PRE THAI ERA, THAILAND HISTORY
Pre Thai Era - Thailand History
Prior to their ascendancy, however, various influences were at work.
Three were especially formative on what would later become Thailand.
The first, Dvaravati, was a vaguely united group of Mon people settled in a collection of city states with, most likely, a power base at what is now Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok.
The Dvaravati kingdom flourished in the Chao Phraya river basin from the 6th of 7th to the 11th century. It embraced Theravada Buddhism. It is generally assumed the Thais were initially converted to the faith though contact with the Mon.
The third and most influential was the kingdom of Khmer, whose vast empire was centred on Angkor. By the 11th century the Khmer dominated not only what is now Cambodia but also large tracts of eastern and central present-day Thailand.
They were master builders and traces of their achievement are still readily discernible in Lop Buri and various sites in the Northeast.