What was not explicit, or remained in the shadow of the making
of Sukhothai history, was the post-1893 experiences and sentiments.
Among the possible ideologies of the new historiography of the emerging
nation, the elite’s quest for siwilai antiquity was to make obvious the
prominence of Siam among the independent nations. As Herzfeld
observes, ‘[O]ne feature that all these [crypto-colonial] countries share
is the aggressive promotion of their claims to civilisational superiority
or antiquity, claims that almost always appear disproportionate to their
political influence’ and ‘through their august antiquity and cultural
dignity, [they wanted] to earn the grudging respect of foreign powers’
(Herzfeld 2002: 902 and 905). As a claim for civilisational superiority,
it is therefore not a coincidence for Sukhothai to be both the origin of
Siam and the ideal state of utmost Thainess