In Wichit's view, the use of the term "Siam" to refer to the Thai nation was inappropriate s it bore no relation to the actual nhabitants of the territory. He explained this by making a number of assertions. First, he claimed that in the tenth century A.D the area in which the Thais now lived was under the control of the part-lndian Khom people who divided it into northern and southern administrative regions. The northern region, which had its centre in the vicin "Mu ang Sayam while the of present-day Sukhothai, was known a southern region located around Lopburi was called "Mu ang Lavo The Chinese, who had trade relations with the area, knew the combined territory as "Siem-lo", clearly a cognate for Siam.