Phraya Phichai

Statue of Phraya Phichai in front of the provincial administration of Uttaradit

Phraya Phichai ( Thai : พระยา พิชัย , Phaya Phichai, also known by his nickname Phraya Phichai Dab Hak (Thai: พระยา พิชัย ดาบ หัก , "Count of Phichai with the broken sword"); * 1741 in Ban Huai Kha, Amphoe Phichai , Province Uttaradit ; † 1782 in Thonburi ) was a Siamese nobleman and follower of the later King Taksin (r. 1768 to 1782), with whom he was also executed during the time of the Ayutthaya Kingdom . He got his nickname after a battle in which he fought until his two swords were broken.

Life

Childhood and youth

Phraya Phichai was born in Ban Huai Kha, his parents are unknown; of his four siblings, three died before he was born. His birth name was Choi (Thai: จ้อย , "the little one").

Little Choi loved to practice Thai boxing and often left without his parents' knowledge to practice the art and to train with many teachers. One of his teachers called him "Thong Di" (Thai: ทอง ดี ).

In the service of the king

Largest sword in the world in Uttaradit (a replica of that of Phraya Phichai)

During a boxing match in Tak Province in 1761 , Thong Di met the then governor of Tak, Phraya Taksin, who was impressed by his excellent boxing style and brought him into his army and later made him his bodyguard.

After the complete destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese, Taksin moved to Prachinburi and Rayong with around 500 followers ; the now appointed commander Thong Di (Phraya Phichai) raised a new army, and Taksin declared war on the Burmese, with the aim of liberating the Ayutthaya empire from the Burmese. A short time later, Taksin was declared King of Siam.

Phraya Phichai used guerrilla tactics to free individual villages and smaller towns from the Burmese. During one of these numerous skirmishes it happened in 1773 that during a battle against troops of the Burmese general Bo Supia near Phichai in the province of Uttaradit ( northern Thailand ) he fought his opponents so intensely that he broke his sword and with his Troops nevertheless forced the enemy to retreat.

As a result of the demands of the fighting and the reorganization of the empire, Taksin gradually became so mentally confused that he even pretended to be the head of the Buddhist sangha and had monks executed who did not want to follow him. The nobles eventually deposed him and had him executed themselves. Many reports indicate that the loyal follower Pharaya Phichai asked to be executed with the king so that he could stay with him, as the law of the Siamese court required at the time.

plant

Phraya Phichai is considered a role model for the modern Thai army through his sacrifice for the king and the nation ("the people").

effect

A statue in honor of Phraya Phichai has stood in front of the provincial building in Uttaradit since 1969. A small museum is dedicated to him in Amphoe Phichai, south of the city of Uttaradit.

Many schools that teach Thai kickboxing are named Phichai after Phraya.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On the history of Phraya Phichai ( Memento of March 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (last accessed on April 8, 2012)

Web links

Commons : Phraya Phichai  - Collection of images, videos and audio files