The study of the Prai system using Evidence from the late Ayutthaya Period

Abstract

This article attempts to study the Prai system from sources in late Ayutthaya period. Previous studies in the past used to explain the Prai system of the late Ayutthaya period with a system that was later improved in Rattanakosin period, and often over looked the evidence during the late Ayutthaya period. Moreover, most of researchers studied the Prai system from a political point of view, which showed the social structure in Ayutthaya as motioless since it was believed that the Prai system was fixed. Therefore, this article intends to study Ayutthaya's Prai system based on contemporary evidence. The study shows that the Prai system of Ayutthaya was flexible, and, for this reason, new groups of people were formed and the legal process was organized to support their existence.