It is difficult to determine the type of culture which existed in Thailand before the Christian era, since no written records or chronologies exist but archeological excavations in the area north of Nakorn Ratchasima indicate that there were people living here over 4000 years ago.
However, by the 6th century AD thriving agricultural communities were established from as far north as Lamphun to Pattani in Southern Thailand. Theravada Buddhism was flourishing, and probably entered the region around the 2nd or 3rd centuries BC when Indian missionaries were said to have been sent to a land called "Suvarnabhumi". (An area comprising Burma, Central Thailand and Cambodia).
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