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The Kingdom of Siam was one of the great and powerful civilisations of the region when the first foreigners began arriving in the 18th century, and modern Thailand is justifiably proud of its far reaching legacy of historic wealth. Much of this can be seen in the antiquities preserved in the National Museum in Bangkok, which has pieces dating back to a well developed period of Davaravati art more than 1500 years ago.

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At the same time the powerful Srivĳjava Kingdom, based in Java, reached as far north as Nakorn Sri Tammarat in the central south (peninsula region) leaving behind temples that are at least 1000 years old.

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In turn this kingdom was upstage by an even more powerful Kingdom at Ayuthaya - which was to become one of southeast Asia’s most powerful cities. It’s sphere of influence stretched well beyond the present borders of Thailand and was the basis of Siam as the world came to know it. A 400 year unbroken monarchal rule was sustained until the invading Burmese sacked it in 1765.

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By the late 19th century the Kingdom enjoyed stability and power under the much respected and long reigning King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). He steered a clever path of diplomacy between the empirical aspirations of the British to the west and south in Burma and Malaya, and French in Indochina, but not without ceding territory.

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However the emergence of a new monarch, the unlikely successor in the person of King Bhumibol (Rama IV), gifted the nation an exceptional leader whose talent, moral judgment and ethics have served as a balancing role model for more than 60 years. He is the longest reigning alive today and often has morally supported a sensible path during the country’s low points of endless military coups.

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Even recent political unrest resulting from a present trend of ‘money politics’, characterised by the influences of wealthy along with poor ethics, has not dampened the Thai’s enthusiasm for development.

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