Thonburi

Thonburi

Thon Buri (Thai: ธนบุรี) is an area of modern Bangkok. It was capital of Thailand from 1767 to 1782, during the reign of King Taksin, after the previous capital Ayutthaya was sacked by the Burmese. It is located on the opposite bank of Chao Phraya River to Bangkok. Before being made the capital, Thon Buri was an important garrison town at the mouth of the river.

King Rama I moved the capital to Bangkok in 1782. Thon Buri remained an independent town and province, until it was merged into Bangkok in 1971. Thon Buri stayed less developed than the other side of the river. Many of the traditional small waterways, Khlongs, still exist there, while they are nearly gone from the other side of the river.

In 1950, Bangkok had around 1.3m people, and the municipality of Thon Buri around 400,000. In 1970 Thon Buri was Thailand's second largest city proper with around 600,000 residents.

Read more about Thonburi:  Administration