Page 161 - A History of Siam

A BISTORT OF SIAM 153

King Naresuen arrived at Hanthawadi in October
to find that he had been hoodwinked. Nanda
1599 only
Bhureng was gone, practically a prisoner, to Taungu,
and Hanthawadi was a of ruins.
smouldering heap
Remonstrances addressed to the Prince of Taungu
only called forth evasive answers. King Naresuen,
therefore, carried away by indignation, rashly decided
to invade Taungu.
The Siamese army had been levied and equipped for
an to Hanthawadi. No trouble in had
expedition Pegu
been and the of the Princes of
expected, help Taungu
and Arakan had been counted As had
upon. things
turned valuable time had been wasted in
out, Pegu,
Hanthawadi was in ruins, and the expected allies had
proved false. Taungu lay a hundred and twenty miles
away from Hanthawadi, and was approached by a
difficult and mountainous road.
The invasion of Taungu was, therefore, undertaken
under the most unfavourable conditions. The Prince of
Arakan, it is true, again offered to help, but no reliance
would be on and his offer was refused. The
placed him,
Siamese army was not strong enough, unaided, to capture
All to take the storm
Taungu. attempts city by failed,
and at in was after the
length, May 1600, the siege raised,
Siamese had endured terrible sufferings from sickness
and starvation. King Naresuen returned to Siam with
the remnants of his army. This was his first failure.
Yet this unsuccessful invasion of Burma was not
utterly useless, for it was the indirect cause of the fall
of Nanda Bhureng and the disintegration of the
Burmese Empire.
On his return journey the King heard of further trouble
at Chiengmai. P'ya Ram Dejo, who had been installed
at more or less as Siamese Commissioner,
Chiengsen,