With the exception of King Boromokot (1733-1758), during whose reign Thai monks visited Ceylon to purify Sinhalese Buddhism, Narai's successors became increasingly ineffectual while, ominously, Burmese kings grew stronger. With the kingdom at its lowest ebb, the Burmese invaded and in 1767, after a fifteen-month siege, irreparably destroyed Ayutthaya. Temples and palaces were emptied of priceless treasures and most written histories of the Thai people were reduced to ashes in an orgy of vandalism. Many survivors of the holocaust were marched off to Burma as prisoners, and a once-resplendent city of one million was left with some 10,000 inhabitants.

Ayutthaya's destruction was as dramatic a loss to the Thais as the obliteration of Paris would have been to the French, or London to the English. Indeed, to a less spirited race, the loss might have proved traumatic but, displaying extraordinary resilience, the Thais rallied and one of their generals, Phya Taksin, established a new capital in Thonburi, now the area of Bangkok Metropolis occupying the west bank of the Chao Phya river.

Taksin spent the next 10 years pacifying and reuniting the fragmented Thai kingdom, expelling the Burmese and reviving a centralized government. However, ten years' continual military campaigning proved excessively burdensome and Tak-sin's behaviour became increasingly erratic. In 1782, a successful coup was mounted and the Thai throne was offered to Taksin's leading general, Phya Chakri, who became the first monarch of the present Chakri dynasty and was crowned with the title of Rama I. (The present Thai monarch, H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth Chakri king, or Rama IX).
Feeling Thonburi too vulnerable to attack, Rama I moved his capital across the river to Bangkok which has remained the Thai capital ever since. The first three Chakri kings devoted themselves to Thailand's overall reconstruction and prepared the groundwork for the country's eventual modernization.

Colonialism averted,
Modernization embraced
The Chakri dynasty has provided some of Thailand's most remarkable kings. Two, in particular, warrant special mention; Rama IV (1851-1868), better known to the West as Mongkut, the monarch erroneously maligned as a frivolous autocrat in the musical comedy, "The King and I", and his son, Rama V (1868-1910) otherwise known as King Chulalongkorn.
Mongkut's imaginative diplomacy ensured that Thailand alone remained independent while neighbouring countries were helplessly toppled by the powerful tides of 19th century colonialism. Chulalongkorn consolidated Thailand's singular independence by initiating the social re-forms imperative for vigorous modernization.

Mongkut was the first Thai monarch openly receptive to western influences and ideas. Forty-eight years old when crowned, Mongkut's previous 27 years had been spent as a reform-minded Buddhist monk. An exceptional scholar, he mastered Latin and English which gave him an important window on the outside world. Thereafter, he eagerly studied Western history, geography, mathematics, modem science and astronomy (his favourite subject and, indirectly, the cause of his death).
Mongkut travelled extensively as a monk. His personal contact with common folk - denied prior Thai monarchs whose secluded lives precluded such contact- was a humbling experience. It made him regard himself as an ordinary human being and coloured his innovative reign, which was distinguished by an open, humane attitude towards his subjects.