Claim: Ayutthaya was friendly towards French people.

The Kingdom of Ayutthaya -LRB- -LSB- ɑːˈjuːtəjə -RSB- อยุธยา , -LSB- ʔajúttʰajaː -RSB- ; also spelled Ayudhya or Ayodhaya -RRB- was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767 . Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders , including the Chinese , Vietnamese , Indians , Japanese and Persians , and later the Portuguese , Spaniards , Dutch , English and French , permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the capital , also called Ayutthaya .   In the sixteenth century , it was described by foreign traders as one of the biggest and wealthiest cities in the East . The court of King Narai -LRB- 1656 -- 88 -RRB- had strong links with that of King Louis XIV of France , whose ambassadors compared the city in size and wealth to Paris .   By 1550 , the kingdom 's vassals included some city-states in the Malay Peninsula , Sukhothai , Lan Na and parts of Burma and Cambodia . This part of the Kingdom 's history is sometimes referred to as ` The Ayutthayan Empire . '   In foreign accounts , Ayutthaya was called Siam , but many sources say the people of Ayutthaya called themselves Tai , and their kingdom Krung Tai `` The Tai country '' . It was also referred to as Iudea in a painting that was requested by the Dutch East India Company