Maha Thammaracha I
Ruler of Sukhothai (1347-1368)
Maha Thammaracha I (Thai: มหาธรรมราชาที่ ๑, pronounced [mā.hǎː tʰām.mā.rāː.t͡ɕʰāː tʰîː nɯ̀ŋ]), born as Li Thai (Thai: ลิไทย, pronounced [líʔ.tʰāj]), was King of Sukhothai. He was the first Buddhist philosopher to write in the Thai language. He reigned from about 1347, and the end of the reign is given as 1368 or as 1374. Li Thai was the son of Loe Thai and the grandson of Ram Khamhaeng the Great.
Li Thai served as viceroy at Si Satchanalai and came to the throne at Sukhothai in 1347. He is known chiefly for his patronage of Theravada Buddhism. He wrote the Trai Phum Phra Ruang, brought a Lanka-trained monk from Martaban to head the Mango Grove monastery, took ordination himself, and commissioned bronze images and monastic building. Inscriptions of the reign also record campaigns, at Phrae and at Nan, Luang Prabang and the Pa Sak valley. In 1363 he moved his residence to Phitsanulok, where he stayed for the rest of his reign. The title Maha Thammaracha, by which he is known, was attached to that record of religious works.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q889077. VIAF identifies the subject as 33515699. The Library of Congress control number is n87810879. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1347, 1368, 1374 and 1363.
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This entry incorporates text from “Maha Thammaracha I” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.