Ayutthaya, a Siamese kingdom that exists from 1351 to 1767, is friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese (Annamese), Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the city walls.

In the sixteenth century, it is described by foreign traders as one of the biggest and wealthiest cities in the East.

The court of King Narai (1656–1688) has strong links with that of King Louis XIV of France, whose ambassadors compare the city in size and wealth to Paris.Before Ayutthaya fall sto a Burmese invasion, its vassals include the Northern Shan states of present-day Myanmar, Lanna (Chiang Mai, Thailand), Yunnan & Shan Xi (China), Lan Xang (Laos), Champa (Vietnam), and some city-states in the Malay Peninsula.

According to foreign accounts, Ayutthaya was officially known as Siam, but many sources also say that the people of Ayutthaya called themselves Tai, and their kingdom Krung Tai or 'the Kingdom of the Tais'.