Eulogy of King Prasat Thong
Eulogy of King Prasat Thong is a long poem in Thai, composed during the king’s reign (1629–1656) by a senior noble. It is the first Thai poem which is specifically a royal panegyric and titled as such. It recounts the main events of the reign, including the building and renaming of the Chakkawat Phaichaiyon audience hall, adjustment of the calendar, a grand almsgiving, and a military parade and festival, all also described in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. It also states that King Prasat Thong is a bodhisatta, destined to become the tenth in a sequence of ten future Buddhas beginning with Metteyya. This claim is currently found in no other document. The sole manuscript, which was discovered in the 1980s, was copied in 1747/8 and is clearly incomplete. An annotated edition, including a facsimile of the original, was prepared by Buntuean Siworaphot and published in 2000.
Phra Mongkhon Bophit image
Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit
Prasat Thong was the first king of the Prasat Thong dynasty, the fourth dynasty of the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom. Before being king, he defeated a rebellion led by the king's son Phra Sisin by working with Japanese mercenary Yamada Nagamasa. He gained power in 1629 by attacking the palace and placed a puppet king who he would later execute. Under his reign, he subjugated Cambodia but lost Siam's Northern principalities.
Prasat Thong
Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province
Prasat Nakhon Luang, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province