The entrance to The Nine Army Battle Historical Park in Kanchanaburi leads to a remarkable compound housing a memorial museum and a monument dedicated to Chao Maha Surasinghanat (fig.). As the younger brother of King Rama I and the Uparacha or Front Palace, Chao Maha Surasinghanat, also known as Boonma, played a pivotal role in the military campaigns against the Burmese King Bodawpaya, who in 1785 launched a four-pronged invasion of Siam, in order to expand his dominions into the lands of the former Ayutthaya Kingdom. When the Burmese launched a major attack on Siam, he took up position in Kanchanaburi and successfully blocked the Three Pagoda Pass (fig.), the key Burmese invasion route.