Armstrong Whitworth in High Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne was awarded the contract and the first ship was laid down 1914 in Yard 872 while Hawthorn Leslie was subcontracted to build the engines and boilers.

These were fully enclosed armoured turrets at the fore and aft, a conning tower and a fire-control system (a 9 ft, 2.7 m rangefinder on the foremast).

This was ordered from the new Vickers-Armstrongs company, which was created by the merger of Armstrong Whitworth and rival Vickers Limited in the previous year.

The two gunboats were in active service during the Franco-Thai War and World War II and received additional anti-aircraft armament in the form of two single 40 mm (1.6 in) QF 2-pounder naval guns in the 1930s and two single 20 mm (0.8 in) Breda 20/65 mod.39 in the 1940s each, but neither Rattanakosindra nor Sukhothai saw combat.

Sukkhotai was briefly involved in the Manhattan Rebellion of 1951 where she threatened to open fire on Klai Kangwon Palace.