Editing Ayutthaya Kingdom (section)

====Khun Chang Khun Phaen: the Siamese epic folk poem====
{{Main|Khun Chang Khun Phaen}}
[[File:SephaPerformance.jpg|170px|thumb|right|Modern performance of ''sepha'' oral recitation of Thai poetry.]]
In the Ayutthaya period, folktales also flourished. One of the most famous folktales is the story of ''[[Khun Chang Khun Phaen]]'' ({{langx|th|ขุนช้างขุนแผน}}), referred to in Thailand simply as "''Khun Phaen''", which combines the elements of romantic comedy and heroic adventures, ending in high tragedy. The epic of ''Khun Chang Khun Phaen'' (KCKP) revolves around ''Khun Phaen'', a Siamese general with superhuman magical powers who served the King of Ayutthaya, and his love-triangle relationship between himself, Khun Chang, and a beautiful Siamese girl named Wan-Thong. The composition of KCKP, much like other [[oral tradition|orally-transmitted]] epics, evolved over time. It originated as a recitation or ''[[sepha]]'' within the Thai oral tradition from around the beginning of the 17th century (c. 1600). Siamese [[troubadour]]s and [[minstrel]]s added more subplots and embellished scenes to the original story line as time went on.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Baker|first1=Chris|last2=Phongpaichit|first2=Pasuk|title=The Career of Khun Chang Khun Phaen|journal=Journal of the Siam Society|volume=97|year=2009|pages=1–42|url=http://www.siam-society.org/pub_JSS/jss097BakerPasuk.pdf|access-date=14 October 2017|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012044526/http://www.siam-society.org/pub_JSS/jss097BakerPasuk.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the late period of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, it had attained the current shape as a long work of [[epic poem]] with the length of about 20,000 lines, spanning 43 ''[[samut khoi|samut thai]]'' books. The version that exists today was composed with ''klon'' meter throughout and is referred to in Thailand as ''nithan Kham Klon'' ({{langx|th|นิทานคำกลอน}}) meaning a 'poetic tale'.