Lasting legacy

Aside from his military achievements, Naresuan proved to be highly skilled at the dangerous game of diplomacy, too. He had developed a favourable relationship with the Ming dynasty and China, the superpower of 16th-century Asia. However, China had found itself in the sights of the Japanese, whose navy conquered the Korean Peninsula in 1592. Eager to make a strategic show of loyalty, Naresuan sent an emissary to China in order to pledge the military support of his kingdom. He knew that the offer would likely be refused — which it was — but his actions assured China’s protection of lucrative Thai trade routes.

Naresuan was only around 50 years old when he died, potentially from disease during a campaign in the Shan States to Ayutthaya’s north. Despite his early death, his heroics on the battlefield cemented the Thai kingdom as the undisputed power in Southeast Asia for the next century. When his younger brother, Ekathotsarot, took the throne, he continued Naresuan’s important work, establishing trade relations with Goa, Japan and the Netherlands for the first time.

Every year on 18 January, the day of Naresuan’s victory at Nong Sarai, Thailand celebrates its National Armed Forces Day. Locals will occasionally lay flowers at the feet of Naresuan statues, showing their undying gratitude to him for winning independence. In 1990, a college in Phitsanulok was renamed Naresuan University to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his ascension to the throne. Clearly, the legend of Naresuan the Great is more than a great action-movie plot — it’s the story of a people’s first taste of freedom and power in the early modern age.