Short-lived Siamese kingdom founded by the general Taksin after the Burmese sack of Ayutthaya in 1767; rapidly reunified Siam and extended Siamese hegemony over Lan Na, the Lao kingdoms, and Cambodia before Taksin's overthrow.
Ended in 1782 when Taksin was deposed (and later executed) by his own military commander Chao Phraya Chakri, who founded the Rattanakosin Kingdom (present Chakri dynasty) with its capital across the river at Bangkok.
Standard scholarly single-volume history of Thailand covering the Thonburi period's founding and fall in detail.