Departure from Ayutthaya . Taksin holds a daab (dha) sword in his right hand and wears a metal breastplate, helmet and pauldrons. , was the site where
Taksin gathered his followers in January 1767.By January 1767, the situation for Ayutthaya's defenders had become dire, as food supply depleted and more people surrendered to the Burmese besiegers. An earlier incident highlighted this desperation—when Siamese gunpowder was running low, King Ekkathat ordered that every cannon shot had to be pre-permitted by the royal court. at Wat Phichai Songkhram, just outside the city's eastern wall. These original followers included: That night, before midnight, Taksin led his followers in a successful breakout through the Burmese line to the east. By midnight, a great fire broke out in Ayutthaya, so illuminated that can be seen by Taksin. On January 4, the Burmese followed and caught up with him at
Phosaohan, about twenty kilometers east of Ayutthaya. Taksin led his Chinese-Siamese forces in successfully repelling them—the first victory after his departure. On January 5, a local leader, Khun Chamnan Phraison (), Phraya Chanthaburi pretended to comply and promised to visit Taksin in Rayong. After waiting ten days without response, He sent
Phraya Phichairacha to deliver a "royal letter" to Mạc Thiên Tứ, reaching Banteay Mas on March 28, 1767—marking their first official contact. effectively destroying it and bringing an end to Ayutthaya’s 417-year status as the capital of the Siamese kingdom. King Ekkathat, the last ruler of Ayutthaya, died shortly after the fall—either from
starvation or from a random gunshot After their victory, the Burmese were obliged to withdraw most of its forces from Ayutthaya to the upcoming
Sino-Burmese War at Phimai in late 1766 in the northeast. Among the various claimants to power, Prince Thepphiphit was the only one who asserted legitimacy through lineage to the fallen Ayutthayan
Ban Phlu Luang dynasty. Appointing ministers as if he were the legitimate monarch •
Chaophraya Phitsanulok (Rueang), the governor of
Phitsanulok, declared himself King of Northern Siam. Phitsanulok, being a key administrative center, became his power base. •
Chao Phra Fang, a local Buddhist monk, established a theocratic regime at
Sawangkhaburi near the northern frontiers, declared himself King in Sawangkhaburi. His government included fellow monks who governed alongside him, all dressed in red robes. • In the south,
Phra Palat Nu, the acting governor of
Nakhon Si Thammarat (Ligor), declared himself
Chao Nakhon, King of Southern Siam. His predecessor, Phraya Ratchasuphawadi, had been imprisoned during Ayutthaya’s final days, leaving Phra Palat Nu to take control after the city’s fall. • Taksin, who had established his base in Rayong, also declared himself a sovereign ruler.
Conquest of Chanthaburi from
Ayutthaya to
Chanthaburi and his return to reconquer Ayutthaya in 1767, according to traditional Thai historiography. In the late Ayutthaya period, Teochew Chinese immigrants had settled in the eastern coastal port cities of Siam, especially in Chonburi and Chanthaburi. Chanthaburi had become a major Chinese entrepôt. That night, Taksin launched an assault on Chanthaburi. The city responded with heavy gunfire. A bullet narrowly missed Taksin as he rode an elephant. The elephant mahout commanded the elephant to retreat for safety but Taksin threatened to execute the mahout for disobedience and instead used his knife to puncture his elephant, causing it a great pain as it ran amok to destroy the city gate. Chanthaburi fell to Taksin that same night. Phraya Chanthaburi and his family fled and sought refuge in Banteay Mas.
Conquest of Trat After capturing Chanthaburi, Taksin and his forces continued overland to
Trat, the easternmost Siamese port city on the eastern coast. There, he encountered a group of Teochew Chinese merchant-pirates anchored at the port who refused to submit to his authority. Taksin ordered his troops to launch an attack on the pirates. The fighting occurred for half a day until Taksin eventually prevailed. Many of the Chinese pirates were killed in the battle. Chiam () the leader of the pirates submitted to Taksin. De Fels proposed that Chiam was the same person as Chen Tai (陳太, called Trần Thái in Vietnamese), the Teochew Chinese pirate who had earlier attacked Hà Tiên but was defeated by the forces of Mạc Thiên Tứ. With the conquest of Trat, Taksin put the whole eastern Siamese coastline stretching from Chonburi to Trat under his control. == Reconquest of Ayutthaya ==