King Ramkhamhaeng Essay

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King Ramkhamhaeng Thailand is not only known as the prosperous country surrounded by nature, but also recognized as the fertile historical land. In the past, the country was firstly known as “Siam” country ruled by many great kings and it has been changed to “Thailand” until now. To illustrate, King Ram Khamhaeng, the third king of Pha Ruang Dynasty, ruled the Sokhothai Kingdom from 1278-1298(Wongthes, 2003). He is as if the king who displays the role model for the following Thai kings in the way to administer people and the country peacefully. However, the most important invention completely affecting people and the country is the Ramkhamhaeng stone inscription. The invention plays an important role not only in linguistics, but the belief and the way of Thai people life. Therefore, he has been considered as the great king of Thailand up to the present time. The Ramkhamhaeng stone inscription was discovered by the King Mogkut when he was a prince in 1833. It served to prove to the encroaching colonial powers that Thailand was not just an empty space but a legitimate kingdom with a long and glorious history that deserved to be treated with some respect, if not as an equal. The inscription itself is as though the crucial piece of the history portrayed what had happened in the era (Rigg, 2002). The stone inscription has also stated that the King is the role model for the following Thai kings. He is called as the benevolent king of the land due to his caring of his people. In fact, the development of the concept of power, authority and legitimacy took two forms. Firstly, the "traditionally" Thai reification of the patriarchial system was argued and substantiated by the now famous stone inscription attributed to King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai through which the ruler was idealized as the father-figure (phokhun) who rules over his domain in a paternalistic yet

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