What If Ayutthaya Never Fell? Thailand Without Bangkok

April 1767: after a 14-month siege, Burmese armies burned Ayutthaya, a city some called the Venice of the East and the capital of Siam for 417 years. At that same moment, Burma was also fighting China. What if the walls had held a little longer? Using what really happened before and after 1767, we imagine a Thailand where Ayutthaya never fell: no Bangkok, the old chronicles still on their shelves, and a very different fight against the European empires. 0:00 April 1767: the fall 0:51 The Venice of the East 1:45 Why Ayutthaya fell 3:00 What really happened next 3:47 What if the walls held? 4:03 No Bangkok 4:29 The books and temples survive 5:10 A smaller Siam? 5:41 Burma, Britain and the Nine Armies War 6:08 Would Ayutthaya survive the empires? 6:57 The alternate map of today