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Statue in Wat Welurachin, ThonburiTaksin the Great (鄭昭; pinyin: Zhèng Chāo; April 17, 1734 - April 7, 1782) was king of Thailand from 1767a href="1782.html" title="1782">1782.
He was born in Ayutthaya and given the name Sin. His father Hai-Hong was of Chinese ethnicity, and his mother Nok-lang was Thai. When aged 7 he started his education in a Buddhist monastery. After 7 years of education he was sent by his father to serve as a royal page. According to legend, when he and his friend Tong-Duang were priests they met a Chinese fortune-teller who told them that they both had lucky lines in the palms of their hands and would both become kings. Neither took it seriously, but Tong-Duang was later the successor of King Taksin, Rama I.
Sin was first deputy-governor and later governor of the Tak province, which gained him his name Tak-Sin, even though his official noble title was Phya Tak. When he was promoted to be governor of the Kamphaeng Phet province and had to return to Ayutthaya, the Burmese attacked Ayutthaya. Before the city was sacked in 1767 he escaped with a small army.
After the fall of Ayutthaya the country was split into six parts, with Taksin holding the east coast part. Together with Tong-Duang, now called General Chakri, he managed to drive back the Burmese and reunify the country. On December 28, 1767 he became the new king of Siam, in the new capital Thonburi.
King Taksin had to fight for most of his reign to keep the independence of the country. Thai historians indicate that he started to become a religious fanatic: he believed himself to be the reincarnation of Buddha, and he flogged monks who refused to worship him as such. However, this view may have been created as an excuse for his overthrow. He was declared insane, and a coup d'état removed him from the throne. Even though he planned to join the priesthood, he was executed shortly after the coup on April 7, 1782. He was sealed in a velvet sack and was beaten to death with a scented sandalwood club, according to the tradition that no royal blood should touch the ground. The execution was necessary in order to prevent the dethroned king from becoming the center of a possible revolution against his successor.
When the coup started, General Chakri was fighting in Cambodia, but he returned quickly. When he arrived in Thonburi, the rebels surrendered and Chakri was crowned as King Rama I. However, some critics believe that this was just the winner's version of history. Another view is that General Chakri wanted to be King and accused King Taksin of being Chinese.
In 1981 the Thai cabinet passed a resolution to give him the honorary title the Great. The date of his coronation, December 28, is the official day of homage to King Taksin, but not a public holiday.
| Preceded by: King Boromaratcha V (Suriamarin or Ekkathat) (Ayutthaya dynasty) |
Kings of Thailand | Succeeded by: Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) (Chakri dynasty) |