Period Two

Ayuthaya Kingdom

First Contact with Westerners

During the reign of Ramathibodi II, the Portuguese expanded their empire and took over Malacca after they had established a trading base at Goa, India. As Malacca had been previously a vassal state of Siam, the Portuguese sent two envoys to Ayuthaya, the first European, Duarte Fernandez arrived in 1511 AD, followed in the same year by Antonio de Miranda.

The ruler of Ayuthaya recognised the importance of the contact and of good relations with the Europeans and sent himself an embassy to Goa. As the Portuguese sent their third envoy, Duarte de Coelho in 1516 AD to Siam, it came to the first official trading agreement between Siam and a western power.

The first agreement concluded that the Portuguese would supply Ayuthaya with weapons and ammunition and gain themselves the right to establish a trading base, practice freely their religion and being excluded from Siamese law but had to follow their own, Portuguese, laws. Ayuthaya further followed the desire of Portugal to send settlers to Malacca and so to secure the port against the Muslims.

In the following, 300 Portuguese came on a permanent basis to Siam and settled down especially in Ayuthaya, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Pattani. Most of them were traders but some as well military experts who should help to secure the kingdom. The business of the merchants was mainly based on rice, tin and various kinds of wood.