Sukhothai is the name of the capital of the Thai territory at the Yom river basin from 1232 to 1365. Even though its period of development was relatively brief, lasting only 200 years, the name “Sukhothai” still remains today as the origin of the Thai nation, For it was there Thais created a stable country of their own and lay the fundamentals of the administration, religion, culture, customs and traditions which have been passed down today.

Sangkhalokware, or Sukhothai crockery are glazed high –fires stoneware and porcelain have survived where more perishable wood, metal, textile and fiber articles have long disintegrated in the relentless damp and heat of the tropics.

Kilns have been found particularly in the northern, outer city wall, along the stream of the Chone and at Sri Satchanalai and on the banks of the Yom River.    Most of Sangkhalok kilns in Sukhothai were made of brick while some kilns in Si Satchanalai were slab kilns dug in the ground. From the excavation undertaken by the Fine Arts Department, the brick kilns were found in the hard soil, the lowermost layer of earth in Sukhothai.

Most of this wares was exported by sea and land in and through Southeast Asia  as to Indonesia, Philippines, Japan and China as some were found at ship wrecks along the coastal zone of the Thai Gulf and the Pacific Ocean. Sukhothai also traded with China through the traditional Chinese tributary system: the Thai king was content to send tribute to the Chinese emperor and be classified as a vassal, in return for permission to sell Thai goods and buy Chinese products. It is assumed that the trade of Sangkhalokware by sea might have passed through Ayuthaya, which had developed as a major commercial port following the Sukhothai period.