Subject: infantry commander

Culture: Siamese

Setting: Ayutthaya kingdom, Siam 17th-18thc

Event Photos

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Rajanubhab 2001 pxxvii-xxviii (Chris Baker, "Editor's preface" pix-xli)

"[T]he guerilla resistance to the Burmese in 1767 by the villagers of Bang Rachan ... does not appear in the Luang Prasoet version which was compiled a century before 1767. But nor does the Luang Prasoet chronicle have any remotely similar incident involving ordinary commoners. In the early-Bangkok chronicles, the incident occurs but is modestly told: some villagers flee from the Burmese to the protection of a monastery; they manage to kill some Burmese detachments who come after them; eventually the village is taken. The whole incident is told in about five hundred words. There are no personal names and no drama.

"In later works, this incident undergoes a major expansion. The Royal Autograph version of the Ayutthaya chronicles was probably compiled in the 1850s, then revised and published with an introduction by Prince Damrong in 1914. Here the story of Bang Rachan has expanded from five hundred words to over five thousand. The key villagers have acquired names, descriptions, and characters. The Burmese attempts to suppress them have become a long episodic story about eight waves of attack by different commanders. The narrative has the feel of a ballad or epic poem, complete with tales of heroism, gory scenes of battle, humorous interludes, and a final tragic ending.

"In Thai Rop Phama, the Bang Rachan story follows the Royal Autograph version. But its importance is magnified still further. It occupies one quarter of the whole account of the fall of Ayutthaya. The unity and simple heroism of the villagers acts as counterpoint to the disunity (of the nobles) and treachery (of the Chinese) which contribute to the city's fall. Prince Damrong calls this 'a wonderful event' and adds that 'People praise their valour and self-sacrifice up to the present day.' With the Bang Rachan incident, Prince Damrong introduces ordinary people into the story of the nation, actiely engaged in the defence of capital and king."

Field Notes