The Malay Kingdom of Pan-Pan

Pan-Pan Kingdom (3rd – 7th century) was a small independent kingdom, believed to have existed already since the 3rd century. It is now general belief among the scholars that the kingdom was situated on the Bandon Bight in the Gulf of Thailand, at the mouth of the Tapi River near the sea, in the area of modern Surat Thani City.

Excavations at Chaiya have produced some of the most impressive ancient architecture, statues and temples on the peninsula. Pan-Pan was quite active diplomatically, it sent at least eight and possibly as many as 12 missions to Liang, Sui and Tang dynasties from the early seventh centuries.

Chinese records state that the Hinduized ruler of the Pan-Pan kingdom sent accredited envoys and tributary, among other things a tooth of Lord Buddha, to the Chinese Emperor in the years 525, 530 and 537.

The Kingdom of Pan-Pan appears in the section the History of the Liang Dynasty which describes Funan’s conquest. A main source of wealth for Pan-Pan would have been its control of the important trans-peninsula route from Takuapa to Chaiya and it may have also controlled the Phang Nga route.

At the end of the 7th or beginning of the 8th century, the small kingdom also came under the influence of the Srivijaya Empire.
The Malay Kingdom of Pan-Pan