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Taksin
King of Siam (Thonburi)
Statue of King Taksin in Wat Welurachin, Thonburi
Reign	28 December 1768–6 April 1782
Coronation	28 December 1768
Born	17 April 1734(1734-04-17)
Died	7 April 1782 (aged 47)
Predecessor	Boromaracha V (prior to fall of Ayutthaya)
Successor	Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke
Father	Hai-Hong
Mother	Nok-lang

Taksin the Great (Thai: ตากสินมหาราช listen (help·info); Chinese: 鄭昭; pinyin: Zhèng Chāo; April 17, 1734 - April 7, 1782) was king of Siam from 1768 to 1782.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 King of Siam 3 Death 4 Legacy 5 Miscellanous 6 References 7 External links

He was born in Ayutthaya and given the name Sin. His father Hai-Hong, who worked as a tax-collector,^[1] was a Teochew Chinese immigrant with roots from Chenghai District,^[2] and his mother Lady Nok-lang was Thai.^[3] When aged 7 he started his education in a Buddhist monastery. After 7 years of education he was sent by his father to serve as a royal page. According to legend, when he and his friend Tong-Duang were Buddhist novices they met a Chinese fortune-teller who told them that they both had lucky lines in the palms of their hands and would both become kings. Neither took it seriously, but Tong-Duang was later the successor of King Taksin, Rama I.

Sin was first deputy governor and later governor of the Tak province,^[4] which gained him his name Tak-Sin, even though his official noble title was Phraya Tak. When he was promoted to be governor of Kamphaeng Phet province, he had to return to Ayutthaya. The Burmese attacked at that time and besieged the Thai capital. Taksin took a leading part in the city's defense. Shortly before Ayutthaya fell in 1767, Taksin cut his way out of the city at the head of a small army.^[5] This action was never adequately explained as the Royal compound and Ayutthaya proper was located on an island; how Taksin and his followers fought their way out of the Burmese encirclement remains a mystery.

After the destruction of Ayutthaya and the death of the Thai king, the country was split into six parts, with Taksin controlling the east coast. Together with Tong-Duang, now General Chao Phraya Chakri, he managed to drive back the Burmese, defeat his rivals and reunify the country.

On December 28, 1768, he was crowned king of Siam in the new capital at Thonburi. Two years later, King Taksin launched a war against the Nguyen Lords over their control of Cambodia. After some initial defeats, the joint Siamese-Cambodian army defeated the Nguyen army in 1771 and 1772. These defeats helped provoke an internal rebellion (the Tay Son rebellion) which would soon sweep the Nguyen out of power. In 1773, the Nguyen made peace with King Taksin, giving back some land they controlled in Cambodia.^[6]

In order to legitimize his claim for the Kingdom, he sent a diplomatic envoy to China which then was ruled by Qianlong Emperor. China recognized King Taksin as the rightful ruler of Siam, and Taksin began the reunification of Siam. During this time he actively encouraged the Chinese to settle in Siam, principally those from Chaozhou, partly with the intention to revive the stagnating economy^[7] and upgrading the local workforce at that time.^[8]

King Taksin had to fight almost constantly for most of his reign to maintain the independence of his country. Thai historians indicate that the strain on him took its toll and the king started to become a religious fanatic. In 1781 Taksin showed increasing signs of madness. He believed himself to be a future Buddha, and he flogged monks who refused to worship him as such.^[9] Several historians have suggested that this tale may have been created as an excuse for his overthrow. However, the letters of a French priest who was in Thonburi at the time support the accounts of the monarch's peculiar behavior.

With the Burmese threat still prevalent, a strong ruler was needed on the throne. King Taksin was declared insane and a coup d'état removed him from the throne in March 1782.^[10] Although he requested to be allowed to join the monkhood, the deposed king was executed shortly after the coup on April 7, 1782, along with some of his loyal followers, including Phraya Pichai, within the next few days. He was sealed in a velvet sack and was beaten to death with a scented sandalwood club, in accordance with the ancient tradition that no royal blood should touch the ground.^[11] His execution was viewed as necessary in order to prevent the former king's becoming the center of a possible revolt against his successor.

Another account claimed that Taksin was secretly sent to a palace located in the remote mountains of Nakhon Si Thammarat where he lived until 1825, and that a substitute was arranged and beaten to death in his place.^[12]

When the coup occurred, General Chao Phraya Chakri was away fighting in Cambodia, but he quickly returned to the Thai capital. When he arrived in Thonburi, the rebels surrendered and offered Chakri the throne. Another view of the events is that General Chakri actually wanted to be King and had accused King Taksin of being Chinese; however, this overlooks the fact that Chao Phraya Chakri was himself of partly Chinese origin. However, prior to returning to Thonburi, Chao Phraya Chakri had Taksin's son summoned to Cambodia and executed.

In 1981 the Thai cabinet passed a resolution to bestow on King Taksin the honorary title of the Great. The date of his coronation, December 28, is the official day of homage to King Taksin, but is not a public holiday. Nevertheless, the monarch remains a favorite of Chinese-Thais and is referred to as the King of Thonburi. Taksin's equestrian statue stands in the middle of Wongwien Yai (the Big Traffic Circle) in Thonburi and is a well known Bangkok landmark.

• The Na Nakhon family is descended from King Taksin.^[13]

• Due to the ancient views of medicine and the human mind at the time, King Taksin's peculiar behaviors were often described as madness. With the advent of modern views of the human mind and psychology, many modern historians now believe the symptoms that were recorded in historical records more closely resembles signs of a midlife crisis.^[14]

1. ^ Carl Parkes. Moon Handbooks: Southeast Asia 4 Ed. Avalon Travel Publishing, 770. ISBN 1566913373. 
2. ^ Bertil Lintner. Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 1403961549. 
3. ^ David K. Wyatt. Thailand: A Short History. Yale University Press, 140. ISBN 0300035829. 
4. ^ Anthony Webster. Gentleman Capitalists: British Imperialism in Southeast Asia 1770-1890. I.B. Tauris, 156. ISBN 1860641717. 
5. ^ John Bowman. Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press, 514. ISBN 0231110049. 
6. ^ Thomas J. Barnes. Tay Son: Rebellion in 18th Century Vietnam. Xlibris Corporation;, 74. ISBN 0738818186. 
7. ^ Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit. A History of Thailand. Cambridge University Press, 32. ISBN 0521816157. 
8. ^ Editors of Time Out. Time Out Bangkok: And Beach Escapes. Time Out, 84. ISBN 1846700213. 
9. ^ David K. Wyatt. Thailand: A Short History. Yale University Press, 143. ISBN 0300035829. 
10. ^ Rough Guides. The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia. Rough Guides, 823. ISBN 1858285534. 
11. ^ Arne Kislenko. Culture and Customs of Thailand (Culture and Customs of Asia). Greenwood Press, 12. ISBN 0313321280. 
12. ^ David K. Wyatt. Thailand: A Short History. Yale University Press, 145. ISBN 0300035829. ; Siamese/Thai history and culture–Part 4
13. ^ Paul M. Handley. The King Never Smiles. Yale University Press, 466 (Back matter). ISBN 0300106823. 
14. ^ CareerJournal–The Lows and Highs Of a Midlife Crisis

• King Taksin the Great - Saviour of the Thai Nation
• King Taksin The Great

Taksin Thonburi Dynasty Born: 17 April 1734 Died: 7 April 1782
Preceded by Borommaracha V (as King of Ayutthaya)	King of Siam 1768–1782	Succeeded by Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (of Rattanakosin (Bangkok))