History Timeline : A chronology of key events

1351 - Foundation of Ayutthaya.

1569 - First Fall of Ayutthaya to the Birmese.

1767 - Second Fall of Ayutthaya.

1782 - Beginning of the Chakri dynasty under King Yotfa (Rama I), which rules to this present day. The country is known as Siam. New capital of Bangkok founded.
          Bangkok, known as "Krung Thep" - City of Angels. Original settlement established by Chinese traders.

1822 - First trade treaty with Britain, negotiated by John Crawfurd.

1851 - Accession of King Mongkut, Rama IV.

1855 - Bowring Treaty between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Siam that liberalized foreign trade in Siam.

1868 - Accession of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). Employment of Western advisers to modernise Siam's administration and commerce. Railway network developed.

1872 - Chulalongkorn's visit to India.

1874 - Front Palace Incident; Anglo-Siam Treaty over Chiang Mai; edict abolishing slavery.

1885 - Prince Prisdang's memorial on a constitution.

1892 - Formation of ministrial council.

1893 - French gunboats threaten Bangkok (Paknam incident); foundation of Ministry of Interior.

1897 - Chulalongkorn's first visit to Europe.

1901 - Ubon phumibun revolt

1905 - Conscription edict

1908 - Sun Yat Sen visit to Bangkok

1901 - Ubon Phumibun revolt.

1902 - Phrae revolt; southern states revolt; Sangha Act.

1909 - Anglo-Siamese Treaty finalizes Siam's boundaries.

1910 - Accession of King Vajiravudh, Rama VI; Chinese strike in Bangkok.

1913 - Nationality Act; Surname Act.

1916 - Foundation of Chulalongkorn University.

1917 - Siam becomes ally of Great Britain in World War I. Siamese contigent to fight on Allied side in Europe; first 'political newspaper' published.

1925 - Accession of King Prajadhipok, Rama VII

1927 - People’s Party founded in Paris

1930 - Ho Chi Minh (intermittently in Siam since 1928 organizing Vietnamese ´emigr´es) forms Communist Party of Siam

1932 - Bloodless coup against absolute monarch King Prajadhipok. Constitutional monarchy introduced with parliamentary government. (24 June)

1933 - Boworadet Revolt

1934 - Foundation of Thammasat University; Phibun becomes minister of defence and army chief

1935 - Abdication of King Prajadhipok

1938 - Phibun becomes prime minister; Thai Rice Company formed.

1939 - Siam renamed as Thailand; series of state edicts starts; Constitution Monument completed.

1941 - Japanese army enters Thailand; Thailand declares war on Allies; battle with French. After negotiations Thailand allows Japanese to advance towards British-controlled Malay Peninsula, Singapore and Burma.

1942 - Thailand declares war on Britain and US, but Thai ambassador in Washington refuses to deliver declaration to US government.
Phibun’s Sangha Act; Communist Party of Thailand refounded.

1944 - Seri Thai network established; Phibun ousted as prime minister; foundation of Bangkok Bank.

1945 - End of World War II. Seni Pramoj recalled from US to front peace negotiations. Thailand compelled to return territory it had seized from Laos, Cambodia and Malaya. Exiled King Ananda returns.

1946 - Pridi’s constitution; Assasination of King Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII; accession of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX.

1947 - First national labour federation. Military coup by the wartime, pro-Japanese leader Phibun Songkhram. The military retain power until 1973.

1948 - Troubles in Muslim south after Haji Sulong’s arrest; CPT adopts Maoist strategy.

1949 - Palace Rebellion, Pridi flees.

1950 - Phibun’s sweep against Peace Movement.

1951 - King Rama IX returns to Thailand; Silent or Radio Coup; first US military aid.

1955 - Phibun’s democracy interlude .

1957 - Sarit Thanarat takes power by coup; completion of Mitraphap highway.

1958 - Sarit’s secondcoup and repression.

1960 - Thai troops fight in Laos.

1961 - Khrong Chandawong executed; CPT forms first rural base in Phuphan.

1962 - Sarit’s Sangha Act; Rusk-Khoman agreement confirms US security alliance.

1963 - Death of Sarit, succeeded by Thanom Kittikhachon; Social Science Review founded.

1964 - First air strike on Vietnam flown from Thailand.

