1957 Thai Manuscript Historical Wall Map of Southeast Asia, Ayutthaya Kingdom

This is a large-format Thai-language c. 1957 manuscript historical wall map of Southeast Asia. It depicts the historical Kingdom of Ayutthaya, forerunner to modern Thailand, with a very generous border, a reflection of the ideological values of Pan-Thaiism.

A Closer Look

The map presents an aggrandized view of the territory of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (1351 - 1767), stretching from what is today southern China to the Malay Peninsula and incorporating all of today's Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, along with portions of China, Myanmar (Burma), and Vietnam. It is likely meant to resemble the putative territory of the kingdom during the reign of King Naresuan, also known as Naresuan the Great (r. 1590 - 1605). Coverage includes from Chittagong (จิตตะกอง) in today's Bangladesh at top-left to southern China (the Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island) at top-right, to Malacca (มะละกา), the Malacca Straits, and Sumatra at bottom.

Color-shading indicates the borders of kingdoms and territories, which are labelled in larger text (China จีน, Malay มลายู, and India อินเดีย, among others, in addition to Ayutthaya), while many cities are noted throughout with red circles. Among Thai cities are those that are now large and well-known internationally like Chiang Mai (เชียงใหม่), as well as smaller cities that were among the largest in the era of Ayutthaya Kingdom, such as it capital, Ayutthaya (อยุธยา, on the Chao Praya River not far from where Bangkok would later develop), Phitsanulok (พิษณุโลก), and Lopburi (ลพบุรี), and Nan (น่าน). Several cities are depicted as part of Ayutthaya but are not now part of neighboring countries, such as Vientiane (Lan Xang, ล้านช้าง), Luang Prabang (หลวงพระบาง), and Battambang (บัตดะบอง), while several cities beyond the rule of Ayutthaya are easily recognizable by names they retained into the modern era, such as Huế (เว้), Saigon (ไซง่อน), and Taungoo (ตองอู).

Thai Irridentism and Historical Cartography

The map reflects a strain of Thai irridentism and nationalism, known as Pan-Thaiism, that became pronounced in the 20th century, namely after the 1932 revolution, which transitioned the country from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy under a civilian-military regime. This ideology gained prominence particularly during the 1930s and early 1940s under the leadership of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram (Phibun, 1897 - 1964), when the intellectual and statesman Luang Wichitwathakan (หลวงวิจิตรวาทการ, 1898 - 1962) largely formulated it. This ideology was driven by two motives: the first being a claim that all Thai peoples in Southeast Asia were part of a single 'Thai Race,' and the second that Thailand (renamed from Siam in 1939 to emphasize Thai identity) needed to 'reunify' these peoples in a single political entity and reclaim lands that had historically been 'stolen' by malign foreign powers, both near (Burma) and far (France, Britain). These beliefs led Phibun to align with Japan after the Fall of France in 1940, which presented an opportunity to reclaim land in French Indochina. In exchange for facilitating Thai irredentism, Japanese forces were allowed to use Thailand as a staging ground for their invasions of British Malaya and Burma in December 1941. This alliance proved to be a major liability and caused Phibun to be removed from office in 1944 (he returned to power in the postwar period), though the United States took a more forgiving approach towards Thailand than the British and French, laying the foundations for a close relationship, including a military alliance, during the Cold War.

From the 1930s, several cartographic projects aimed to establish historical legitimacy for Pan-Thaiism. At that time, maps began to be produced that claimed implausibly large borders for the greater Thai nation or race, often referring to the Ayutthaya Kingdom and especially the reign of King Naresuan. But aside from their very selective and creative reading of the historical record, the entire approach employed in such works was highly anachronistic, since pre-modern Southeast Asian kingdoms did not conceive of territory in the same way as, say, European states in the Westphalian System. Instead, they employed the 'mandala system' of rule, using trade and tribute to establish concentric rings of gradually weakening influence emanating from a capital city, such as Ayutthaya. In this system, authority and sovereignty were fluid and negotiable, determined by ritual, prestige, and personal ties, and borders between territories or kingdoms were likewise somewhat vague, with smaller, peripheral states often maintaining ties of vassalage with two or more larger, more powerful states around them. Therefore, surviving Thai maps from the Premodern Period do not resemble the map presented here, since the map presented here assumes sovereignty defined by strict territorial boundaries.

Ayutthaya and Its Neighbors

Although territorial boundaries may not have been strictly demarcated, this did not mean that Ayutthaya did not tussle for power with nearby states. Early in its history, Ayutthaya exerted influence over the declining Khmer Empire, engaging in several military campaigns in Cambodia and often installing puppet rulers in Angkor. Ayutthaya then adopted many aspects of Khmer culture, especially in statecraft, religion, and architecture. Similarly, Sukhothai was a kingdom in what is now northern Thailand that was an early enemy of Ayutthaya but later influenced it, even while becoming its vassal. Nearby Lanna and Lan Xang were sometime allies, sometime enemies, and usually trading partners of Ayutthaya. A succession of Burmese kingdoms were perhaps the most frequent foe of Ayutthaya, conquering it twice, in the second instance bringing the kingdom to an end in 1767.

Ayutthaya was also a major player in international trade, maintaining ties with Persia, Europe, and especially China. In the Early Modern Period, the struggle among European powers for control of trade in Southeast Asia and the increasing role of the French in particular caused significant unrest, leading to the Siamese Revolution of 1688, a French siege of Bangkok (then a fort rather than a city), and, consequently, the expulsion of most Europeans from Ayutthaya.

Publication History and Census

This manuscript map was made by an unknown cartographer, most likely in the mid-late 1950s. It resembles a series of educational wall maps prepared by Chiang Mai University professor and former government surveyor Phunphon Atsanachinda (พูนพล อาสนจินดา), later the first President of the Geographic Society of Thailand, and published by Thai Watana Panich (สำนักพิมพ์ไทยวัฒนาพานิช) under the title 'The Steps of Thai History in Antiquity' (บันไดประวัติศาสตร์ไทยแต่โบราณ). In particular, the present map resembles the fifth map in the series, titled, as here, 'Kingdom of Ayutthaya' (อาณาจักรศรีอยุธยา). It is possible that the present map was a proof or prototype made by Phunphon Atsanachinda for the publisher, or it may have been an attempt by a teacher or student to reproduce the published wall map. In any event, as a manuscript map, it is an entirely unique work.