THA MAI was once one of Siam's two main ports, located in Muang Chanthaboon. The other was Pattani, on the other side of the Gulf of Thailand. The town was upgraded in the reign of Rama V to Monthon Chanthaboon, with a few nearby towns placed under its control. Chanthaboon was where King Taksin the Great mobilised troops and led them on a triumphant march to free Ayutthaya, the former Siamese capital, from Burmese occupation in 1767.
Chanthaboon was not only a commercial port, but also a popular place for immigrants to settle, especially Chinese, who were fleeing political turmoil at home that culminated in the end of the Chinese monarchy in 1909.
Siam nearly lost Chanthaboon, along with nearby Trat, to French settlers who had occupied the town for 11 years, up to 1904. To regain the town, Siam paid two million francs and concede some adjacent land to the French.
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