History
lessons for the Post
- August 29, 2002
The Bangkok Post
printed this correction
on August 27, 2002: Correction:
King Naresuan the Great
repelled Burmese invaders
from the ancient capital
of Ayutthaya in the year
1581, not in 1767 as inaccurately
reported on page 1 yesterday.
The Bangkok Post regrets
the error.
Don reports that
the correction is wrong
as well: What my books
tell me is that 1581 was
the year in which Bayinnaung,
the Burmese emperor, died.
Naresuan even went to
Burma at that time to
pay homage to the new
emperor, Nandanaung; Naresuan
was at this time acting
as a representative for
his aged father, King
Maha Tammaraja (60 years
old), who remained King
of Ayutthaya until his
death in June 1590. That
is when Naresuan became
King. The incident that
the so-called "Correction"
refers to actually took
place in January, 1593.
King Naresuan engaged
a Burmese force at Nong
Sa Rai, near Suphan Buri,
that had just come through
the Three Pagodas Pass.
That was the famous incident
in which King Naresuan
killed the Burmese Crown
Prince in an elephantback
duel. Now, while still
a Prince, Naresuan DID
proclaim Ayutthaya's independence
from Burma in May 1584,
at the Siamese town of
Kraeng, while actually
on his way to help Burma
suppress a rebellion there.
The Burmese subsequently
made some attempts to
resubjugate Ayuthhaya,
but their sieges were
never successful. They
were, though, by no means
"repelled" until
that 1593 battle.
Incidentally, Thai Armed
Forces Day is observed
on January 25 each year
because of the incident
with the Burmese Crown
Prince, and special ceremonies
are held in Suphan Buri.
History lessons for the Post
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