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Phraya Tak leaves Ayutthaya: desertion, or orders?
Early in January 1767, three months before the city fell, Phraya Tak led some 500 to 1,000 Siamese and Chinese soldiers out of the camp at Wat Phichai and headed east. This was the starting point of the recovery of the capital, but the sources do not agree on the reason. Several Thai chronicles tell it as a flight to set himself up on his own, while a letter from a Thonburi official to the Dutch company two years later says it was the king who sent Phraya Tak to gather forces.
What each version says
| Sources | What it says (summary) |
|---|---|
| Royal Chronicles, Royal Autograph version | Earlier, in the river battle in which Phraya Phetchaburi was killed, Phraya Tak and Luang Son Seni kept their boats moored and looked on without going to his aid, then withdrew to Wat Phichai. Later Phraya Tak (whom this version calls Phraya Kamphaeng Phet) gathered about a thousand Siamese and Chinese soldiers, with 5 officers, intending to take the force and escape to the east, and he announced that he would recover the capital only once he had entered Rayong territory. |
| Royal Chronicles, Phra Phonnarat version | Says that Phraya Tak and his followers deserted royal service and went off to set themselves up as rulers, which in the eyes of the court meant abandoning their duty. |
| Royal Chronicle of Thonburi, Phan Chanthanumat (Choem) version | On the first stage of the march Phraya Tak's force saw the glow of fire in the city, and Phraya Tak thought of coming back to restore the capital from that very night, about half a month earlier than in the Royal Autograph version. |
| Okphra Phiphat Kosa's letter of 1769 (Dutch records) | When the Burmese came to make war, the King of Siam sent an official named Phaya Tak to the town of Chanthabun (Chanthaburi) to gather forces to relieve the capital, but before he had got far with the task the capital fell. |
| The Burmese chronicle (Maha Yazawin) | Does not mention Phraya Tak's force, but describes the King of Ayutthaya as undaunted: building brick forts around the city, building warships and laying caltrops and thorn barriers as defences. This picture has been cited against the explanation that Phraya Tak left because he had lost hope in the court. |
The day he left the capital
The chronicles record that Phraya Tak left the camp at Wat Phichai on Saturday, the 4th day of the waxing moon of the 2nd lunar month, which corresponds to 3 January 1767, together with Phra Chiang Ngoen, Luang Phrom Sena, Luang Phichai Racha, Luang Ratcha Saneha, Khun Aphai Phakdi and Nak Ong Ram, a Khmer prince who had taken refuge in the capital. Luang Son Seni, who came out with them, went off another way. Pramin Kruathong's reconstruction has them leaving at noon in a heavy downpour, spending the first night at Ban Sam Bandit and beating the Burmese at Ban Phran Nok on the second day. Kampol Champapan's chronology has them leaving in the evening and seeing the city on fire the following evening, at Ban Khao Mao. The day-by-day details therefore differ slightly according to how the chronicles are read.
Why he went east can be explained simply: that side had the fewest Burmese troops, and once at the coast there was still a way out by sea, or a refuge to be sought in Cambodia.
Flight or orders
The traditional explanation, based on the chronicles, is that Phraya Tak saw that the capital was certain to fall and so went off to set himself up. Kampol Champapan, on the other hand, has used the letter Okphra Phiphat Kosa wrote to the Dutch East India Company in 1769 to propose that Phraya Tak may have gone out on the court's orders. In support he adds that the governor of Nakhon Nayok, who had the larger force, gave him help, which would be unlikely if Phraya Tak had been a rebel deserting royal service.
The other side points out that the letter was written by one of King Taksin's own officials to a foreign trading partner, and would naturally tell the story so as to make the new leader look legitimate. The question therefore remains open, but it shows that the story we have grown used to comes mainly from chronicles revised at a later date.
When did he first think of recovering the capital?
The Phan Chanthanumat version has Phraya Tak thinking of restoring the capital from the first night, when he saw the city on fire; the Royal Autograph version has him announce it only on reaching Rayong. This gap of about half a month is the pointer to whether, in the early days, Phraya Tak meant simply to save himself or to establish a base. Pramin Kruathong points out that if he had only wanted to escape, taking a thousand or so soldiers with him would have made moving much harder than going with a handful of men.
Where historians still disagree
- The Dutch letter versus the Thai chronicles: which is the more credible on the reason for leaving the capital is still unsettled.
See this event’s campaign route on the map
Frequently asked questions
On what date did Phraya Tak leave Ayutthaya?
On 3 January 1767 (BE 2310) by the modern reckoning; old documents write the year as BE 2309.
Is there evidence that Phraya Tak left on orders?
Okphra Phiphat Kosa's letter of 1769 to the Dutch company says the king sent him to gather forces at Chanthaburi, but the Thai chronicles tell it as a flight to set himself up.
- Foreign evidence on the last days of Ayutthaya: Phraya Tak broke out "on orders" – Silpa Wattanatham (in Thai)
- Phraya Tak flees Ayutthaya in January BE 2309 (1767), before the city falls – Silpa Wattanatham (in Thai)
- Where does King Taksin make his "first appearance" in the royal chronicles? – Silpa Wattanatham (in Thai)
Last updated 13 November 2026