Thonburi and her sister ship, Sri Ayudhya, were designed following the incorporation of the earlier Rattanakosindra-class gunboats into the Siamese Navy in the 1920s.

Several foreign firms from European countries offered a variety of designs, but in the end the Japanese company Kawasaki won the tender.

Thereafter, as the flagship of the Royal Thai Navy, Thonburi defended the seas of Thailand and continued to invite naval officers from other countries for exchanges.

[2] At the request of Thailand, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. of Kobe was contracted to take her off the reef, and she was successfully raised by Japanese salvage workers at the end of 1941.

Due to her advanced age, only the turret and bridge structure were later landed in the yard of the Naval Academy for preservation, and the rest was dismantled.