Liberation from Lavo[edit]
Wat Si Sawai, Sukhothai Historical Park
Seated Buddha in "Maravijaya", second half of century (Sukhothai).[2] The Walters Art Museum.
Prior to the 13th century, Tai kingdoms had existed in the northern highlands including the Ngoenyang Kingdom of the Tai Yuan people (centered on Chiang Saen and the predecessor of the Lanna Kingdom), and the Heokam Kingdom of the Tai Lue people (centered on Chiang Hung, modern Jinghong in China). Sukhothai had been a trade center and part of Lavo (present day Lopburi), which was under the domination of the Khmer Empire. The migration of Tai people into the upper Chao Phraya valley was somewhat gradual.
Modern historians stated that the secession of Sukhothai (once known as Sukhodaya)[1] from the Khmer empire began as early as 1180 during the reign of Pho Khun Sri Naw Namthom who was the ruler of Sukhothai and the peripheral city of Si Satchanalai (now a part of Sukhothai Province as Amphoe). Sukhothai had enjoyed a substantial autonomy until it was reconquered around 1180 by the Mon people of Lavo under Khomsabad Khlonlampong.
Two brothers, Pho Khun Bangklanghao and Pho Khun Phameung took Sukhothai from Mon hands in 1239. Khun, before becoming a Thai feudal title, was a Tai title for a ruler of a fortified town and its surrounding villages, together called a mueang; in older usage prefixed by pho (พ่อ) "father",[3] (comparable in sound and meaning to rural English Paw). Bangklanghao ruled Sukhothai as Sri Indraditya – and began the Phra Ruang Dynasty - he expanded his primordial kingdom to the bordering cities. At the end of his reign in 1257, the Sukhothai kingdom covered the entire upper valley of the Chao Phraya River (then known simply as Menam, "Mother of Waters," the generic Thai name for rivers.)
Traditional Thai historians considered the foundation of the Sukhothai kingdom as the beginning of their nation because little was known about the kingdoms prior to Sukhothai. Modern historical studies demonstrate that Thai history began before Sukhothai. Yet the foundation of Sukhothai is still a celebrated event