03Places

The old capital

Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya occupies an island where the Chao Phraya meets the Pa Sak. King Ramathibodi I founded it in 1351. The municipality covers 14.84 square kilometres, and 50,830 residents were registered in 2020. What visitors walk through now is the brick of that capital: bases, columns and rows of prangs inside a historical park listed in 1991. Off the island, on the west bank, Wat Chaiwatthanaram is among the park’s best-known temples, its front turned toward the water. On the island itself, Wat Mahathat’s central tower rises among the trees. Afternoons are heavy in the hot months, so start at first light and leave the west bank until the glare has eased off the brick. From Bangkok a day is enough. If you stay overnight, sleep near the park rather than in the newer outskirts. Sukhothai does not belong in the same day; those ruins are a separate trip north.

1351

Founded

1991

World Heritage listing

0

Registered residents