Since the Bangkok Post first rolled off the presses in 1946, Thailand has undergone dramatic changes and faced many momentous events. Here we chart some of the milestones of the last 72 years.
Bangkok Post launches.
Nation mourns the death of King Ananda Mahidol (June 9). His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej returns to Europe (Aug 19).
Pridi Banomyong, accused of plotting to overthrow the monarchy, manages to escape.
The King is injured in a car accident in Switzerland.
Siam is officially renamed Thailand.
The King marries MR Sirikit Kitiyakara and officially ascends throne (May 5, 1950).
A song composed by the King, ‘Sai Fon’ (Falling Rain), is used to advertise Coca-Cola.
First television broadcast is hailed as a great success.
US Vice President Richard Nixon meets PM Plaek Phibulsonggram to reinforce ties.
Parliament passes a law paving the way for the Social Security Fund.
Thailand’s first TV channel, H81-TV, begins broadcasting. Chamnong Rangsikul, the channel’s founder, is known as the father of Thailand’s television.
PM Plaek Phibulsonggram announces a ban on American film and theatre production ‘The King and I’ in Thailand.
Lt Gen Thanom Kittikachorn is appointed prime minister.
Thai-Cambodian relations suspended over the Preah Vihear temple dispute.
PM Sarit Thanarat bans opium smoking in the country.
Pone Kingpetch wins the world flyweight boxing title.
Thailand is retained as name of country rather than Siam, after a consideration of a change.
The International Court awards Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia, a ruling that shocks Thailand.
Tourist arrivals soar by 65% as tourism becomes Thailand's seventh-biggest earner.
Three of the ‘Fab Four’ Beatles are mobbed at Don Mueang airport during a short stopover.
Eighteen-year-old Apasra 'Pook' Hongsakula wins Miss Universe.
The first farmers' bank, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, opens
Millionaire American silk entrepreneur Jim Thompson vanishes in the jungles of Malaysia.
Bangkok's last nine trams are removed from their tracks as they are too expensive and block vehicle traffic.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong arrives in Thailand for a four-day visit.
Tropical storm Ruth wrecks 25 provinces, killing more than 100 people.
The country's first open university, Ramkhamhaeng University, is launched.
October uprising: Up to 400,000 anti-government protesters rally on the streets to denounce the Thanom regime. Government attempts to disperse demonstrators turn into chaos, killing at least 70 students and injuring more than 800. The King urges an end to the hostilities.
The interior minister grants citizenship to hilltribe people.
Dozens of students are slaughtered at Thammasat University by police, soldiers and mobs of right-wing extremists.
The 8th Asian Games held in Bangkok are a success, drawing more than 4,000 athletes from 25 countries.
The international oil crisis hits Thailand as supplies of petrol, benzene and cooking gas dwindle.
Army chief Prem Tinsulanonda sworn in as prime minister, replacing Kriangsak Chomanand.
100 commandos storm a hijacked Garuda jet at Don Mueang airport, freeing 54 passengers on board.
Bangkok bicentennial: Thailand celebrates the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Chakri dynasty and Bangkok as the national capital.
Pope John Paul II makes Archbishop Michael Michai Kitbunchu the first Thai cardinal.
The Oriental is voted the best hotel in the world.
Independent candidate Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang wins a landslide victory in the Bangkok governor election.
Snooker player James Wattana, 16,beats three-times world champion Steve Davis.
About 85,000 runners help inaugurate Rama IX Bridge, joining a Royal Marathon to mark the King's 60th birthday
Eastern Seaboard Development Plan commences, covering an area of 1.080 rai at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.
Nineteen-year-old Porntip Narkhirunkanok wins Miss Universe 1988 in Taiwan.
Typhoon Gay cuts a swathe
of destruction, killing more
than 500 people and leaving
160,000 homeless
Devoted conservationist Seub Nakhasathien takes his own life.
Anand Panyarachun, a former ambassador and head of the Federation of Thai Industries, becomes Thailand's 18th prime minister.
