Bang Rachan

The village of Bang Rachan was historically located north of Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam and the predecessor state to modern Thailand, situated in Khai Bang Rachan District of Singburi province nowadays. The village is remembered in Thai history for its alleged resistance against the Burmese invaders in Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) that ended the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

According to Thai tradition, the Burmese northern invasion army led by Gen. Ne Myo Thihapate was held up for five months at Bang Rachan, a small village north-west of Ayutthaya by a group of simple villagers. However, not all the points of this traditional Thai story could be true as the entire northern campaign took just over five months (mid-August 1765 to late January 1766), and the northern army was still stuck in Phitsanulok, in north-central Siam, as late as December 1765. Burmese sources do mention "petty chiefs" (cf. "mueang") stalling the northern army's advance but it was early in the campaign along the Wang River in northern Siam (not near Ayutthaya) during the rainy season (August–October 1765). The Burmese general who was actually stationed near Ayutthaya was not Thihapate but rather Maha Nawrahta, whose southern army was waiting for the northern army to show up to attack the Siamese capital. It appears that the three verified events—petty chiefs resisting Thihapate in the north, Thihapate's campaign period of five months, and Maha Nawrahta staking out by Ayutthaya—have merged to create this popular mythology.

Nonetheless, the Thai version appears to be an ingrained part of Thai popular culture. The 2000 Thai film Bang Rajan dramatizes the Thai version of events.

One of the more iconic images is that of Nai Thong Men, who becomes drunk and furiously rides a gigantic water buffalo into battle against the Burmese. The legacy of the battle has been likened to the legacy of the Battle of the Alamo in the Republic of Texas and, by extension, the place of the Alamo in the military history of the United States: a symbol of determination and heroism against overwhelming odds.

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