Maritime Trade from the Fourteenth to the Seventeenth Century

The underwater archaeological sites in the Gulf of Siam have revealed a wealth of ships and artefacts, all related to the intense trading activities that went on between China and the Near East and Europe, passing though modern Thailand. The peninsula formed a shortcut for trading vessels, some of whom were importing ceramics, silks and satin from China to the west, and others who were carrying timber products, leather and lead to other Southern Asian countries.