After the Mon Rebellion of 1774 and the successful Siamese capture of Burmese-held Chiang Mai in 1775, King Hsinbyushin assigned Maha Thiha Thura the general of Sino-Burmese War to conduct a large-scale invasion of Northern Siam in late 1775 in order to curb the rising Siamese power under King Taksin of Thonburi. As the Burmese forces outnumbered the Siamese, the three-month siege of Phitsanulok was the main battle of the war. Defenders of Phitsanulok, led by Chaophraya Chakri and Chaophraya Surasi, resisted the Burmese. The war reached stalemate until Maha Thiha Thura decided to disrupt the Siamese supply line, leading to the Fall of Phitsanulok in March 1776. The Burmese gained upper hand but the untimely demise of King Hsinbyushin ruined the Burmese operations as the new Burmese king ordered the withdrawal of all troops back to Ava. The premature exit of Maha Thiha Thura from war in 1776 left the remaining Burmese troops in Siam to retreat in disarray. King Taksin then took this opportunity to send his generals to harass the retreating Burmese. The Burmese forces had completely left Siam by September 1776 and the war was over.

The Maha Thiha Thira's Invasion of Siam in 1775–1776 was the largest Burmese-Siamese war in the Thonburi Period. The war (and subsequent wars) entirely wrecked and depopulated large sections of Siam for decades to come, some regions would not be entirely repopulated until the late 19th century.^[55]