Black May: Days of bloody confrontation are sparked when the government, led by 1991 coup leader Suchinda Kraprayoon, orders soldiers to fire on a peaceful gathering of protesters, killing dozens of people and injuring more than 100. Opposition leader Chamlong Srimuang initiates a hunger strike to demand the resignation of PM Suchinda.
The cabinet approves an Interior Ministry amendment bill giving female workers the right to 90 days of maternity leave with full pay.
The Friendship Bridge, crossing the Mekong River between Laos and Thailand, opens.
Thailand mourns the deaths of two of its most beloved personalities: HRH Princess Sri Nagarindra the Princess Mother (July 18) and statesman MR Kukrit Pramoj (Oct 9).
Boxer Somluck Kamsing earns the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal by defeating the world champion.
Thailand's financial crisis begins. The collapse of Finance One, the country's largest finance firm, sends major shockwaves through the sector. Nervous depositors withdraw more than 21 billion baht from financial institutions. A total of 58 finance companies are suspended by the Bank of Thailand. Jobless rate reaches 8.8%. The Thai stock market falls 75%. The Chavalit Yongchaiyudh government floats the baht, leading to a steep fall to 57 baht against the US dollar. PM Chavalit resigns.
Telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra forms a new political party, Thai Rak Thai.
Bangkok enters a new transportation era with the first elevated train system, the BTS skytrain.
Fights erupt at Pak Moon Dam and its electricity generators with protesters wanting to open its spillways to let fish swim upstream to spawn.
Thaksin Shinawatra becomes PM after Thai Rak Thai wins national elections.
The Constitutional Court rules 8-7 that PM Thaksin did not conceal his wealth after he shued billions of baht worth of shares in his corporate empire into accounts held by his servants and relatives.
Tongdaeng, the King's favourite pet dog, becomes a national sensation. The first print run, 100,000 copies of The Story of Tongdaeng, penned by the King, sells out within hours of its release.
As many as 8,000 are killed in deadly tsunami waves along the southwest Andaman coast. More than one-third of the bodies, swept out to sea, were never found.
Thai Rak Thai wins by a landslide in the general election, claiming 350 seats.
Media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul leads anti-Thaksin demonstrations accusing the Thaksin government of corruption.
The Thaksin government is ousted in a bloodless coup after months of political tension and massive street protests.
Suvarnabhumi International Airport finally opens.
Anti-Thaksin government demonstrators shut down Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, bringing air travel to a halt, Thaksin flees to London on Aug 11.
Thousands of red-shirt supporters storm the Asean Summit in Pattaya, causing it to be abandoned.
Political tension rises and divisions among yellow-shirt and red-shirt supporters reach a critical point, leading to the crackdown at Ratchaprasong intersection and other areas, resulting in 92 deaths and 1,378 injured. The Abhisit Vejjajiva government declares a state of emergency.
Red-shirt supporters protest in streets and burn shopping malls in the Ratchaprasong area. The incident leads to deaths and injuries.
The Pheu Thai Party wins a national election and Yingluck Shinawatra becomes the country’s first female PM.
The King takes a road trip to Thung Makam Yong in Ayutthaya as hundreds of subjects await to greet him. It is his first o cial public appearance in years.
A sea change in national broadcasting, from analogue to digitalisation, begins with 50.8 billion baht worth of auctions for 24 digital TV operating licences, the priciest auctions ever.
Former deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban announces the Bangkok Shutdown campaign, occupying major areas in the city.
Army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha stages a bloodless coup, taking over power from the Yingluck government.
A bomb explodes at the Erawan shrine in Ratchaprasong, claiming 20 lives and injuring about 130. Tourism industry plunges by 20%.
Ratchanok 'May' Intanon is crowned the world’s No.1 women's singles player after sealing three successive Superseries titles in as many weeks.
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn officially endorses the promulgation of the constitution, the country’s 20th under 86 years of constitutional monarchy.
The Royal Cremation
Ceremony is held for His
Majesty the late King Bhumibol
Adulyadej at Sanam Luang.
A group of 12 footballers and their coach from the Wild Boars team have gone missing in the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district. Efforts by international teams of cave divers, explorers and military professionals to rescue the missing 13 after they were located by British cave divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen has inspired the world.
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