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Figure 1 Routes and territories in the Burmese-Siamese War of 1759-1760. The orange
territory was conquered by Burma, but the control on the black territory was still tenuous.
The red arrows show the advance of the Burmese army and the green arrow shows the
retreat of the Burmese Army. Source: Hybernator (2010).
Rainfall (mm/month)
Streamflow (million cubic metters/month)
800
700
600
500
400
300
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100
0
May Jun
Jul
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Figure 5 Average rainfall and streamflow of the Central Plain of the Chao Phraya
River Basin. Data from Koontanakulvong (2006).
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The Burmese army started their march in the dry season, in order to increase
mobility (Harvey, 1925, p. 242). The southern armies avoided the coast of the Gulf of
Thailand, were they could be easily surrounded by the numerically superior Siamese
defenses (Ayeadawbon, 1961, p. 147-148).
The siege on Ayutthaya started in January 1766. The original plan of the Siamese
was to resist until the rainy season, and then the floods would hopefully make the
besiegers retreat. However, during the flood period the Burmese army did not retreat, but
got sheltered on elevated high spots. The new situation momentarily equilibrated the war
and the Thai and Burmese started to attack each other using their boats.
The Burmese army also used their boats to prevent rice supplies to enter
Ayutthaya. As a result, by the end of the rainy season the city was already running low of
supplies (Phraye, 1883, p. 189).
In the end of 1766, already in the dry season, the Burmese army built earthworks
to access the city of Ayutthaya (Harvey, 1925, p. 252) and started to dig tunnels under
the city walls, to mine them (Maung Maung Tin, 1905, p. 303). In March of 1767, the
Burmese finally invaded, burnt, sacked and destroyed the city, which was already starving
by that time.
However, at the period of Ayutthaya invasion, the Chinese army sent a new large
offensive in the north of Burmas territory, forcing the Burmese army to withdraw from
Siam kingdom (Phraye, 1883, p. 190). Without the Burmese presence, the Siamese local
chiefs started to dispute the political power over the region in a civil war. As a result from
the war, Burma retained only the control of Tenasserin coast territory.
After King Taksin reunified the Thai kingdom, the Siamese kingdom moved its
capital to Thonburi in 1767 and then to Bangkok in 1782. The ruins of Ayutthaya became
world heritage by UNESCO in 1991, and thousands of tourists that visit there every year
learn about the Burmese-Siamese war of 1765-67. The historical grief from Thai people
against the Burmese attack to Ayutthaya, was one of the main alleged motivations for the
Thai government to sponsor separatist movements of ethnic minorities located in the
Burmese borders with Thailand, during the last centuries (Myint-U, 2006, p. 299 and 308).
References:
Aristitleism (2011). Sketch-map of advance of Burmese troops towards Ayutthaya City, in
the Burmese-Siamese War (1765-1767).
Baker, Chris, Christopher John Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit (2009). A history of Thailand
(2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521767682.
Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824.
London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
Hybernator (2010) The war path of Burmese-Siamese War (1759-1760).
James, Helen (2004). Burma-Siam Wars and Tenasserim. In Keat Gin Ooi. Southeast
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Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2(11), 7027-7059.