[4]: 195–196  Sukhothai existed as an independent polity until 1438 when it fell under the influence of the neighboring Ayutthaya after the death of Borommapan (Maha Thammaracha IV).

Sukhothai was originally a trade center in Lavo—itself under the suzerainty of the Khmer Empire from 946–1052—when Central Thai people led by Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao, a local leader, revolted and gained their independence.

Ram Khamhaeng also initiated relations with Yuan China, through which the kingdom developed the techniques to produce and export ceramics like sangkhalok ware.

[8]: 301 Chaliang, who established royal intermarriage with Tai's Chiang Saen in the 900s,[9]: 18  led by Srinaonamthum [th][10] expanded political influence to Sukhothai of Lavo[11]: 4  in 1175.

Bang Klang Hao ruled Sukhothai under the regnal name Si Inthrathit and established the Phra Ruang dynasty.

In the first era, Sukhothai strongly shared a connection with western Mon neighbor, Hanthawaddy Kingdom, in present-day lower Myanmar.

[3]: 3 [17] About some fifty kilometers north of Sukhodaya stood another sister town, Sri Sajanalaya, that would later become Si Satchanalai, an important center of Sukhothai politics alongside the capital.

[20] It was then shifted to Tai Yuan's Lan Na style in the early 14th century and steadily influenced by Mon and Sri Lanka through Theravada Buddhism since the reign of Ram Khamhaeng.

At the end of Ban Mueang's reign, he was succeeded by his brother Ram Khamhaeng the Great; both expanded Sukhothai beyond the borders established by their father.

Through the acquisition of Tambralinga, Ram Khamhaeng is said to have adopted Theravada Buddhism as the state religion of Sukhothai; the accuracy of these claims by traditional historians is disputed.

[3]: 3–4 To the north, Ram Khamhaeng placed Phrae and Muang Sua (present-day Luang Prabang, Laos), among other mandala city-states, under tribute.

[3]: 4 With regard to religion and culture, Ram Khamhaeng requested monks from Sri Thamnakorn to propagate Theravada Buddhism in Sukhothai.

Prince Ramesuan was presumably accompanied by Ayutthayan administrative staff and a military garrison, thus affirming the end of Sukhothai as an independent kingdom.

The mandalas would politically and culturally merge during the 15th and 16th centuries, and Sukhothai's warfare, administration, architecture, religious practice, and language influenced those of Ayutthaya.

In 1463, Borommatrailokkanat temporarily moved the monarch's residence to Song Khwae, presumably to be closer to the frontline, and the city was permanently renamed to Phitsanulok.

[25] In 1584, Maha Thammaracha and his son, the Upparat and future Naresuan the Great (Sanphet II), would free Ayutthaya from Burmese overlordship in the Burmese-Siamese War of 1584–1593.

After the Battle of the Sittaung River, Naresuan forcibly relocated people from the northern cities of Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Phichai, Sawankhalok, Kamphaeng Phet, Phichit, and Phra Bang closer to Ayutthaya.

Mongkut said that he found a "first stone inscription" in Sukhothai which told of heroic kings such as Ram Khamhaeng, the administrative system, and other developments in what was considered the "prosperous time" of the kingdom.

The story of Sukhothai was incorporated into Thailand's "national history" in the late 19th century by Mongkut as a historical work presented to the British diplomatic mission.

Chit Phumisak, a "revolutionary" scholar, saw the Sukhothai period as the beginning of the Thai people's liberation from their foreign ruler in Angkor.

[citation needed] During military rule beginning in the 1950s, Sukhothai was increasingly featured in the Thai national history curriculum.

Sukhothai's "father-son" model for Thai democracy in contrast to Angkorian tradition became one of freedom from the "foreign ideology" of Cambodian communism.