Is the wheel of Ayudhaya turning full circle on us?
Twice in its 416-year history (AD1351-1767), the kingdom of Ayutthaya became a vassal state of Burmese overlords. The first period lasted between 15 and 20 years, the second 10 months.
The second capitulation was “deja vu all over again”, to use a phrase coined by late American baseball legend Yogi Berra, as vicious internal division once again resulted in the kingdom’s downfall. It is not stretching the truth to say that Ayutthaya imploded long before the Burmese arrived on the scene.
During the first 233 years of the early Ayutthaya period (AD1351-1564), the kingdom was not a unified state, but a patchwork of self-governing principalities and tributary provinces ruled over by royal families that comprised the central governing body. Four principal governing dynasties controlled the seat of power. With little trust between them, they fell out and fought each other ferociously. Palace intrigues, assassinations and carnage abounded. Continuous internal fighting for control plagued the entire two centuries of the early Ayutthaya period, and the kingdom became progressively enfeebled as a result.
By the time the Burmese army arrived in 1564, the situation was already ripe for a foreign takeover. Some Thai factions even welcomed the foreign invaders, hoping that by their hand they could take revenge upon their troublesome kin.
If anybody was to blame for that momentous defeat, it would chiefly be Thais. We did it to ourselves.
The second Ayutthaya period (AD1584-1767) saw the kingdom become more centralised as the lesson from the mistake of the early period was learned. But that couldn’t save us from ourselves. During the years after King Naresuan’s reign, Ayutthaya became enormously prosperous as foreign trade climbed to become the kingdom’s top revenue earner.
Yet the centralisation that forged the stability that lead to prosperity during the early years of this period eventually proved to be a curse as well as a blessing. When the centre became fragile and crumbled, the rest of the kingdom tumbled.
Between 1584 and 1767, power struggles within the ruling body and between rival factions became the norm as they vied for control of the country’s enormous wealth. Once every 14 or 15 years, there would be violent upheaval in the country’s ruling line. And each abrupt power seizure would sweep away the ruling elite along with the bureaucrats and government officials associated with the defeated house. The result was disruption of government and a diminishing number of capable bureaucrats and military personnel.
It is fair to say that Ayutthaya’s glorious prosperity during that time was a mere deception. Under that shiny golden image lay a decaying centre, weakened by internal strife. That the rot did not lead to the kingdom’s destruction sooner was only because our foreign foes had their own internal problems and couldn’t muster the financial or military wherewithal to hurt us.
The foreign trade made gathering wealth an obsession for government bureaucrats, who increasingly became more interested in stuffing their own pockets than in development for the country as a whole. Cronyism, impunity, corruption, back-stabbing, power-grabbing by any and all means, and downright savagery dominated the scene in Ayutthaya prior to its fall.
Once again, the kingdom’s warring factions sought foreign alliances to enhance their chance of outmanoeuvring rivals at home.
Historians agree that the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 was caused primarily by our own internal discord, which rendered the government and the army extremely unstable and weak. The rulers during that time were more concerned with their own schemes than they were with the national interest. Fascinated by the alluring gleam of gold and silver, they were unable to see the disintegration of the nation. Some would claim that they did realise national disaster was coming, but were indifferent as long as they felt their wealth and power base would remain intact or even be enhanced.
Ayutthaya at that time was like a termite-ridden tree ready to fall, with or without a push.
When King Taksin liberated the state from Burmese rule 10 months later, he was not met by a cheering old guard. The old rulers acknowledged the fact he had fought to win back Siam’s sovereignty, but they also saw him as a contender for power. As such, Taksin was the subject of numerous assassination attempts.
Fast forward to the present day and we discover that history is repeating itself. Unity can’t be found anywhere. People are desperate for their own voice to be heard but are not willing to listen to the voice of others. People are demanding democracy, but few care about the real hardships that befall the poor and underprivileged people living on the fringe. We can’t do anything to stop the drought brought upon us by El Niño, but at least we could try to roll up our sleeves and work together, forgetting our political hang-ups and instead focusing efforts on helping those in real need.
Once again, certain Thai factions are unscrupulously using foreign powers to squeeze their perceived “enemy”, who is none other than their own kin. We talk about democracy without really understanding what it really is all about, but simply because it brings self-satisfaction. Democracy has been used as a tool for power-grabbing, not as a set of principles that ensure basic liberty.
To answer the question of how the country might heal before it brings about its own demise, we might take a phrase from the speech Barack Obama gave on his inauguration as US president: “When we put our shoulders to the wheel of history, it moves. It moves. It moves forward.”
Those of us who sincerely want the best for our country should put our shoulder to the wheel.
