A Drop of Thai History

The history of Thailand consists of two large pieces: the current Bangkok era with the country led by the Chakri dynasty, and everything that was before that. And "before that" means 400-year period when Ayutthaya was the capital and the whole country was called Ayutthaya Kingdom. To the 18th century, Ayutthaya became one of the largest cities in the world with almost one million residents as some sources claim.

The kingdom pursued an active expansionist policy, simultaneously being in a permanent struggle against its main competitor, Burma (aka Myanmar). One of the Burmese invasions even ended with a duel on elephants in which Thai king Naresuan slew a heir of the Burmese throne. However, in 1767, Thais weren't that lucky. Burmese army took over Ayutthaya and turned it to ruins.

Today's Ayutthaya is a 50-thousand-people city grown around these ruins. It is also a popular tourist destination best suited to those travelers who would like to explore the Thai history and culture.

What to Visit

A 2-hour trip on a morning train from Bangkok, and you are at the Ayutthaya railway station.

Rent a bicycle (60 baht/1.8$) or a motorbike (8$) in the nearest alley (on Google maps) and start the adventure in the ancient capital of Thailand.

Do you really need a motorbike in Ayutthaya? I am answering with confidence - no, a bicycle is enough.

There is a huge historic park on the river island.

Ayuthaya on Google.Maps. Look at this map from the point of fortification, what an amazing place to construct a city!

You can wander from a location to a location navigating with the help of Google.Maps. But I recommend to still have a short list of must-visits. In my opinion, there are three places you mustn't miss in Ayutthaya:

• Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon (map), a functioning temple founded in the XIV century
• Wat Maha That (map), the main ruins with the iconic Buddha head entwined by tree roots
• Wat Chaiwatthanaram (map), an impressive architectural complex, ruins

There are many other locations with entry fees and without. Research, choose, enjoy the trip.

And! I don't recommend to visit Ayothaya Floating Market - it's just another market, nothing special, but it'll steal too much precious time of yours.

It's all Grungy

It wasn't my first time in Ayutthaya so I decided to just follow my heart this time without ticking a travel list.

Of course, I wanted to say hello to Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, old but functioning temple. When I am in Ayutthaya (from time to time since 2014), I always visit this place.

There is a wonderful atmosphere of antiquity and spirituality there... on weekdays... On weekends, as it turned out, there are a lot of people - too much tourist hustle to my taste.

I found an announcement there saying that the entrance for foreigners is paid, 20 baht. It was new to me. I overpaid in Thailand many times just because I am a foreigner, so I was in no hurry to part with money, and just kept strolling. Nobody stopped me, and every Buddha was smiling at me.

Temples in Bangkok are usually so smoothly restored that you can't experience the feeling of antiquity there as well as of sublime and spirituality. Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon is different, it is all grungy, and I love it.

They Wanted to Turn the Page?

After Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, I headed to the island, home of most of the ruins.

Wat Maha That was crowded as always. And pretty as always.

40 baht as an entrance fee.

The head of Buddha is a symbol of Ayutthaya and the historical park. It's not only beautiful combination of art and nature but a metaphor too. What kind of metaphor, it's your own spiritual task to discover this. 🙂

These brick towers are called prangs... As you see, many of them weren't actually destroyed to the ground by the Burmese raiders. I suspect that there were not only practical and symbolical reasons to leave the looted capital abandoned. The new dynasty that chose Bangkok as the center of Siam didn't want to truly recover the old capital since this could question their power over the country.

The new royal family wanted to turn the page to become a new chapter in history of Thailand.

Just a guess.

Beauty of Decay

I do not know how to explain the existence of the beauty of decay. There is solemnity in it, there is sadness in it.

And this beauty definitely teaches something, not what can be read and remembered, but what needs to be experienced in order to absorb it into the blood and into the soul (or into its absence).

And that's another Buddhist lesson you can get in Ayutthaya.

Elephants!

Instead of setting out to Wat Chaiwatthanaram, my third favorite place in Ayutthaya, I chose to focus on taking images of elephants. It wasn't difficult to find them: I visited Ayutthaya for the first time in 2014, and, that time, they already used to walk on Naresuan Road (on Google maps).

Nothing has changed since then, the same garments on mahouts and elephants, the same red umbrellas.

And why to change? Don't they look perfect?

More stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map.

I took the images on August 1, 2023 with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on a full frame Nikon D750 in Bangkok, Thailand.