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Naval Battle for Consolidation of the Nation by King Taksin the Great

About three months before the seige and almost complete destruction of Ayudhya in April 1767, King Taksin the Great, then Phraya Vachiraprakan, led a troop of around 500 men and broke through the Burmese line, heading towards Nakhon Nayok city. He overcame resistance in Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat consecutively. During this time, King Taksin accumulated his naval fleet with haste and constructed more than 100 ships in a short time.

In the eleventh lunar month of the year 1767, King Taksin the Great moved his naval fleet manned by approximately 5,000 men from Chanthaburi towards the Gulf. During the travel, the fleet stopped to suppress the unrest at Chon Buri then moved on to the mouth of the Chao Phraya River on the day of the full moon in the twelfth lunar month of the same year. King Taksin then took Thonburi by force, executing Chao Thong-in who was placed in command by the Burmese to look after the city. The fleet travelled on to Ayudhya and surrounded the Burmese Pho Sam Ton Camp, attacking it until the Burmese were driven away. Thus the naval fleet played an important role in regaining Thai independence.

In 1769, at the beginning of the reign of King Taksin the Great, the Governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat, one of the city states, was unwilling to submit to his rule. King Taksin led a naval fleet of 10,000 men with 10,000 paddlers, fully armed, passing through the mouth of the Samut Songkhram River . A great storm almost destroyed the fleet but they were able to get through and attacked Nakhon Si Thammarat. The governor fearfully escaped but was later captured. King Taksin the Great ordered the officials of the city to build 100 more war ships for future battles.

Later in the same year, Phra Uthai Racha, ruler of an independent state, asked for troops from Vietnam to attack Cambodia. Phra Rama Thipbodi (Nak Ong Non), ruler of Cambodia was unable to withstand the attack so he escaped to Thailand for protection. King Taksin sent an army to Cambodia but the troops turned back when it received false news that King Taksin was killed while leading the troops to Nakhon Si Thammarat.

It was not until 1771 that King Taksin ordered the army to capture back Cambodia for Phra Rama Thipbodi, assigning Chao Phraya Chakri to lead the main army. King Taksin himself led the naval fleet on the Golden Junk royal barge along with 200 warships and 100 sea-going vessels, manned by 15,000 troops. The navy attacked and captured coastal city states up to Bhudhaipet (in Cambodia ), finally coming to a halt at Phnom Penn Island . The army also took several city states on the way to Cambodia . Phra Uthai Racha could not withstand the attack and fled with his family to Vietnam . Phra Rama Thipbodi was then reinstated. King Taksin also ordered Chao Phraya Chakri and Chao Phraya Kosa to stay and maintain order in Cambodia while he himself returned to Thonburi. King Taksin's reign ended in 1782 with unrest in Thonburi before King Rama I came to the throne.

King Taksin's battle prowess and his knowledge of naval warfare placed him as the foremost naval strategist of the Thai Kingdom.