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Prasat ThongThe Royal Institute.
List of monarchs Ayutthaya
''.
(, ; c. 1599–1655; 1629–1655) was the first king of the Prasat Thong dynasty, the fourth dynasty of the
Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
ese
Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai people, Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city), Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. Europe ...
. Before being king, he defeated a rebellion led by the
king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
's son Phra Sisin by working with Japanese mercenary Yamada Nagamasa. He gained power in 1629 by attacking the palace and placed a
puppet king A puppet ruler is someone who holds a title of political authority, but is loyal to or controlled by outside persons or groups. When a foreign government wields such outside control, the puppet ruler's territory is referred to as a puppet state. ...
who he would later execute. Under his reign, he subjugated
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
but lost Siam's Northern principalities.


Origin

Accounts vary on the origin of Prasat Thong. While traditional Thai historians hold that he was an illegitimate son of King
Ekathotsarot Ekathotsarot (, , ) or Sanphet III (); 1560 – 1610/11) was the King of Ayutthaya from 1605 to 1610/11 and overlord of Lan Na from 1605 to 1608/09, succeeding his brother Naresuan. His reign was mostly peaceful as Siam was a powerful state thr ...
, Jeremias van Vliet's account states that he was the maternal cousin of King
Songtham Intharacha III was the King of Ayutthaya from 1610/11 to 1628 of the House of Sukhothai. His reign marked the prosperity of the Ayutthaya kingdom after it regained independence from Toungoo Dynasty, and saw the commencement of trade with foreign ...
– his father was ''Okya'' Sithammathirat (), elder brother of the mother of King Songtham. He was born during the reign of King
Naresuan Naresuan (1555/1556 – 25 April 1605), commonly known as Naresuan the Great, or Sanphet II was the 18th Monarchy of Thailand, king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom and 2nd monarch of the List of monarchs of Thailand#Sukhothai dynasty (1569–1629), S ...
around 1599 and was known to have caused mischief in the royal court. He ruined the palace Agricultural Initiation Ceremony, a royal ceremony of ploughing, and was threatened with imprisonment; only pleas from the queen of King Naresuan, Chao Khruamanichan, won a reduction of the punishment to five months imprisonment. He was later pardoned and given the title of ''Okya'' Siworawong (), or Phraya Siworawong – a high-ranking title of royal page.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd.,


Rise to power

The rise of Prasat Thong to power was documented in van Vliet's ''The Historical Account of the war of Succession following the death of King Pra Interajatsia'' (1650). As the king's maternal cousin, he held great influence. It is said that he was an ambitious prince and wanted to become a king. King Songtham had had his brother Phra Phanpi Sisin or Phra Sisin (Siamese chronicles states that Phra Sisin was one of the King Songtham's three sonsRajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., ) as the
Front Palace Krom Phra Ratchawang Bowon Sathan Mongkhon , colloquially known as the Front Palace (, ), was the title of the ''uparaja'' of Siam, variously translated as "viceroy", "vice king" or "Lord/Prince of the Front Palace", as the titleholder resided ...
, technically his successor, but a palace faction including Prasat Thong persuaded the king to give the throne instead to his son Prince Chetthathirat. When King Songtham died in 1628, Chetthathirat ascended the throne and a great purge of the mandarins who had supported Phra Sisin was instigated, including the ''Samuha Kalahom'' or Defence Minister. Prasat Thong then replaced him as the defence minister with the new title of ''Okya'' Suriyawong ().


The king maker

During the King Chetthathirat’s reign, Prasat Thong had Yamada Nagamasa, the head of Japanese mercenaries then known as ''Okya'' Senaphimok (), as a supporter. After Chetthathirat accession to the throne, Phra Sisin escaped into
monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
hood to save his life. However, he was lured into the palace with his monastic robes off and with princely attire. He was arrested and then exiled to
Phetchaburi Phetchaburi (, ) or Phet Buri () is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phetchaburi Province. In Thai, Phetchaburi means "city of diamonds" (''buri'' meaning "city" in Sanskrit). It is approximately 160 km south of ...
where he was thrown into a well to be starved to death. The prince was narrowly saved by the local monks who threw a body into the well as a substitute. Phra Sisin then organized a rebellion in Petchaburi. Prasat Thong sent ''Okya'' Kamhaeng and Yamada Nagamasa to lead the Japanese troops to crush the rebels. Phra Sisin was captured and executed in
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locall ...
. With the Phra Sisin gone, Prasat Thong was in full power. In 1629, his father died. A grand funeral was held and his father's ashes were cremated twice – a practice reserved for royalty. On that day King Chetthathirat called for an audience with all the nobles but all of them had gone to the funeral – much to the king's great displeasure. The king threatened to punish Prasat Thong but ''Okya'' Phraklang (the Minister of Trade who was Prasatthong's ally) managed to calm the king and convince him of Prasat Thong's innocence. The king was unprepared when Prasat Thong led armies into the palace. The king fled but was captured and executed. Prasat Thong installed the king’s brother – the eleven-year-old Prince Athittayawong – as the new puppet king with Prasat Thong as the regent who crowned himself as the second king.


