page_title: U Thong District
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: U Thong District / History
caption_attribution_description: Statue of Phrajao U-Thong (founder of Ayutthaya) in Amphoe U-Thong, Suphanburi province, Thailand
context_page_description: U Thong District is the district in the western part of Suphan Buri Province, north of Bangkok.
context_section_description: Higham states, "U-Thong was occupied for many centuries prior to the development of the Dvaravati state.  Radiocarbon determinations from the sites of U-Thong and Chansen suggest that the transition into complex state societies in the Chao Phraya basin took place between about 300-600 AD."  A copper inscription from the mid-7th century states, "Sri Harshavarman, grandson of Ishanavarman, having expanded his sphere of glory, obtained the lion throne through regular succession," and mentions gifts to a linga.  The site includes a moat, 1,690 by 840 m, and the Pra Paton caitya.
  It also became the origin of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, as the first King of Ayutthaya, Ramathibodi, was prince of U Thong when the city was struck by an epidemic, prompting him to relocate east and found Ayutthaya.
  U Thong District was created with the name Chorakhe Sam Phan in 1905. In 1939 the district was renamed U Thong. In 1944, the government moved the centre of the district from Ban Chorakhe Sam Phan to the area of the ancient city.
caption: Statue of Phra Chao U-Thong (founder of Ayutthaya) in Amphoe U Thong, Suphan Buri Province.
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