Ayutthaya Thailand Tours & Holidays Guide.

Holiday guide for wandering around and touring Ayutthaya's parks and temples including Wat Phra Mahathan, Wat Maha That and Wat Ratburana.

About Ayutthaya, Thailand.  Ayutthaya was the former capital of Siam and is actually a City Island as it's encircled by three rivers (Chao Phraya, Pa Sak and Lopburi) and was once interlaced with many canals and waterways. Ayutthaya City's temples and palaces with their extensive water features must have looked very grand in the old times. However today most of the red brick ruins are situated in dusty fields but you can still get a good insight into what they once looked like - a huge contrast to the bright sometimes garish temples and wats to be found in modern Bangkok. The City, which was named after Ayodhya (see the story of the Ramakien which is shown on the walls of Wat Phra Kaeo) was founded between 1351 and 1369 by Ramathibodi I who moved here to escape the outbreak of smallpox at Lop Buri. During the 16th and 17th centuries it was part of an extremely important trading route between India and China and people from all over the world arrived there to take advantage of this - the city had a population of 1 million people. The City's importance lasted for about 400 years but ended when the Burmese finally sacked it in 1767 - this was when the capitol was moved to Bangkok.

Day Trip from Bangkok to Ayutthaya.
Ayutthaya is quite easily reached from Bangkok - a car and driver for the day costs around 2200 Baht however you should ensure before travelling that the agreed price includes all road tolls as these can certainly add up. The trip by car takes about an hour depending on which bit of Bangkok you start out from although heavy traffic and time of day can lengthen travelling time somewhat. Most Bangkok hotels organise coach trips to Ayutthaya (some of these involve an option for a return trip along the Chao Phraya by boat) and you can also get there by train from Hualamphong Railway Station and by bus from Bangkok's Northern Bus Terminal. The railway station at Ayutthaya is a few 100 metres away from the river - having crossed the river on the local ferry you are not far from many of the main temple sites which are just a few minutes pedalling if you cycle. (Bike hire shops are on the road leading from the ferry).

Travelling from Chiang Mai and/or Sukhothai to Ayutthaya. Firstly there is no airport at Ayutthaya and the best way to get from Northern Thailand i.e. Chiang Mai and Sukhothai is by express buses or by Bangkok railways. There is a direct railway link from Chiang Mai to Ayutthaya but from Sukhothai the nearest station is at Phitsanulok which is around 58kms so you have to get a bus or transport to that station. Therefore the best bet from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya is by bus - there are a variety of services but certainly for day travel the First Class is quite inexpensive, comfortable and takes about 7 hours. The drawback is that these express buses do not actually go right into Ayutthaya but stop out on the main road around 3kms from the centre of town. You need to ask the conductor to stop at the Lotus Tesco bus stop where should be taxis available however it might be worth having a couple of local Ayutthaya taxi phone numbers on you.

Is it worth staying in Ayutthaya rather than Bangkok?. This is actually an excellent option especially if travelling back from northern Thailand and intending to end your holiday by flying out of Bangkok in the next day or two. Hotels in Ayutthaya are much cheaper to stay in than Bangkok, there are several decent restaurants around and the trip from the Ayutthaya to Bangkok Airport is down a fairly quiet motorway and only takes around 90 minutes. Apart from this the City has some excellent sightseeing available with some of the temples etc. located within extensive parks.
On our previous visit we had simply made the day-trip out of Bangkok - this time we spent four days at Ayutthaya - totally worth while because there are some excellent places to visit in and around the city. The various sites were all open from 0800 to 1700 daily and sometimes have a small entrance fee - varying between 20 and 50 Baht. Also most of these sites had various refreshment facilities.

Sightseeing the central area of Ayutthaya. Two of the main sites to visit on an Ayutthaya tour are Wat Phra Mahathan (Wat Maha That) and Wat Ratburana - these large temple complexes are on the edge of Phram Park and are the main sites that day trips go too.

Wat Maha That (Great relic Chedi or Wat Phra Mahathan).

Wat Maha That is located to the east of the Grand Palace within a huge and now very dusty area and was one of the most important royal temple sites in Ayutthaya. The Mahathat Chedi was built during the reign of Phra Borom Rajathirat in the late 14th century to house the remains of the Buddha. This monastery was burnt and destroyed during the war between Ayutthaya and Burma in 1767 and has remained as ruins ever since. One of the features are the prangs which lean in all directions and also the numerous headless Buddha's which are scattered all over the site. Don't miss the head in the tree!

