In the eighteenth century, the port city of Hà Tiên, ruled by the Cantonese Mạc Thiên Tứ, arose to become the economic center of the Gulf of Siam.

[16] In 1771, Taksin resumed his campaigns to invade Cambodia and Hà Tiên in order to find the Ayutthayan princes and to put the pro-Siamese Ang Non on the Cambodian throne.

The Nguyen Lord Nguyễn Phúc Thuần organized the Vietnamese counter-offensives[14] in order to restore Mạc Thiên Tứ and Ang Ton to their former positions.

The Vietnamese commander Nguyễn Cửu Đàm led the armies to seize control of Phnom Penh and Cambodia in July 1772,[14] prompting Ang Non to move to Kampot.

In Chiang Mai, Thado Mindin faced opposition from Phaya Chaban Boonma,[18][19] the native Lanna noble who led the resistance against Burmese domination.

[12] Maha Thiha Thura, who had taken commanding position in Martaban, sent his vanguard force under Satpagyon Bo to invade Western Siam through the Three Pagodas Pass in February 1775.

[12] However, Maha Thiha Thura took this opportunity to personally lead the Burmese armies of 35,000 men through the Mae Lamao Pass to invade Hua Mueang Nuea or Northern Siam[12] in October.

[12] Maha Thiha Thura was recalled,[21] decided to abruptly abandon the campaign in Siam and quickly return to Burma in order to support his son-in-law Singu Min to the Burmese throne.

Lao inhabitants of Vientiane, including members of royalty Nanthasen and the future king Anouvong, were deported to settle in Thonburi and various places in Central Siam.

[29] Taksin's ruling style differed from traditional Ayutthayan mystic kingship in the aspect that it was based on personal charisma and merits[10] rather than exquisite grandeur.

[10] Also in 1780, Taksin ordered massacre of some fifty Vietnamese people including Mạc Thiên Tứ and Nguyễn Phúc Xuân, who had earlier taken political refuge in Thonburi, for their alleged sedition.

He burnt a court lady alive, suspecting that she had stolen from his treasury and falsely punished around three hundred people, for their alleged smuggling of rice and salt, at the instigation of two corrupted officials.

[10] Chaophraya Chakri in Cambodia, informed about the incidents, assigned his nephew Phra Suriya Aphai to lead armies from Nakhon Ratchasima[10] to pacify Thonburi.

In the early years of Thonburi, Chaophraya Chakri Mud the Muslim of Persian descent hold the position of Samuha Nayok until his death in 1774.

In the Northern cities, centered around Sukhothai and Phitsanulok, Taksin installed early supporters of his who had distinguished themselves in battle, many of whom were allowed to establish their own local dynasties afterwards, but elsewhere, several noble families had kept their titles and positions within the new kingdom (Nakhon Si Thammarat, Lan Na), (the ruler of Nakhon Si Thammarat that Taksin defeated during the civil war was reinstated as its ruler) whose personal connections made them a formidable force within the Thonburi court.

Taksin, similar to Naresuan, personally led armies into battle and often revealed himself to the common folk by partaking in public activities and traditional festivities, thereby abandoning the shroud of mysticism as adopted by many Ayutthaya monarchs.

However, Burma pushed on an intensive campaign to reclaim lost Lanna territories, resulting in the abandonment of Chiang Mai in 1777 and Nan in 1775 due to Burmese threats.

Chen Lian was appointed as the governor of Hà Tiên in 1771 and was succeeded as Phrakhlang by another Chinese Phraya Phichai Aisawan Yang Jinzong[9] (楊進宗).

In 1773, King Taksin introduced the Sak Lek Mai Mu or Conscription Tattooing, which had not been widely practiced before, to put stringent control over manpower.

Able-bodied male Phrai commoners of eligible age were drafted and marked onto their wrists with small tattoos[53] denoting their responsible departments – a form of universal conscription.

Taksin ordered his officials to search for remaining learned monks of knowledge to give them new robes and honor,[58] inviting them to stay in Thonburi.

Upholding Buddhism had been considered royal duties but Taksin went beyond being Buddhist patron by taking the role of teacher and leader of the Sangha[10] and personally practising the Kammaṭṭhāna.

Father Jacques Corre, a French priest, led the community of 400-500[33] Portuguese Christian survivors from Ayutthaya to resettle in the Kudi Chin district on the west bank of Chao Phraya.

King Taksin was even more enraged and ordered the imprisonment of Bishop Le Bon and two other French priests, namely Arnaud-Antoine Garnault and Joseph-Louis Coudé, in September 1775.

In September 1767, Li Shiyao (李侍堯), the viceroy of Liangguang, dispatched Xu Quan (許全) to either Hà Tiên or Chanthaburi to investigate the situation in Siam after the Fall of Ayutthaya.

As China and Burma had been engaging in the Sino–Burmese War, in August 1769, Li Shiyao sent a commander Cai Han (蔡漢) to bring orders to Mạc Thiên Tứ, instructing the ruler of Hà Tiên to capture the Burmese.

[15] The Qing court made an exception to allow Thonburi to purchase military materials from China,[5] which were usually prohibited from export, to fight against the Burmese.

As the tides turned in his favor, Taksin dispatched a mission to Yang Jingsu (楊景素) the new viceroy of Liangguang in July 1777,[5] expressing that he wished to offer the traditional tributes to the Chinese Emperor in full protocol.

However, Taksin showed little interest in this huge progress for he had already secured his power as the ruler of Siam and no longer needed the Chinese influence to consolidate his position.

In 1776, Francis Light the British merchant, in his private venture, procured 1,400 flintlocks[68] from the Danish at Tranquebar and presented them to King Taksin along with other goods as gifts.