1965 - ‘First shot’ of communist insurgency.

1965-onwards - Thailand permits US to use bases there during the Vietnam War. Thai troops fight in South Vietnam.

1966 - Jit Phumisak shot dead in Phuphan.

1967 - Thai troops fight in South Vietnam; Hmong rebellion in northern hills.

1968 - Restoration of constitution.

1971 - Thanom coup against own government and abrogation of constitution.

1973 - Student riots in Bangkok bring about the fall of the military government. Free elections are held but the resulting governments lack stability.

1974 - Peasants Federation of Thailand formed.

1976 - Massacre at Thammasat University andmilitary coup (6 October).

1978 - New constitution promulgated.

1979 - Restoration of elections and parliament.

1980 - General Prem Tinsulanonda assumes power.

1981 - Failed April Fool’s Day Coup.

1983 - Prem gives up his military position and heads a civilian government. He is re-elected in 1986.

1984 - Devaluation of baht.

1985 - Failed coup; Chamlong Srimuang elected mayor of Bangkok.

1988 - Chatichai Choonhavan becomes first elected prime minister since 1976.

1991 - Military coup by NPKC,the 17th since 1932. A civilian, Anand Panyarachun as prime minister.

1992 - New elections in March replace Anand with General Suchinda Kraprayoon. There are demonstrations against him, forcing him to resign.
Anand is re-instated temporarily. Elections in September see Chuan Leekpai, leader of the Democratic Party, chosen as prime minister.

1994 - Thai Culture Promotion Year; King Bhumibol’s sufficiency farming scheme; Pak Mun dam completed.

1995 - Government collapses. Banharn Silpa-archa, of the Thai Nation party, elected prime minister. Establishment of Constitution Drafting Assembly; Assembly of the Poor founded.

1996 - Banharn's government resigns, accused of corruption. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh of the New Aspiration party wins elections.

1997 - Asian financial crisis: The baht falls sharply against the dollar, leading to bankruptcies and unemployment. The IMF steps in. Chuan Leekpai becomes prime minister.

1998 - Foundation of Thai Rak Thai Party by Thaksin Shinawatra. Tens of thousands of migrant workers are sent back to their countries of origin. Chuan involves the opposition in his government in order to push through economic reforms.

1999 - Economy begins to pick up again. Thai media highlight high cost of drug treatments for Aids and HIV. Thailand begins to pressurise drugs companies to find ways to make the drugs cheaper.

2001 January - Elections won by Thaksin Shinawatra of new Thai Love Thai party. Allegations of vote-buying force partial re-run of poll. Thaksin forms coalition government.

2001 March - A plane Thaksin is due to board explodes. Police say a bomb is to blame.

2001 June - Prime Minister Thaksin visits Burma to discuss drugs and border tensions. He says relations are now back on track. Within days the Mae Sai-Tachilek border crossing is opened again after clashes between Thai and Burmese troops in February.

2001 August - Thaksin is cleared of assets concealment. A conviction by the Thai Constitutional Court could have meant a five-year ban from politics.

2002 May - Burma closes border with Thailand after Thai army fires shells into Burma during battle between Burmese army and ethnic Shan rebels. Border reopens in October.

2003 January - Serious diplomatic upset with Cambodia over comments attributed to a Thai actress that Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex was stolen from Thailand. Angry crowds attack the Thai embassy in the Cambodian capital. More than 500 Thai nationals are evacuated.

2003 February - Controversial crackdown on drugs starts; more than 2,000 suspects are killed by late April. The government blames many killings on criminal gangs; rights groups say extra-judicial killings were encouraged by the authorities.

2004 January-March - More than 100 are killed in a wave of attacks in the largely-Muslim south. The government blames Islamic militants. Martial law is imposed.

2004 April - More than 100 suspected Islamic insurgents are killed after launching coordinated dawn attacks on police bases in the south.

2004 October - 85 Muslim protesters die, many from suffocation, while in army custody following violence at a rally in the south. An enquiry concludes that they were not killed deliberately.

2004 December - Thousands of people are killed when massive waves, caused by a powerful undersea earthquake off the Indonesian coast, devastate communities on the south-west coast, including the resort of Phuket.

