Fall of Ayutthaya
- When
- 1766–1767
- Where
- Siamese royal capital and surrounding approaches; Ayutthaya citadel; Siamese royal capital; Ayutthaya; Ayutthaya ruins and Lower Central Siam
- Episodes
- 5
In April 1767 Burmese Konbaung troops stormed and sacked Ayutthaya, the Siamese royal capital, ending the Burmese–Siamese War of 1765–1767 and the 417-year-old Ayutthaya Kingdom. King Ekkathat, the last monarch, died as the city fell, and the kingdom fragmented into competing regional regimes.
Episodes
- Burmese Approach and Siamese Defense Preparations
Burmese columns converged on Ayutthaya in January 1766, prompting Ekkathat to organize armies and move monks inside the walls.
- Stalemate and the Tunnel Siege
From February to September 1766 neither side fought major battles; by early April 1767 the Burmese had dug five tunnels into the city.
- Burmese Occupation and Siamese Fragmentation
Nemyo Thihapate occupied the ruins until June 1767; the kingdom fragmented into regional regimes before Phraya Tak's recovery.
- Fall and Sack of Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese on 7 April 1767, ending the war and the four-century-old kingdom.
- Death of King Ekkathat
Ekkathat, the last king of Ayutthaya, died in April 1767 as the city fell to the Burmese.
Background and detail
Background. The war of 1765–1767, called the War of the Second Fall of Ayutthaya, was the second conflict between Burma under the Konbaung dynasty and Ayutthaya under the Ban Phlu Luang dynasty. It continued the war of 1759–1760, whose causes included a dispute over the Tenasserim coast and Siamese support for Mon rebels of the fallen Hanthawaddy Kingdom.
The Siege of Ayutthaya. Burmese columns approached the royal citadel in January 1766 from three directions. For seven months from February to September 1766 there were no major battles, as the Siamese adopted a passive defense inside the walls. Ekkathat moved monks, including his brother Uthumphon, into the city, and by early April 1767 the besiegers had dug five tunnels into Ayutthaya.
Aftermath and Occupation. After the sack, Nemyo Thihapate occupied the ruins for two months, departing in June 1767 and leaving a small contingent under the Mon official Thugyi at Phosamton to oversee a short-lived occupation of Lower Central Siam. The rest of the kingdom fragmented into competing regional regimes, and Phraya Tak reconquered the Ayutthaya-Thonburi area in November 1767.
People involved
- Ekkathat · King of Ayutthaya, the last monarch of the kingdom
- Nemyo Thihapate · Burmese commander who led the Chiang Mai column and occupied the ruins
- Phraya Tak · Siamese leader of Teochew Chinese heritage who broke out of the siege and later expelled the Burmese
- Chaophraya Phrakhlang · Siamese Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs who led armies against the Burmese
Sources
- Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22
- Ekkathat Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-26
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.