Timeline Thailand. A chronology.

[Captain Sensible]

Timeline: Thailand
A chronology of key events:

1782 - Beginning of the Chakri dynasty under King Rama I, which rules to this present day. The country is known as Siam. New capital of Bangkok founded.


1868-1910 - Reign of King Chulalongkorn. Employment of Western advisers to modernise Siam's administration and commerce. Railway network developed.

1917 - Siam becomes ally of Great Britain in World War I.

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

1939 - Siam changes its name to Thailand ("Land of the Free").

1941 - Japanese forces land. 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.

1945 - End of World War II. Thailand compelled to return territory it had seized from Laos, Cambodia and Malaya. Exiled King Ananda returns.

1946 - King Ananda assassinated.

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

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

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

1976 - Military takes over again.

1978 - New constitution promulgated.

1980 - General Prem Tinsulanonda assumes power.

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

1988 - General Chatichai Choonhaven replaces Prem after elections.

1991 - Military coup, the 17th since 1932. A civilian, Anand Panyarachun, is installed 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.

1995 - Government collapses. Banharn Silpa-archa, of the Thai Nation party, elected prime minister.

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 - 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 2000 suspects killed by end of April. Government blames many killings on criminal gangs; rights groups say extra-judicial killings were encouraged by authorities.

2004 January-March - More than 100 killed in wave of attacks in largely-Muslim south. Government blames Islamic militants. Martial law imposed.

2004 April - More than 100 suspected Islamic insurgents 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 western coast of southern Thailand, including the tourist resort of Phuket.

2005 March - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra begins a second term after his party wins a landslide victory in February's elections.

2005 July - Amid ongoing violence in the south Prime Minister Shinawatra is given new powers to counter suspected Muslim militants in the region.

[poolcleaner]

March 2002- Poolcleaner arrives. Beginning of the Pooly Dynasty which will rule over the Sukhumvit province for the next 5 minutes!