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- Ayutthaya Historical Park is the ruins of the former capital of the Kingdom of Siam. It is the site of mass murder, rape and enslavement of Siamese people and destruction of the Ayutthaya city, its art and buildings by the Burmese in 1767. This destruction reshaped Thailand and the Thai nation as we know them today.
- Ayutthaya Historical Park is the most important tourist site for Thailand tourism outside Bangkok in Central Thailand. Ayutthaya is a one hour drive north from Bangkok. Also close for tourism are the ancient city of Lop buri and the Summer Palace.
- Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 by King Ramathibodi [ U Thong ] and
remained the capital of The Kingdom of Siam for 417 years until it was
destroyed by the Burmese invaders in 1767.
Ayutthaya is important as it was the centre of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
for 417 years, the creative centre for the Ayutthaya style of art, the defining kingdom in Southeast asia and
the start for the subsequent Bangkok Empire which was later founded by
the survivors of the Burmese sacking.
The Major Sites to see at Ayutthaya are:
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Wat Phra Si Sanphet [ 1448 ]
- Wat Phra Ram [ 1369 ]
- Wat Maha That [ 1374 ]
- Wat Ratchaburana [ 1424 ]
- Wat Chai Wattanaram [ 1630 ]
- Wat Yai Chaimongkol [ 1357 ]
- Wat Phanan Choeng [ 1324 ]
- the Phet Fortress [ 1350 ] [ Pom Phet ] and
- the ruins of the Royal Palace [ 1350 ]
- The Elephant Kraal
- Chedi Si Suriyothai
- Wat Ayothaya
- Wat Suwan Dararam
- Chao Sam Phraya National Museum
- Chan Kasem National Museum
- Bang Pa-in Palace [ Summer Palace ]
- Wat Lokayassutha
- Wat Thammikarat
- Wat Phuttai Sawan
- Wat Phu Khao Thong
- Ayutthaya Mahaprasart
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When taking tours be careful to insist on giving enough time to see
these important sites and not be diverted with time wasting diversions. To see everything requires several days. If you seek to see it all in one day a private tour or taxi is needed with an early start.
- Ayutthaya was an international trading center in Southeast Asia and a visit to the ruins, temples and monuments today will be greatly enhanced by prior reading about the characters who shaped Ayutthaya, their belief systems and fate in history. This is a very exotic period in Thai history when Kings and their subjects believed Kings were gods, when the Catholic Church from France sought to change Siamese Buddhist minds, when Portuguese traders controlled trade and Portuguese mercenaries influenced war selling their modern methods of warfare and when Asian feudal Kings played war between themselves and with other men's lives as a game of egos and adventure.
- To understand Ayutthaya one needs to understand the belief systems, the role of personalities including foreigners, the role of rivers and the canal system, the role of elephants and guns in warfare, the places of cultural heritage, the strengths and weaknesses of Kings and other royal and noble members in Siam society and the role of foreign communities from Japan, the muslim world, Portugal, France, Holland and Britain. Well informed with a sense of history, events and people a trip to Ayutthaya is well worth while.
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| Buddha Image at Wat Maha That Ayutthaya |
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