60 Facts About Ekkathat

Ekkathat was born in 1718 during the reign of his uncle King Thaisa.

Ekkathat's mother was Princess Consort Phlap, one of two main consorts of Prince Phon and a daughter of Chaophraya Bamroe Phuthorn, a prominent nobleman in the reign of King Phetracha.

Ekkathat had one younger brother Uthumphon and five sisters who shared the same mother.

Ekkathat had an older half-brother Prince Thammathibet who was born to another main consort of Prince Phon.

Prince Phon, younger brother of King Thaisa and Ekkathat's father, mobilized his forces in preparation for the upcoming succession conflict but was caught.

The result was that Prince Phon prevailed and the two sons of Thaisa, Ekkathat's cousins, were executed.

Princess Consort Phlap, Ekkathat's mother, became Queen Kromma Luang Phiphitmontri.

In 1733, at the age of fifteen, Prince Ekkathat was made Kromma Khun Anurak Montri with a manpower regiment under his command.

Three sons of Borommakot; Thammathibet, Ekkathat and Uthumphon, who were born to two main queens of Borommakot, were given the superior rank of Kromma Khun, meaning that they could appoint their servants to the rank of Khun.

Ekkathat took two sisters Lady Pheng and Lady Maen as his consorts.

In 1741, Prince Thammathibet, eldest son of Borommakot and half-brother of Ekkathat, was made Uparat or vice-king or Wangna Prince of the Front Palace and heir presumptive to their father Borommakot.

Prince Ekkathat or Prince Anurak Montri was technically next in line to the position of royal heir as he was the eldest surviving son of Borommakot born to principal queens.

Ekkathat, who had been a Buddhist monk at Wat Lamut temple, upon learning that his father King Borommakot was on his deathbed, decided to leave the Wat Lamut temple to return to Ayutthaya.

Ekkathat visited and took a glimpse of his ailing father.

Ekkathat decided to support his younger brother the new king Uthumphon against Chao Sam Krom or the Three Princes.

Ekkathat made his first move by commanding Prince Kromma Muen Thepphiphit, his ally, to take all of the muskets from Royal Armory to Suan Kratai Pavilion the residence of Uthumphon.

About a week later, on the eleventh waning of the sixth month, the Three Princes decided to visit the new king Uthumphon and his brother Ekkathat to pay obeisance.

However, Uthumphon and Ekkathat secretly placed some policemen to arrest the Three Princes.

Ekkathat decided to push for his own claims to the throne against his younger brother the new king Uthumphon.

Uthumphon was sensitive of his elder brother contesting for the throne as Ekkathat imposed political pressure on Uthumphon.

Ekkathat was officially enthroned on the waxing of the eight month at Sanphet Prasat Throne Hall in the Rajabhisekha ceremony.

Ekkathat was known in posterity as King Somdet Phra Thinang Suriyat Amarin or "King of the Suriyat Amarin Throne Hall", naming after his residence.

The new king Ekkathat made his mother Queen Phiphitmontri the Dowager Queen with title Kromphra Thephamat.

Ekkathat granted Prince Athit, son of the deceased Prince Thammathibet, a Krom title of Kromma Muen Phithakphubet.

Ekkathat initially retained chief Chatusadom ministers from his father's reign, with Chaophraya Aphiracha as Samuha Nayok or the Chief Minister and Chaophraya Kalahom Khlongklaeb as the Samuha Kalahom or Minister of Military.

Ekkathat appointed his brother-in-laws Pin and Chim, who were brothers of Ekkathat's consorts, Consort Pheng and Consort Maen, to positions in royal court.

Ekkathat had his mother placed in a royal urn, placed next to the royal urn of his father the deceased King Borommakot, waiting to be cremated.

Uthumphon decided to visit his elder brother King Ekkathat, informing the king about the seditious plan of Prince Thepphiphit.

Ekkathat then had his half-brother Prince Thepphiphit, along with his family, wife and children, board on the Dutch ship to be transported and exiled across the Indian Ocean to Ceylon.

Ekkathat accused Phraya Phrakhlang the Minister of Trade of involvement in this aborted rebellion of Prince Thepphiphit.

Ekkathat rewarded Phrakhlang with the elevated rank and title of Chaophraya Phrakhlang to be the acting Samuha Nayok or chief minister.

Ekkathat sent officials to retrieve the white elephant with cooperation from local Northern Khmer-Kuy community leaders.