Coup and rebellion

Prasat Thong strived to eliminate his allies-turned-rivals – the ''Okya'' Kamhaeng who contested for the throne and Yamada Nagamasa who objected to the takeover of the throne by Prasat Thong. He quickly condemned ''Okya'' Kamhaeng for treason and execution followed. And he sent Yamada Nagamasa to the south as the governor of Ligor, away from Ayutthaya. As soon as the Japanese mandarin left the city, only about a month after his ascension, the child-king was deposed and subsequently executed. Suriyawong or ''Okya'' Suriyawong crowned himself as the full-fledged King of Siam. Prasat Thong had acted as "king-maker" before assuming the throne, by performing the double
regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
of King Songtham's sons. Yamada, ''Okya'' Seniphimok, heard of the coup at Ayutthaya and rebelled. Prasat Thong had him poisoned and then expelled the remaining Japanese.Chakrabongse, C., 1960, ''Lords of Life'', London: Alvin Redman Limited


Reign and succession

As a powerful and decisive leader, he promulgated many criminal laws and sometimes, according to Van Vliet, even executed prisoners by himself. Siam was a major trading center attracting Europeans merchants. Prasat Thong was interested in controlling the towns in the southern peninsula, perhaps because of profits from overseas trade. Ayutthaya lost its northern subjugated principalities such as Chiang Mai. Under Prasat Thong, Cambodia became subject to Siam again. He then built the capital city using Nakhon Thom as a model and built "places of temporary rest on the way to the footprint of the
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
." Upon King Prasatthong’s death in 1655, Chao Fa Chai, his eldest son, succeeded his father as King Sanpet VI.


Legacy

Prasat Thong built the monastery Chumphon Nikayaram where his mother resided and a rest palace, Bang Pa-In Royal Palace, at Bang Pa-In. Multiple projects that was constructed by Prasat Thong still stands today, such as Wat Chaiwatthanaram, in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province and the uncompleted Prasat Nakhon Luang, in
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, or locally and simply Ayutthaya (historically Juthia or Judia), is one of the central provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Ang Thong, Lopburi, Saraburi, Pathum Than ...
(later finished by King
Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...
over 200 years later). The Eulogy of King Prasat Thong, probably composed early in the reign of King
Narai King Narai the Great (, , ) or Ramathibodi III ( ) was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and last monarch of the Prasat Thong dynasty. He was the king of Ayutthaya Kingdom from 1656 to 1688 and arguably the most famous king of the ...
is a major example of the Thai tradition of royal panegyrics. It states that King Prasat Thong is a bodhisatta, invited by
Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war.  volumes Indra is the m ...
to be reborn as the king of
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locall ...
, and destined to become the tenth in a sequence of ten future
Buddhas In Buddhism, Buddha (, which in classic Indic languages means "awakened one") is a title for those who are spiritually awake or enlightened, and have thus attained the supreme goal of Buddhism, variously described as awakening or enlighten ...
beginning with Metteyya. It recounts the major events of the reign including religious constructions, amending the calendar, almsgivings, and festivals.


Gallery

File:Portrait of King Prasat Thong.jpeg , Portrait of Prasat Thong File:Hema Mandir Devaraj Shrine - หอเหมมณเฑียรเทวราช (Bang Pa In) (2025) - img 03.jpg, Prasat Thong as a deified idol in , Bang Pa-in Royal Palace File:วัดชุมพลนิกายารามราชวรวิหาร_อ.บางปะอิน_จ.พระนครศรีอยุธยา_(5).JPG, Prasat Thong as a deified idol at Wat Chumphon Nikayaram, Bang Pa-in, Ayutthaya


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prasat Thong 1590s births 1656 deaths Prasat Thong dynasty Kings of Ayutthaya 17th-century monarchs in Asia