The most prominent feature of the new historiography in Siam since the
beginning of the twentieth century, even more obvious than Sukhothaithe-origin-of-Siam,
was a narrative of struggles to preserve Siam’s
independence. But it was not about the struggles against the Europeans.
A huge proportion of Thai history is about the wars with Burma from
the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. During those three centuries of
many series of battles, the Thai kingdom fell to the Burmese twice, once
in 1569 and in 1767. Yet each time, a great Thai hero emerged who was
able to rescue the country’s independence.