Education in Thailand can be said to have
begun in the 13th century when Sukhothai was
Thailand's capital. In 1283, one of Sukhothai's
kings, Ramkamhaeng the Great created the first
Thai alphabet, using as its basis the Mon and
Khmer scripts which had, in turn, been derived
from a South Indian script. He employed for the
first time the new alphabet in his stone
inscription of 1292 at Sukhothai. Although
undergone extensive changes, parts of the
original alphabet are still in use.
The Sukhothai stone inscriptions recorded
aspects of education in moral, intellectual
and cultural terms. Throughout the Kingdom of
Sukhothai, two levels of education existed :-
Education provided by the Royal
Institution of Instruction (Rajabundit) to princes
and sons of nobles.
Education provided by the Buddhist monks to commoners.