Ekatotsarot, mourning the suicide of his eldest…

Ekatotsarot, mourning the suicide of his eldest son, reportedly had died of depression in 1610, and his second son Prince Sri Saowabhak succeeds to the throne.

His incompetent rule provides opportunities for the nobility to usurp the throne.

The Royal Chronicles relate that Chameun Sri Sorarak, the adoptive son of Songtham, a minor prince born to Ekatotsarot with one of his concubines, foments a rebellion, marches to the palace in 1611 and oversees the execution of the king at Wat Kok Phraya.

However, other chronicles state that it was Songtham’s younger brother Si Sin who did this.

In any case, the popular and religious Songtham is given the Ayutthayan throne.

Songtham had appointed Sri Soralak the Uparaja but he had died after only a week.

Certain Siamese noblemen had cheated the Japanese merchants in trade agreements and Ekatotsarot had executed their master Ok Krom Nai Wai (a title for Japanese mercenary commander) in 1610.

Not long after Songtham’s coronation, the king had been attending a Buddhist ceremony when the disgruntled Japanese stormed the palace, taking Songtham captive and calling for the life of the Siamese merchants who they hold responsible for the injustice.

Songtham manages to calm the attackers and sends them off the Menam valley but the Japanese rebels capture the town of Phetchaburi, at the northern end of the Thai Peninsula.

Songtham responds by sending an army to pursue and suppress them.