• Bronze Age civilization : The archaeological discoveries around the northeast hamlet of Ban Chiang suggest that the world's oldest Bronze Age civilization was flourishing in Thailand some 6000 years ago.
  Around 12 century, the Thais had established small northern city-states in Lanna, Phayao and Sukhothai.
  
  
• 13-15 century, the Sukhothai Period : The first truly independent Thai Kingdom in Sukhothai - a Kingdom that was short-lived but of immense cultural importance in the nation's history. Sukhothai saw the Thais' gradual expansion throughout the entire Chao Phraya River Basin and the establishment of Theravada Buddhism as the paramount Thai religion. It was here that the first evidence of written Thai was left, along with distinctively Thai styles of art such as painting, sculpture, architecture and literature, which survived after Sukhothai was absorbed buy the Kingdom of Ayudhaya - a dynamic young Kingdom further South in the Chao Phraya River valley.
  
  
• 14-18 century, the Aydhataya Period : During Ayudhaya's 417 years as the capital, under the rule of 33 Kings, the Thais brought their distinctive culture to full fruition, totally rid their lands of Khom presence and fostered contact with Arabian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and European powers, especially during the reign of King Narai the Great (1656-1688) in which an envoy was sent to French to establish foreign diplomacy with the country. Founded in 1350 Ayudhaya remained the Thai capital until the advent of the Thonburi Period (176-1782).
  
  
• 18 century, the Thonburi Period : Ayudhaya's downfall was an severe a blow to the Thais as the loss of Paris or London would have been to the French or British. However, a Thai revival occurred within a few months and the Burmese were expelled by King Taksin who later made Thonburi the shortest-lived capital in Thai history. In 1782 the first King of the present Chakri Dynasty, Rama I, established his new capital on the site of a riverside hamlet called Ban Kok (Village of the Wild Plums).
  
  
• 18 century to present, the Rattanakosin or Bangkok Period : two Chakri monarchs, King Mongkut ( King Rama IV ) who reigned between 1851 and 1868 and his son King Chulalongkorn ( King Rama V, 1868 - 1910 ) saved Thailand from the powerful tides of Western colonialism through adroit diplomacy and selective modernization. Today, Thailand is a modern constitutional monarchy. Since 1932, Thai Kings, including the present monarch. H.M King Bhumibol Adulyadej ( Rama IX ) have exercised their legislative powers through a national assembly, their executive powers through a cabinet headed by a prime minister and their judicial power through the low courts.

Thailand in Brief