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Thailand: Paying homage to King Taksin before his statue at the entrance to King Taksin Park, Chanthaburi, Chanthaburi Province

Chanthaburi is celebrated across Thailand because of its heroic links with King Taksin the Great, the conqueror who fought back against the Burmese occupiers of Ayutthaya in 1767 and went on to re-establish Thai independence. Although Taksin only ruled briefly from his new capital at Thonburi (1768-82), his name remains greatly revered, and is commemorated across Chanthaburi in a number of shrines, monuments, parks and even a boat yard.

King Taksin (Somdet Phra Chao Taksin Maharat; Thai: สมเด็จพระเจ้าตากสินมหาราช; April 17, 1734 – April 7, 1782) was the only King of the Thonburi Kingdom. He is greatly revered by the Thai people for his leadership in liberating Siam from Burmese occupation after the Second Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, and the subsequent unification of Siam after it fell under various warlords.

King Taksin established Thonburi as his new capital, since Ayutthaya had been almost completely destroyed by the Burmese. His reign was characterized by numerous wars, fought to repel new Burmese invasions and to subjugate the northern Thai kingdom of Lanna, the Laotian principalities, and a threatening Cambodia.

He was succeeded by the Chakri dynasty and the Rattanakosin Kingdom under his long time friend King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.