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In 2015, Thais will be focused on all things related to the number 777. No, it's not the number of canals in Bangkok, most of which were filled in years ago to make way for roads. It will mark the number of years of the Thai Kingdom.

 The Kingdom dates back to 1238, when the city of Sukhothai was liberated from the Khmer empire. In that year, two Thai chieftains, Pho Khun Pha Muang and Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao, declared their independence and established a Thai-ruled kingdom. Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao later became the first king of Sukhothai under the name Pho Khun Si Indrathit.

 To Staporn Kavitanon, head of the prime minister's economic advisory team, the declaration that led to the creation of the Sukhothai Kingdom is the Thai equivalent of the signing of Magna Carta, an English legal charter issued in 1215. Magna Carta was arguably the most significant early influence on the historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in the English-speaking world. Because of Pho Khun Si Indrathit's declaration, Tai-speaking people in Sukhothai established the beginnings of the Thai kingdom.

 To Staporn, the Thai Kingdom's 777th anniversary is well worth celebrating - and should be the basis of a tourism campaign. Having travelled the world as secretary-general of the Board of Investment, vice chairman of Bangkok Bank and a director of several companies, he believes Thailand has a right to boast about its history.

 "It's not just pure tourism. History is something that many other destinations don't have," he said.

 Despite assertions by some academics that Sukhothai, which literally means "Dawn of Happiness", was not the first Thai Kingdom, Thais have been taught otherwise for generations. Thais see the Kingdom, which collapsed in 1448, as the beginning of their history. The Sukhothai Kingdom was followed by the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351-1767), which was followed by the Thon Buri (1768-1782) and Rattanakosin (1782-1932) kingdoms, and of course the present Kingdom of Thailand.

 Yes, we should be proud of that. Indeed, Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa loves the idea, and has agreed to work on the campaign. Certainly, other economic ministers could use some help from the advisory team. For centuries, people have shown their passion on numbers, and this could be a reason why people love to celebrate when something goes on for a certain period of time.

And it seems Thailand would soon celebrate something with the focus on "777" numbers. It's not the number of canals in Bangkok, for most of them have been filled up for road construction. But it's the number of years that the Thai kingdom has weathered the time.

Yes, the period dates back to year 1238, when the city of Sukhothai was liberated from the Khmer empire. Then, two Thai chieftains, Pho Khun Pha Muang and Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao, declared their independence and established a Thai-ruled kingdom. Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao later became the first king of Sukhothai, calling himself Pho Khun Si Indrathit.

To Staporn Kavitanon, head of the prime minister's economic advisory team, their declaration is equivalent to Magna Carta, an English legal charter, originally issued in the year 1215. Magna Carta was arguably the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today in the English speaking world.

Because of Pho Khun Si Indrathit's declaration, Tai-speaking people in Sukhothai first established the beginning of the Thai kingdom.

To Staporn, it's worth celebrating when the Thai kingdom will celebrate the 777th anniversary. To the man, who has travelled the world as former secretary-general of the Board of Investment, vice chairman of Bangkok Bank and director of several companies, the history is something that Thailand can boast about.

"It's not just pure tourism. History is something that many other destinations don't have," he said.

Despite arguments from some academics that Sukhothai, which literally means "Dwan of Happiness", was not the first Thai kingdom, Thais have been taught otherwise for generations. While the kingdom collapsed in 1448, Thais took it as the beginning of the history which was followed by the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351-1767), Thon Buri Kingdom (1768-1782), Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782-1932), and the present's Kingdom of Thailand.

Yes, we should be proud of that. Indeed, Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa loves the idea and agrees to work on the campaign. It's good that someone out there is ready to give Chumpol some tips on how to further boost tourism industry. Certainly, the economic team would be there for a while to help other economic ministers.