Ramathibodi, the former Prince U-thong (meaning "source…

Ramathibodi, the former Prince U-thong (meaning "source of gold"), or Suppanaphum, establishes the strongly Khmer-influenced Thai Kingdom of Ayutthaya (Ayuthia, or Ayudhya) forty-five miles (seventy-two kilometers) north of present Bangkok, as a strong autocratic bureaucracy.

A native of Chiang Saen (now in Chiang Rai Province) he claims descent from Khun Borom and propagates Theravada Buddhism as the state religion.

Ramathibodi I's position is likely secured by political marriage and family ties.

He is married to a daughter of the ruling family of the Suphanburi Kingdom, and may have also married into an alliance with the rulers of Lavo Kingdom (also known as Lopburi), it is likely the king of Lavo that he had initially been chosen to succeed.

He appoints both his brother-in-law and son to positions of leadership in Suphanburi and Lavo, respectively, and establishes his own capital in the new city of Ayutthaya in 1351.

King Ramathabodi's reign binds together the Khmer rulers of Lavo, the Tai in the west, and the Chinese, Javanese, Bugis and Acehnese merchants who inhabit the coastal areas.

According to a better-known source, a seventeenth-century account by Dutchman Jeremias Van Vliet, a Renowned Legend stated that Ramatibodi was an ethnic Chinese, having sailed down from China.

After succeeding in trade, he became influential enough to rule the city of Phetchaburi, a coastal town of the Gulf of Thailand, before traveling up to Ayutthaya.