Thein Sein as president. A series of liberalising political and economic actions – or reforms – then took place. By the end of 2011 these included the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission , the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permitted labour unions and strikes,

22436-408: 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

22594-481: 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

22752-445: 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

22910-426: 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

23068-690: 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 ,

23226-526: 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

23384-437: 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,

23542-577: Was devastated during World War II by the Japanese invasion . Within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon, and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. Wingate 's British Chindits were formed into long-range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines. A similar American unit, Merrill's Marauders , followed

23700-556: 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

23858-410: 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

24016-550: 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

24174-438: 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

24332-425: Was strong, and was vented in violent riots that periodically paralysed Rangoon until the 1930s. Some of the discontent was caused by a disrespect for Burmese culture and traditions. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of the independence movement. U Wisara , an activist monk, died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike. On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Britain, and Ba Maw became

24490-427: 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

24648-432: 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

24806-423: 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

24964-507: Was widely condemned as part of the international reactions to the Saffron Revolution and led to an increase in economic sanctions against the Burmese Government . In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis caused extensive damage in the densely populated rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division . It was the worst natural disaster in Burmese history with reports of an estimated 200,000 people dead or missing, damages totalled to 10 billion US dollars, and as many as 1 million were left homeless. In

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