Places of Interest - Thailand

"The Historical Park":

The Ayutthaya Historical Park in Ayutthaya includes the ancient Ayutthaya capital of the Ayutthaya Kingdom and has more than 400 temples. Ayutthaya was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991. Age-old temples (so-called "wat") and palaces are scattered around Ayutthaya. One of the most important is the Wat Phra Sri Sanphet. This royal temple, built in 1448 and restored twice, stood within the walls of the old Royal Palace. The temple is guarded by three chedis so called “guards”. Nothing is left of the royal palace itself unfortunately. South of the temple is the more modern Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopit. This complex houses one of the largest bronze Buddha statues of Thailand. Nearby, on the edge of Phra Ram Park, is the Wat Phra Ram temple, built in 1369 by King Ramesuen. In the park are also the ruin temples of Wat Phra Mahathat, dating from 1374. The Wat Ratchaburana, located north of the Wat Phra Mahathat, dates back to the 15th century. This is the temple where in the garden a Buddha view is totally covered by stumps of a tree. Also within walking distance are the National Museum Chao Sam Phraya and the Chandra Kasem Palace rebuilt in the 19th century. One of Ayutthaya's best preserved temples is the Wat Na Phra Meru, located on the north bank of the Lop Buri River. On the east bank of the Pasak is the Wat Phanan Choeng, with a 19m high Buddha statue, dating from the 14th century.

"The elephant-kraal"

In the golden times of "Ayuttaya" big amounts of living elephants were captured in the wild and domesticated for human use. Large groups of wild elephants were forced into a complex made of large, thick wooden poles, which were inserted at 45 degrees into the ground, where they could later be used as a beast of burden or war machine. This "kraal" is located about 4 km from the center of the city and gives a good impression of how this has gone into its work. The king had a special place on an elevation to keep an eye on things. The last elephants were held here in 1903. 

Other attractions:The "Bang Pa-In" palace is a summer palace located about 20 kilometers southwest of Ayutthaya.

The Kingdom of Ayutthaya was a historical Thai kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767. King Ramathibodi I tried to unite his kingdom and founded Ayutthaya as the capital in 1351. In 1360 he declared Theravada Buddhism as a state religion of Ayutthaya. Ramathibodi's code of law, supplemented by royal decrees, remained generally in force until well into the 19th century. In 1376 he took over the kingdom of Sukhothai. At the end of the 14th century Ayutthaya was regarded as the strongest power of Southeast Asia, but it lacked the manpower to control the region. In the last year of his life Ramathibodi had conquered Angkor during the first of many successful Thai attacks on the capital of the Khmer Empire. This policy was aimed at securing Siam's eastern border by preventing Vietnamese expansion into Khmer territory. The weakened Khmer sometimes let themselves be dominated by Ayutthaya, but never completely. Thai troops often had to leave to suppress revolts in Sukhothai or to campaign against Chiang Mai, where stiff resistance was offered against Ayutthaya's expansion. Eventually Ayutthaya subdued all the territory that once belonged to Sukhothai. Over the next four centuries the country grew to the nation of Siam, which roughly covered the territory of modern Thailand, with the exception of the kingdom of Lanna in northern Thailand.

Ayutthaya favored foreign traders, first Chinese, Indians, Japanese and Persians, later Portuguese, Spaniards, Dutch (the VOC), British and French, and allowed them to build offices outside the city walls. At its peak, Ayutthaya had more than one million inhabitants: the city was compared with Paris in terms of size and prosperity by the ambassadors of the French Sun King Louis XIV. With the fall and devastation of the city in 1767 by the Burmese, this kingdom came to an end. In 1511, Ayutthaya received a diplomatic mission from Portugal, which had conquered Malaya earlier that year. These were probably the first Europeans in the country. Five years later, Ayutthaya and Portugal signed a treaty that allowed the Portuguese to trade in the kingdom. A similar treaty in 1592 gave the Dutch a privileged position in the rice trade. In 1604, the VOC entered into relations with Thailand on behalf of the Netherlands. Foreigners were warmly welcomed at the court of King Narai (1657-1688), a cosmopolitan leader who nonetheless was suspicious of foreign influence. During his rule, trade ties were forged with Japan. Dutch and English companies established factories, and Thai diplomatic missions were sent to Paris and The Hague. By maintaining ties with various countries, the Thai court was able to play off the Dutch against the English and the French against the Dutch, in order to prevent one foreign power from gaining too much power. The arrival of English warships led to a bloodbath among Europeans. Phetracha (1688-1693) seized the throne, expelled the remaining foreigners and a period of 150 years began in which the Thais deliberately isolated themselves from contacts with the West. 

The "Golden Age" of Ayutthaya was in the second quarter of the 18th century, after a bloody period of dynastic struggle, a relatively peaceful time in which art, literature and study flourished. Ayutthaya continued to compete with Vietnam over Cambodia, but a larger threat came from Burma. In 1765, Siam was invaded by two Burmese armies that moved to Ayutthaya. The only resistance of importance took place at the town of Bang Rajan. After a siege of many months, Ayutthaya fell in 1767 and was completely destroyed, which meant the end of this proud kingdom. Before the end, the military commander Taksin and his troops had escaped the approaching demise. He would have resurrected Siam from his ashes, bigger and stronger than before. The country was crumbling and a new capital was being built to the south. The Burmese left the city and the city developed further as a provincial city.