Phitsanulok

Khmer Empire (12th-13th century)

Phitsanulok is only a small outpost, one of the most northerly in what was then the Khmer Empire (and its famous capital of Angkor). It is located 5 km southwest of the current city, precisely around where Wat Chula Manee is located, one of the city's main historical sites. At the time, the area was crossed by two rivers, the Nan and the Khwae Noi (not to be confused with its namesake located in the Kanchanaburi province), making it a strategic point in the north of Thailand. It is also due to this strategic position, on the borders of several kingdoms tearing each other apart for power, that Phitsanulok will see its influence grow.

It is also this location that earned it the name of Song Khwae, which means two rivers, a nickname that has stuck to him even though today, with the changes in current, the Khwae Noi River joins the Nan more than 10 km north of the current city.

Kingdom of Sukhothai (1238-1438)

It was at this time that Phitsanulok was born in its current location, in 1357, under the aegis of King Thammaracha I (1347-1368). This was the period when the famous Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat temple was founded (1357) and two Buddha statues, Phra Buddha Chinnasri and Phra Buddha Chinnarat, were created in the process.

During his reign, the kingdom of Ayutthaya, further south, grew in importance and Thammaracha I (born Li Thai) sought to protect his kingdom from invasions by its powerful neighbour. This action would unfortunately be in vain as the kingdom of Sukhothai would become a vassal of Ayutthaya a few years later. However, the kingdom of Sukhothai survived and Phitsanulok became the new seat of the royal family in 1378.

In 1419 (some sources mention 1430), King Thammaracha III (born Sai Lue Thai) abandoned the city of Sukhothai, which was then in decline. Phitsanulok was therefore briefly the capital of the kingdom of Sukhothai, which was living its last hours there. A status that would last until the death of his successor in 1438, Thammaracha IV (Borommapan), who would be the last sovereign of the kingdom of Sukhothai. At that date, it was Prince Ramesuan, young son of the king of Ayutthaya (Borommarachathirat II), who would be appointed Viceroy, to govern what remained of the kingdom of Sukhothai. He would be sent to Phitsanulok at the age of 15, to consolidate the northern territories. The following year, in 1448, his father died and Ramesuan, crowned as Borommatrailokkanat (often simplified to King Trailok), became King of Ayutthaya. As the de facto ruler of both Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, he effected a personal union (for the record, this is a relationship between two or more political entities that are considered separate sovereign states but which, by law, have the same person as their head of state), marking the merger of the two kingdoms and thus, the definitive demise of the Sukhothai Kingdom.

Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350-1767)

As you can see from the dates and explanations in the previous paragraph, the kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya coexisted for almost 100 years. After that, Phitsanulok was an integral part of the new kingdom of Ayutthaya. However, it remained the stronghold of the powerful families of the old kingdom.

Better still, Phitsanulok even became the capital of the kingdom for a time, between 1463 and 1488. At that time, the kingdom of Ayutthaya was at war with its northern neighbor, the Lanna kingdom, and King Trailok decided to transfer his capital from Ayutthaya to Phitsanulok to be closer to the borders and better supervise the conflict. It is to him that we owe the current name of the city, which is said to be a deformation of the Sanskrit term designating the god Vishnu, to which was added the term "Loka", meaning world (We can therefore translate the name of the city as "the world of Vishnu"). If the war against the Lanna ended in 1474, Phitsanulok remained the capital of the kingdom of Ayutthaya until his death in 1488. His son and successor, Borommarachathirat III, preferred Ayutthaya to become the capital again.

In 1555, one of the heroes of Thai history and a king still highly respected today, Naresuan, was born in Phitsanulok. The latter is known for having liberated Siam from the Burmese yoke, Ayutthaya remaining the vassal of the kingdom of Pegu between 1564 and 1584. Suffering from its position in the north, Phitsanulok was abandoned for a few years before being restored in 1593. It was at this time that the ruler of the city became a "simple" governor and no longer an Uparaja, a royal status used until then for important cities, giving the ruler a power close to that of a Viceroy.

Kingdom of Thonburi (1767-1782)

In 1767, taking advantage of the fall of Ayutthaya following the capture and destruction of the city by the Burmese, a monk, Chao Phra Fang, decided to take control of Phitsanulok by declaring himself local lord. His coup did not last since the new king of the (admittedly ephemeral) kingdom of Thonburi, Taksin the Great, recaptured the city the following year.

In 1775, Phitsanulok again became an important strategic center in the war against Burma. Phitsanulok was besieged by a Burmese general. With the help of his brother, Chao Phraya Surasi Boonma, the general of Siam, a certain Chao Phraya Chakri managed to hold the city for four months before the city finally fell to the Burmese. Phitsanulok was completely destroyed on this occasion.

Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782 – present)

As a reminder, this "certain" Chao Phraya Chakri would later become the founder of the kingdom of Rattanakosin, moving the ephemeral capital of Thonburi to the other bank, which would become Bangkok. His reign was marked by the war against Burma which would be the last major assault of their long-time enemy. The Burmese invaded Phitsanulok again, left undefended, in 1785. The city was then temporarily abandoned. Phitsanulok was in ruins and the region had become considerably depopulated. One of the statues of Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat, the Phra Buddha Chinnarat was moved to Bangkok in 1829, to Wat Bowonniwet (not far from Khao San Road).

It was not until 1834 that Phitsanulok came back to life. At that time, neighboring Laos was a vassal country of Siam. The population from Muang Phuan (the current Xiang Khouang Plateau in Laos, known for its Plain of Jars), the Phuan people, were then massively deported to repopulate Phitsanulok and the surrounding towns. Phitsanulok recovered to become an urban center, thus becoming the capital of the new province of Phitsanulok, established following the administrative reforms carried out by King Rama V (1867-1910).

Finally, in 1957, a major fire destroyed most of the old town, which at the time was mainly made up of wooden houses.