Wat Ratburana.
Just across the road from Wat Maha That, the Wat Ratburana was built by King Borom Rajathirat II (Chao Samphraya) in memory of his elder brothers Ay and Yi who killed each other over succession to the throne - leaving Borom as King. There are four bell shaped Chedi which lean out from the main prang - some of the original carvings can still be seen.

Phram Park. The Park is a lovely area to walk around and contains several small Chedi / temples. There are picturesque bridges and lakes - lots of seating areas and numerous birds and wildlife to watch whilst perhaps having a picnic break from sightseeing.

Wat Phra Ram. Originally built in 1369 on the cremation site of King Ramathibodi but later renovated this corn shaped Prang is decorated with gargoyles, Nagas' and walking Buddha images. The Prang is surrounded by wihnas and a Bot - for some reason the large temple seems to attract very few visitors but is extremely nice to walk around. Wat Phra Ram is an elongated cone shaped tower with many Chedis and was built in 1912 B.E. partly by King Ramaseuan on the burial site of his father King Uthong but then completed by either King Borommarachathiraj 1 or his successor King Ramaseuan. Phra Prang Prathan (The Central Sanctuary). Orientated to the East this huge Prang is built of plaster and brick and decorated with a stucco pattern. It was constructed on a 3 storey square pedestal and only has one entrance which leads to the Central Sanctuary.

Inside the Sanctuary are pictures of Lord Buddha sitting on the throne. On both sides of the Jaranam Arch there are decorations of Buddha images made from plaster. Phra Ubosot is orientated to the West and 17.5 metre square and houses a Buddha image made of plaster and brick.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet. The photo top left is actually the Wihan Phra Monkhon Bophit and is located on the south side of Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Wat Phra Si Sanphet is one of the top two locations for sightseers and therefore usually very busy. Wat Phra Si Sanphet was built on the site of a royal palace in 1448 by King Boroma-Tri-Loka-Nat and was used for important royal ceremonies and also as the royal family's private chapel. The three Chedi were built later - two of them by King Ramathibodi II for the remains and in memory of his father and mother and the third Chedi was built for the ashes of King Ramathibodi II. The main Wihan once housed the largest Buddha image known - it was 16 metres high and covered in 173kgs of gold.

This was destroyed when the Burmese finally conquered Ayutthaya in 1767. Rama I salvaged the pieces of the Buddha image and these were subsequently placed within the Chedi at Wat Pho.

Outer Ayutthaya. The following temple locations are more on the outskirts of Ayutthaya - in reality it's too far to walk to them especially when the weather is hot but all are easily (and very enjoyably) reachable by hiring a bicycle for the day.

Wat Na Phra Mane. Situated on the north bank of the Lop Buri River this is the only temple to survive the Burmese invasion. The main Bot was built in 1503 by Angel Indra during the reign of King Ramathibodee II and has outside columns topped with lotus cups and slits instead of windows to let ventilation through - a typical Ayutthaya style.

Wat Phu Khao Thong (Golden Mountain) is situated in open countryside around 2kms north of Wat Na Phra Mane. Whilst occupying Ayutthaya in 1569 the Burmese erected a Mon-style Chedi to commemorate their victory over Siam - when the Thais regained the city they put up with it for around 200 years as it was against Buddhist law to destroy a religious monument. When it collapsed King Borommakot built a Chedi on the old base only for the Burmese to once again invade the city in 1767. The Chedi has since been restored and painted white and is quite an unusual sight rising out of the fields. Behind the Chedi there are quite a few buildings which seem to be part of a small monastery and still occupied.

Si Nakarin Park. Although Phram Park is really nice to wander around there is another far quieter and much larger park on the outskirts of Ayutthaya which seemingly hardly anybody visits. Si Nakarin Park is located alongside Uthong Road and close to the Chao Phraya River to the south of the city - the large park has lots of canals, teems with wildlife and has quite a few old Wats and Chedi amongst it's beautiful trees and grass areas.

Wat Chai Watthanaran. From Si Nakarin Park continue along the road then after crossing the bridge on the left go left again and this will bring you to the Wat. The Wat was built in 1630 by King Parsat Thong - possibly to commemorate his victory over Cambodia - it was constructed in the Khmer style and is similar to some of the temple complexes which can be seen at Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia. 4 small prang and 8 tiered and tapered Chedi encircle the main large corncob prang. Although a large amount of brickwork now shows through it is still possible to spot fragments of stucco in places.

120 headless seated Buddha's line the outside gallery and two large seated Buddha's gaze out over the river Chao Phraya. At one time the entrance to the Wat was from the river and the views must have been very impressive as the Wat was approached. The whole area is quite open and really pleasant to wander.

