Editing History of Thailand (section)

=== Arrival of the Tais ===
{{further|Khun Borom|Tai languages|Tai peoples}}The most recent and accurate theory about the origin of the [[Tai peoples|Tai people]] proposes that [[Guangxi]] in China is the ancient homeland.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} A large number of Tai people known as the [[Zhuang people|Zhuang]] still live in Guangxi today. Around 700 AD, Tai people who did not come under Chinese influence settled in what is now [[Điện Biên Phủ]] in modern [[Vietnam]] according to the [[Khun Borom]] legend. Based on layers of Chinese [[loanword]]s in proto-[[Southwestern Tai]] and other historical evidence, Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2014) proposed that this migration must have taken place sometime between the eighth–10th centuries.<ref name="PittayawatPittayaporn">[http://www.manusya.journals.chula.ac.th/files/essay/Pittayawat%2047-68.pdf Pittayaporn, Pittayawat (2014). Layers of Chinese loanwords in Proto-Southwestern Tai as Evidence for the Dating of the Spread of Southwestern Tai] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627063518/http://www.manusya.journals.chula.ac.th/files/essay/Pittayawat%2047-68.pdf |date=27 June 2015 }}. ''MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities,'' Special Issue No 20: 47–64.</ref> Tai speaking tribes migrated southwestward along the rivers and over the lower passes into Southeast Asia, perhaps prompted by the Chinese expansion and suppression. Chinese historical texts record that, in 722, 400,000 'Lao'<ref group=lower-alpha name="Lao">The term ''"Lao"'' used in this context refers to Tai-Kadai speaking peoples resided in what are now Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam in general. It is not necessarily applied solely to the ancestor of [[Lao people|the Lao]].</ref> rose in revolt behind a leader who declared himself the king of [[Nanyue]] in [[Guangdong]].{{sfn|Baker|2002|p= 5}}{{sfn|Taylor|1991|p= 193}} After the 722 revolt, some 60,000 were beheaded.{{sfn|Baker|2002|p= 5}} In 726, after the suppression of a rebellion by a 'Lao' leader in the [[Guangxi|present-day Guangxi]], over 30,000 rebels were captured and beheaded.{{sfn|Taylor|1991|p= 193}} In 756, another revolt attracted 200,000 followers and lasted four years.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}} In the 860s, many local people in what is now North Vietnam sided with attackers from [[Nanchao]], and in the aftermath, some 30,000 of them were beheaded.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}}{{sfn|Taylor|1991|pp= 239–249}} In the 1040s, a powerful matriarch-shamaness by the name of [[A Nong]], her chiefly husband, and their son, [[Nong Zhigao]], raised a revolt, took [[Nanning]], besieged [[Guangzhou]] for 57 days, and slew the commanders of five Chinese armies sent against them before they were defeated, and many of their leaders were killed.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}} As a result of these three bloody centuries, the Tai began to migrate southwestward.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}}

The ''Simhanavati legend'' tells us that a Tai chief named [[Simhanavati]] drove out the native [[Wa people]] and founded the city of [[Chiang Saen District|Chiang Saen]] around 800 CE. For the first time, the Tai people made contact with the Theravadin Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia. Through Hariphunchai, the Tais of Chiang Saen embraced Theravada Buddhism and [[Sanskrit]] royal names. [[Doi Tung#Description|Wat Phrathat Doi Tong]], constructed around 850, signified the piety of Tai people on the Theravada Buddhism. Around 900, major wars were fought between Chiang Saen and Hariphunchai. Mon forces captured Chiang Saen and its king fled. In 937, Prince Prom the Great took Chiang Saen back from the Mon and inflicted severe defeats on Hariphunchai.

Around 1000 CE, Chiang Saen was destroyed by an earthquake with many inhabitants killed.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.guiculture.com/fs10king5.htm | title=Brief History of Royal Dynasties of Thailand | publisher=guiculture.com | access-date=9 April 2019 | archive-date=25 October 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025035405/http://www.guiculture.com/fs10king5.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=November 2021}} A council was established to govern the kingdom for a while, and then a local Wa man known as Lavachakkaraj was elected king of the new city of Chiang Saen or [[Ngoenyang]]. The Lavachakkaraj dynasty would rule over the region for about 500 years.

Overpopulation might have encouraged the Tais to seek their fortune further southwards. By 1100 CE, the Tai had established themselves as ''Po Khun''s (ruling fathers) at [[Nan, Thailand|Nan]], [[Phrae]], Songkwae, [[Sawankhalok District|Sawankhalok]], and Chakangrao on the upper [[Chao Phraya River]]. These southern Tai princes faced Khmer influence from the Lavo Kingdom. Some of them became subordinates to it.