Editing Ayutthaya Kingdom (section)

===The "General Crisis" hypothesis===
{{See also|The General Crisis}}
The idea that Ayutthaya suffered a decline following the departure of Europeans in the late 17th century was an idea popularized, at first, in the Rattanakosin court, in an attempt to legitimize the new dynasty over the Ayutthaya Ban Phlu Luang dynasty, and more famously by [[Anthony Reid (academic)|Anthony Reid]]'s book on the "Age of Commerce" in recent decades. However, more recent studies, such as by [[Victor Lieberman]] in "Strange Parallels in Southeast Asia" and by Baker and Phongpaichit in "A History of Ayutthaya", have mostly refuted Reid's hypothesis, in particular Lieberman criticizing Reid's methodology of using the example of Maritime Southeast Asia to explain Mainland Southeast Asia, citing the opening of Qing China's revocation of its maritime ban and the subsequent increase in trade between China and Siam and Ayutthaya's historical importance as a regional Asian trade center rather than one in which Europeans held any power or any significant influence for any extended period of time.<ref name=":5">{{cite book |last1=Lieberman |first1=Victor |title=Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830 (Studies in Comparative World History) |date=2003 |pages=|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521800860|edition=}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Conference: Exploring Maritime Heritage Dynamics – Dhiravat Na Pombejra |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoGPYGibMuU |website=Youtube | date=17 December 2015 |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="siam" />