Siam

Siam was the name used abroad for the Thai kingdom centred on Ayutthaya in the Chao Phraya valley. In 1337 the kingdom of Ayutthaya had yet to be founded.

Founded in 1351, Ayutthaya submitted to Toungoo Burma in 1569 and regained independence in 1584. Under King Narai, its embassy visited Louis XIV's court in 1686. Burmese armies destroyed the capital in 1767; Taksin reunited Siam at Thonburi, before Chao Phraya Chakri deposed him and founded a Bangkok kingdom in 1782.