King Ramkhamhaeng the Great was the 3rd ruler of the Phra-ruang Dynasty who reigned over the Sukhothai Kingdom during the 14th century. His most important work was the invention of the prototype of the Thai alphabet, or the so-called »Lai Sue Thai«. The script influenced a number of ancient scripts in later centuries, including the Thai Sukhothai, Fakkham, Thai Noi and Thai Ayutthaya scripts, of which the latter is the origin of modern Thai script. Before the reign of Ramkhamhaeng, Old Khmer script was commonly used in most parts of Thailand. When analysed palaeographically, the structure and forms of Old Khmer and King Ramkhamhaeng alphabets are relative and comparable.

It can be said that King Ramkhamhaeng invented his script by adapting forms of Old Khmer script and changing rules of form. Where did he get the inspiration to create the rules for inventing the prototype of the Thai alphabet from the Old Khmer script? And how has his script provided inspiration for Sukhothai people today to revitalise his script to symbolically express the prosperity of the Sukhothai civilisation?