Wat Worachet Thep Bamrung. The Wat is located on the western edge of Ayutthaya and not within reasonable walking distance. You have to go along the busy main road towards Sana Suphanburi but it was quite easy to cycle there using the cycle lane. Well worth the effort the Wat is in quite good condition and set in a tree-line area. The carvings are especially good.

The following Wats are reached by crossing the Pasak River via Naresuan Bridge - the (dual carriageway) main road is fairly busy but does have a cycle lane. Go as far as the roundabout (which has a Chedi in it's middle) - turning right will bring you to Wat Yai Chai Monkgoi and turning left at the roundabout will take you to Wat Khudeedao and Wat Maheyong. The way the main road is laid out and because of how busy it is it's easiest and safest to go left and visit those wats first - then when you return to the roundabout for the other side you have traffic lights stopping the fast main road traffic and can go across much more safely.

Wat Khudeedao (Wat Kudidao). Wat Khudeedao consists of a Ubosot (ordination hall) with the principal pagoda on it's west - the Vihara (hall of image) is situated behind the principal pagoda and surrounded with a wall.

Outside of the wall there is another building with two floors called the Tumnak Kummalaen. The temple was believed to have been built in pre-Ayutthaya period i.e. before 1350 - a major renovation occurred in 1711 under King Tai Sra's rule (by the then Viceroy King Boromakot) but the monastery was abandoned in 1767 following the Burmese invasion. The Principal Pagoda is bell shaped and sits on a square foundation on which sits 8 stupas. The Ubot is rectangular shaped - 15.4 metres wide and 27.8 metres long with it's main entrance facing east. It has front and back porches with 3 gates at the front and 2 gates at the rear. The sides have 8 rectangular gaps - 4 are windows and 4 are false windows.

Typical of late Ayutthaya construction, the building sits on a foundation which slight curves in the middle similar to a junk - the impression when you look at it is that the walls seem to be collapsing inwards. The Vihara is parallelogram shaped, 14 metres wide and 27 meters long. It has 2 gates at the front and 2 gates at the back. The long sides of the building curve in towards the middle - again this is a typical design of late Ayutthaya construction. The surrounding wall is 102 meters wide and 142 metres long, has 2 curved arches on each side and is decorated with lotus pedestal shapes on it's top. Tumnak Kummalaen is a parallelogram building with two floors, width of 14.6 metres and 30 metres long - the walls have arched curves similar to lotus petals. It is believed that the building was King Boromagot's residence during his period as Viceroy.
Opposite the Wat across a moat take a look at Wat Chakkrawaddee (photo left).

Wat Maheyong. Wat Maheyong was built in the 1430s during King Borom Ratchathirat II's reign. Wat Maheyong's Principal Pagoda is bell shaped and sits on 2 level square foundations with the upper foundation constructed with 20 niches inside each of which sits an image of Buddha. The lower foundation also has 20 niches with sculptures of elephants on each side (80 elephants in all). The small Pagoda (Chedi Rai) is bell shaped and sits on a square foundation - the Chedi has many levels all the way up to the top of it's spire. The Ubot is parallelogram shaped - 17 metres wide and 35.2 metres long and the side walls are slightly curved inwards from half way similar to a junk-style design.

Wat Dusitdaram. (or Wat Dusitaram). If you continue a little further along the road from Wat Khudeedao you reach Wat Dusitaram. This is a modern Wat in full use - there are several interesting buildings which have been renovated, behind the Wat there are quite a few gold Buddha images and also a cemetery which contains small shrines. Then just a little bit further along the road you reach the very colourful and modern temple of Wat Ayutthaya.

There are other old buildings etc. to see along the road but as far as this guide is concerned this ends the descriptions on this side of the main road. The following Wat is reached by returning to the large roundabout as mentioned earlier.

Wat Yai Chai Monkgoi. In 1357 Ramathibodi I founded the complex as a meditation site for the monks returning from Sri Lanka and it's still in regular use. Inside the entrance gate are the ruins of the Wihan (Assembly Hall) which contains a large reclining Buddha draped in a saffron coloured robe. The whole complex is surrounded by gardens and lakes and extremely pleasant to wander around. The huge Chedi was constructed by King Naresuan to celebrate his victory over the Burmese in 1593 and sits on a base surrounded by small Buddha's which are draped in saffron robes. It is possible to climb up into the Chedi, from where you get very good views of the countryside. If you walk round to the back of the Chedi there are some small gardens which contain yet another impressive Buddha statue.

Please take a look at our other Thailand Holiday and Touring topics - Bangkok Holidays Guide, Bangkok Sightseeing, Sukhothai Tours or our Chiang Mai Tours.