Penang Island has traditionally been called Koh Maak (or “Number One Island”) by the Thais, not surprising given that Penang was at one time part of a Siamese vassal state together with Kedah which was also known as Saiburi. In a letter to the Government of India in Bengal in 1793 (seven years after the establishment of Penang as an East India Company settlement), Captain Francis Light described the main communities in Penang and noted the presence of 100 Burmese and Thais.