This memorial in Singburi commemorates the heroes of Bang Rajan (Bang Rachan),
also referred to as Ban Rajan (Ban Rachan), a local camp or fortress where in
1767, at the end of the Ayutthaya Period, a handful of heroic warriors
reportedly offered resistance for five months against a superior force of
Burmese troops led by General Surin Chokhong 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, which are eternalized in the monument at the memorial
park.
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