Ayutthaya Thailand

The once thriving metropolis of Ayutthaya is located approximately 86 km north of Bangkok. It replaced Sukhothai as the capital of the Thai Kingdom in 1350 until its destruction by the Burmese forces, under the rule of King Alaungpaya, in 1767. It was built at the confluence of the rivers Chao Phraya, Pa Sak and Lopburi, as an island-city surrounded by a circular canal joining the rivers.

Long before King Ramathibodi (Uthong) ‘founded’ the city, an ‘indianised’ ancient community already existed. The name comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Ayodhya’ meaning ‘undefeatable’, Rama’s legendary kingdom in India. In fact the huge Buddha image at Wat Phananchoeng was cast some twenty odd years before King Ramathibodi moved his residence to the city.

The Ayutthaya period was a great era for international trade for the kingdom. The port of Ayutthaya was an international market place where local products and wares and merchandise from Malay, Indonesia and Persia were bought and exchanged. The Chinese and Arabs were the predominant traders, many of whom later settled in the area along with Persians and Japanese. Dealing in merchandise from all over Asia the thriving markets of Ayutthaya soon attracted the attention of European traders. The Portuguese were the first to arrive in 1511 and concluded a treaty to trade by supplying the Thai’s with guns and ammunition. The Spanish followed in the late 16th century and in the early 17th century the Dutch and British East India trading companies established themselves. The Dutch in fact playing a vital role in Thai international trading between 1605 and 1765.

However it was with the arrival of the French that led to distrust against the foreign traders and to a diminishing role in international trade for almost 150 years. During this time of almost isolation from the international trading scene Ayutthaya enjoyed its Golden Age, where the arts and literature began to flourish and the people enjoyed an unusually peaceful time.

The peaceful times were not to last long though. In 1767 the Burmese troops after 14 months of laying seige, finally captured Ayutthaya. On their withdrawal from the city the Burmese looted, burnt and destroyed the architectural and artistict splendours of over 400 years of Thai civilisation. Over one million of its people were either killed, took to Burma as slaves or fled the destruction.

The site of the ruins were declared a World Hetitage Site by UNESCO in 1991.

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