Ayutthaya Expands into Malay Peninsula

1409

The Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya extended its political influence southward along the Malay Peninsula, demanding tribute from the thriving port cities of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Pattani. Its control of overland trade routes linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea gave Ayutthaya commercial leverage over Southeast Asian maritime commerce that rivaled the rising Malacca Sultanate at the narrowest point of the strait.