The concept was first popularized in the 1930s as part of the Thai nationalist ideology promoted by the government of Plaek Phibunsongkhram. The idea was propagated through sets of maps, titled the Historical Atlas of Thailand and Map of the History of Thailand's Boundary, that claimed to depict the historical extent of the boundaries of Thailand's predecessor states and the territories it subsequently lost. The maps have been widely disseminated, especially through their inclusion in Thongbai Taengnoi's student atlas, a standard textbook used in Thai schools since 1963.
