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The battle of Pho Sam Ton and the fate of Suki
About seven months after the city fell, Phraya Tak's fleet came up from Chanthaburi and attacked the Pho Sam Ton camp, the large camp north of the city held by Suki. The chronicles tell of the fighting in detail, day by day, but the dates are still converted to the modern calendar in different ways, and who Suki himself was is something more recent studies have helped to make clearer.
What each version says
| Sources | What it says (summary) |
|---|---|
| Royal Chronicles, Royal Autograph version | On the first day he had his men attack and take the Pho Sam Ton camp on the east bank, then had ladders made ready for scaling the main camp on the west bank. The next day he sent the Chinese vanguard against Suki's camp. They fought from morning until noon; the Chinese troops followed up into the camp, and Suki fought on until he was killed there. |
| Okphra Phiphat Kosa's letter of 1769 | Phaya Tak led his followers into the burned and looted city. The people who had fled into the forest came and joined him, and chose and accepted him as their master and leader. |
| Thai Rop Phama (Our Wars with the Burmese), by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab | The Burmese kept 8 members of the Siamese royal family at this camp because they were too ill to be sent to Burma yet, among them Chao Fa Suriya, Chao Fa Phinthawadi and Chao Fa Chanthawadi. |
| Modern studies (citing Nidhi Eoseewong and Kampol Champapan) | Suki comes from a Burmese word (written chukkhayi in Thai studies) meaning "chief commander", a rank conferred by Ne Myo Thihapate; Chinese documents call him Sung Yi. He was originally the leader of the Mon community at Pho Sam Ton who changed sides and joined the Burmese, not a Burmese general sent from Ava. |
Who was Suki?
In older textbooks Suki was usually taken to be a Burmese general. More recent studies point out that he was the leader of the Mon community in the Pho Sam Ton area, which had been a Mon community before the war. The word for "camp" (khai) was also used at the time for the villages of foreigners, such as the Portuguese "camp". The Mon here may have gone over to the Burmese as early as Alaungpaya's war of 1760, when the Burmese vanguard based itself at Pho Sam Ton.
In the war of the second fall, Ne Myo Thihapate set up his main camp here and conferred the rank on him. After the main army withdrew, Suki was given charge of the old capital, gathering people and property to send to Burma. But not every Mon group sided with the Burmese: the Mon of Sam Khok, Ban Pa Pla and Hua Ro were still fighting on the Ayutthaya side.
Two days at Pho Sam Ton
After taking Thonburi, Phraya Tak's fleet came up to Ayutthaya. The chronicles say that on the first day the camp on the east bank was taken; the next day the Chinese vanguard, the core of Phraya Tak's force, stormed the main camp, and Suki died in it. The camp was where Pho Sam Ton subdistrict meets Phut Lao subdistrict, in Bang Pahan district, about 7 kilometres north of the city island.
There are two dates for the taking of the camp. The calendar calculation published in Silpa Wattanatham gives about 25 to 27 October 1767. The date in common use, and the one used for commemorations, is 6 November, which the other approach takes to be the day he left the Pho Sam Ton camp to go down to Thonburi.
What the victory brought
Besides the military victory, Phraya Tak gained the members of the old dynasty who had been held there, the chance to cremate King Ekkathat's body, and the people who had fled into the forest, who came back to swell his strength. The Dutch letter fits this picture, saying that the people chose Phraya Tak as their leader, which was a way of explaining the new ruler's legitimacy to the outside world.
Where historians still disagree
- The date the Pho Sam Ton camp was taken: 25–27 October by the calendar calculation, or 6 November as commonly used.
- The role of the Mon: the picture of the Mon as wholly on the Burmese side does not match the evidence. Some groups joined the Burmese, and others fought on the Ayutthaya side.
See this event’s campaign route on the map
Frequently asked questions
What was Suki's ethnic background?
Modern studies point out that he was the leader of the Mon community at Pho Sam Ton, given his rank by the Burmese commander.
Where is the site of the Pho Sam Ton camp today?
Where Pho Sam Ton subdistrict meets Phut Lao subdistrict, in Bang Pahan district, about 7 kilometres north of the Ayutthaya city island.
Last updated 13 November 2026