King Naresuan the Great—Phitsanulok, Thailand. - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

Somdet Phra Naresuan Maharat (King Naresuan the Great), (1555-1605 CE) is one of the great Kings of Thailand. He is widely revered in the Kingdom due to his having freed the Siamese people from Burmese rule. The future King was born to the King of what is now the quiet, central Thai city of Phitsanulok. At that time Phitsanulok was am important city of the Siamese, Sukhothai Kingdom, which in turn was subordinate to Burma. As part of this political arrangement the young Naresuan and his brother were held in Burma as hostages for the good behaviour of his father, the King of Phitsanulok.

There is a legend that the young future King was lonely while in captivity, and befriended chickens (and the practice of cock fighting). This legend is made manifest, by an abundance of statues of chickens located at shrines and statues to the King.

After Naresuan returned to Phitsanulok and became King, he declared the Siamese people and kingdoms independent from Burma. An iconic image of the King is his pouring of water from a container, which symbolised his rejection of Burmese overlordship. This declaration required two decades or more of intermittent and complicated conflict to enforce. Naresuan also moved the capital of the Siamese state southwards to Ayutthaya, which was to remain the capital of the new Kingdom of Ayutthaya for the following three centuries.


Naresuan University is named in honour of the King and is found just south of the City of Phitsanulok, his birthplace. As you might expect there is a statue of the King in the university grounds, not too far from the main entrance. The King is depicted somewhat larger than life-sized. He is in a seated position, pouring water out onto the ground from a small flask. The King is in what I take to be military dress, a sword across his knees.

This is the iconic image of the King, symbolically rejecting Burmese domination of the people of Siam. This is the same depiction as is found in the 'King Naresuan Shrine' situated north of the City centre.

The statue is on a large dais, and before the dais is a large walkway. I am told that soldiers from the nearby Naresuan barracks visit the shrine regularly, and there were troops on these grounds during my visit. Overall, an impressive piece of sculpture.

information from wikipedia, various tourism sites, and various history books.

URL of the statue: Not listed

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