The provincial council of Sukhothai in 1988 proposed November 17 to be proclaimed King Ramkhamhaeng Day, marking the day that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajirakorn unveiled the statue of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great in Sukhothai. Later, the National Identity Board and its Committee on Thai History Revision and Historical and Archeological Document Arrangement proposed that King Ramkhamhaeng the Great Day should be marked on January 17, commemorating the discovery of the stone inscriptions of King Ramkhamhaeng by King Mongkut, Rama IV, in 1833. This was approved by the Cabinet on 26 July 1989, and celebrated for the first time on 17 January 1990.