Bang Rajan (บางระจัน)

Thai. Name of a camp in Singburi where in 1767, at the end of the Ayutthaya Period, a handful  of heroic warriors (fig.) reportedly offered resistance for five months against a superior force of Burmese troops led by General Surin Chokhong (fig.) before being defeated, thus endorsing the Thai proverb: ‘one is unable to extinguish a fire with little water’. The events that happened there have become a Thai classic, used as an example to later generations to show the courage of the Thai people and bare lasting witness to a struggle which was paid for with blood, that is ‘blood for soil’, words still used today in the national Anthem. However, the historicity of this popular narrative is much in doubt and most scholars now agree that it is likely a fabrication based on historical events, some that in part took place elsewhere, mixed with local events and myths. The popular version, which has been made into a movie, features some 400 warriors led by eleven heroic leaders (fig.), namely Nai Thaen (fig.), Nai Choht (fig.), Nai In (fig.), Nai Meuang (fig.), Nai Thong Kaew (fig.), Nai Dok (fig.), Khun San (fig.), Nai Chan Nuad Khiao (fig.), Nai Thong Hmen (fig.), Nai Thong Saeng Yai (fig.), and Phan Reuang (fig.). In Singburi, there is a memorial park with a large bronze statue and a museum dedicated to the heroes of Bang Rajan. Also Ban Rajan and also transliterated Bang Rachan. See also TRAVEL PICTURES (1) and (2), POSTAGE STAMPS (1) and (2), and WATCH VIDEO. 回