Ekkathat was misinformed that the Burmese came from all three directions; from Singkhon Pass in the south, from Three Pagodas Pass in the west and from Chiang Mai in the north, so he sent Siamese forces in all three directions.

Ekkathat soon realized that the Burmese only came from the south so he sent civilian administrators to lead Siamese armies against the battle-hardened Burmese forces.

Ekkathat sent two regiments; 3,000 men under the new Phraya Yommaraj and 2,000 men under Phraya Rattanathibet the Minister of Palace Affairs, to face the Burmese armies.

Ekkathat's kingship was sidelined as he was obliged to share his royal authority with his younger brother Uthumphon.

Ekkathat sent Luang Aphaiphiphat the leader of the Chinese mercenaries from Naikai or the Chinatown of Ayutthaya to dislodge the Burmese from Phosamton.

Suriyat Amarin Throne Hall, the royal residence of Ekkathat, was hit by Burmese cannon fires, causing the palace spire to collapse.

Ekkathat made his half-sister Princess Maengmao his chief queen with title Kromma Khun Wimonphat, given her high birth status as a royal princess.

Uthumphon understood that Ekkathat did not want to share royal authority with Uthumphon anymore.

King Ekkathat granted these Mon refugees to shelter at Nakhon Nayok to the east of Ayutthaya.

Ekkathat had to reinforce the royal forces with another regiment of 2,000 men under Phraya Yommaraj to subjugate the Mon rebels of Nangbuat Mountain.

King Ekkathat was shocked and furious at the return of his renegade half-brother.

Ekkathat sent a royal intendant to impose confinement of Prince Thepphiphit in Tenasserim, not allowing Thepphiphit to return to Ayutthaya.

Ekkathat was very distrustful of his troublesome half-brother Thepphiphit and allowing him to become a rightful king of a foreign kingdom was unthinkable.

Powney proposed Ekkathat to allow the British to set up a trade factory at Mergui.

King Ekkathat then ordered the ruler of Lamphun and other Northern Thai refugees to move down south to take shelter at Banglang the northern Khanon or riverine duty checkpoint on the Lopburi River in the Phosamton neighborhood about five kilometers to the north of Ayutthaya in modern Bang Pahan district.

Again, King Ekkathat called for Siamese forces at peripheral cities to abandon their cities to defend the royal citadel of Ayutthaya, hyper-centralizing and putting majority of the efforts to focus on defending the capital, leaving peripheral cities to Burmese invaders in the process.

Ekkathat sent Ayutthayan royal forces of 15,000 men under his Chief Minister Chaophraya Phrakhlang to face the Burmese at Ratchaburi but the Siamese were defeated.

Ekkathat granted Udaungza to take refuge in Chonburi, while Prince Thepphiphit was again confined in Chanthaburi on Eastern Siamese coast.

Ekkathat had commanded the governors of Phitsanulok and Nakhon Ratchasima, two major Siamese peripheral cities, to bring their forces to defend Ayutthaya.

Ekkathat could do nothing with this powerful governor who simply deserted the war to return to Phitsanulok.

Ekkathat sent his ablest generals Phraya Phetchaburi Rueang and Phraya Tak to repel the Burmese at Wat Phukhaothong but the Siamese were eventually defeated despite initial success.

In mid-1766, Prince Thepphiphit, half-brother and political enemy of Ekkathat, who had been confined at Chanthaburi on Eastern Siamese coast, arose to rally Eastern Siamese men to fight against the Burmese.

Ekkathat recruited Chinese mercenaries under Luang Aphaiphiphat and the Portuguese to fight against the Burmese in last resort as the last line of defense.

Ekkathat could do nothing against these looters but to simply ask the Chinese to return the gold they had taken from the sacred temple.

Ekkathat sent out his delegate Phraya Kalahom the Minister of Military to negotiate with Maha Nawrahta.

Ekkathat built three large forts at Huaraw to protect the tunnel digging.

Siamese chronicles said Ekkathat died upon having been in starvation for more than ten days while concealing himself at Ban Chik Woods, adjacent to Wat Sangkhawat in the southern outskirts of Ayutthaya, where his dead body was discovered by a monk.

Ekkathat's body was hurriedly buried by the Burmese at a mound named "Khok Phra Men", in front of a revered Siamese temple called "Phra Wihan Phra Mongkhonlabophit".