2005 March - Thaksin Shinawatra begins a second term as PM after his party wins February's elections by a landslide.

2005 July - As violent unrest continues in the south, Prime Minister Thaksin is given new powers to counter suspected Muslim militants in the region. In November the death toll in violence since January 2004 tops 1,000.

2005 October - Thailand redoubles efforts to fight bird flu as fresh outbreaks of the disease are reported.

2006- Thailand marks king's anniversary. King Bhumibol Adulyadej - the world's longest-reigning monarch

2006 April-May - Snap election, called by the PM amid mass rallies against him, is boycotted by the opposition and is subsequently annulled, leaving a political vacuum. The PM takes a seven-week break from politics.

2006 August - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra accuses several army officers of plotting to kill him after police find a car containing bomb-making materials near his house.

2006 September - Six simultaneous motorcycle bombs kill three people and wound more than 60 on a busy street in the southern town of Hat Yai.

2006 19 September - Military leaders stage a bloodless coup while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is at the UN General Assembly.

2006 31 December - Series of bomb blasts in Bangkok kills three people. No-one claims responsibility.

2007 January - Martial law is lifted in more than half of the country.

2007 April - First draft of a new constitution is approved by a committee appointed by the military administration.

2007 August - Voters in a referendum approve a new, military-drafted constitution.

2007 December - General elections mark the first major step towards a return to civilian rule. The People Power Party (PPP), seen as the reincarnation of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party, wins the most votes.

2008 February - Return to civilian rule. Samak Sundaravej is sworn in as prime minister. Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra returns from exile.

2008 August - Thaksin flees to Britain with his family after failing to appear in court to face corruption charges.

2008 September - State of emergency declared in Bangkok after thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators clash in the city.
The clashes followed a week of mass protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, and the occupation by protesters of Bangkok's main government complex.

2008 October - Sixteen killed and hundreds injured in Thailand's worst anti-government protests in 16 years.

2008 November - Opposition grouping the People's Alliance for Democracy rallies tens of thousands for protest around parliament building in Bangkok, in what it calls a "final battle" to topple the current government.
Flights from Thailand's main airports are suspended after anti-government protesters blockade terminal buildings. Thousands of foreign visitors are left stranded.

2008 December - Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is forced from office by a Constitutional Court ruling that disbands the governing People Power Party for electoral fraud and bars its leaders from politics for five years.
Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva secures a coalition within parliament to become Thailand's new prime minister, the fourth new leader in three months.

2009 March-April - Supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra hold mass rallies against the government's economic policies.

2009 December - Up to 20,000 Thaksin supporters rally in Bangkok to demand fresh elections. Mr Thaksin addressed them by video-link.

2010 January - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says Thailand hopes to see 4% growth in 2010.

2010 March-May - Tens of thousands of pro-Thaksin opposition protesters - wearing their trademark red shirts - paralyse parts of central Bangkok for two months in support
of their demands for the resignation of PM Abhisit and early elections; after a deal on an early poll fails,
the government orders army forces to storm the protesters' barricades and end the demonstrations.

2010 August - Thailand resumes diplomatic ties with Cambodia after Phnom Penh announced the resignation of oustde Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic advisor.

2011 February - In a surprise move the government releases seven leaders of the red-shirt movement on bail after nine months in jail after last spring's protests. Scores of supporters remain in prison.

2011 May - Talks between the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers fail to resolve border dispute.

2011 July - Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, leads the opposition Pheu Thai party to a landslide victory in Thailand's first general election since 2007. The military says it will not stand in the way of Ms Yingluck forming a government, easing fears of another political coup.

2013 December - In response to opposition pressure, PM Yingluck Shinawatra announces that early elections will be held in February 2014 but rejects calls for her to step down in the meantime. The opposition says that it will boycott the February elections.

2014 May - Constitutional Court orders Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and several ministers out of office over alleged irregularities in appointment of security adviser.
Army seizes power in coup.

2014 August - Coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha is made prime minister.

2016 October 13, King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies after 70 years on the throne. The country is in deep mourning.

2016 December 2, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has ascended the throne as King Rama X of the Chakri Dynasty. The new King was formally named His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodin dra deb pa ya va rang kun.

2017 October 26, Cremation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the country is in deeg mourning.

2019 May 4-6, Coronation of Rama X