Ayutthaya

Many years ago, I traveled with the famed Lonely Planet book, South East Asia on a Shoestring, the storied ‘Yellow Bible’ of discount travelers, my prize possession. I remember traveling around Thailand in those days, taking colorful 3 wheeled Tuk-Tuks, eating simple Pad Thai street food, and staying at the cheapest guest house hostels I could find. I remember watching a truck filled with children stop at the end of a touristy street, unload two dozen street urchins, and drive to the other end of the street to pick them up after they had collected their begging money. The temples in Bangkok were covered with gold, the entertainers passed by in elaborate costumes and fine restaurants smelled of food and flowers, but I felt stupid, standing outside the grand palace, knowing that I couldn’t afford to pay the entrance fee. I was almost out of money, and I could no longer afford to stay in the city. I had an onward plane ticket, and enough money to get to their airport, but I had time to kill and no money to enjoy it.  

So, I got the cheapest ticket to Ayutthaya station, arriving with little more than my guidebook, and I tried to find my way to the ruins. I got lost, and I had arrived too late in the day without a plan. Frustrated, I sat down and read that the ancient city once held perhaps 1 million, but had collapsed following an invasion about 10 years before …

I visited this site after I visited Angkor, which in hindsight may not have been the best idea, as no other set of ruins in the area can compare to it. However, it is a nice site and deserves a visit. I particularly enjoyed the buddha statue that got entwined with the tree roots. It is also relatively crowd-free, at least on the day that I was there. These temples are in true ruins (unlike angkor, which is very much reconstructed) and offers a different atmosphere. 

However, like others have stated, what UNESCO chose to include and exclude from the site area is a bit confusing. Some of the most notable temples were not included within the site. Also, the city around the ruins is not that pleasant, and there were people riding elephants in the vicinity, which I find unethical. 

Overall I found this worth a visit, but perhaps in a visit leading up to Angkor to avoid comparisons. 

July 2016 - after visiting Sukhothai we took the night bus to Ayutthaya. The bus driver kicked us out at 5:30 in the morning at the motorway and we still had about 4 km to walk to the temples. A french couple who was also in the bus joined us and we made a morning walk. When we arrived at the temples, the entry was still closed, and the sun just appeared at the horizon. Since we were exhausted and hungry, we jumped the fence and made us comfortable at the first temple for breakfast with the remaining food we had in our luggage. A few strolling dogs enjoyed our company and made themselve comfortable next to us. That was definitely the highlight. Us, the dogs, dawn at the temples. A few hours later, tourists and day visitors from Bangkok inhabited the temple area, elephant riding was offered as an attraction and souvenir shops popped up in the park.

In comparison to Sukhothai, the overall experience was rather lame, but the ruins are from a different era of Siam Kingdom, thus we were happy to have visited. After few hours in the park, we continued our journey and took another nightbus to Krabi, to also enjoy the southern part of Thailand.

WHS#69

Just over an hour north of Bangkok lie the ruins of what was once the biggest city in the world - Ayutthaya. I got the opportunity for a short day trip to the site in July 2018. Unfortunately, because I was traveling with my dad's college batch, who weren't very fond of temples, ruins, or off-the-beaten-path travel, I had a private tour organized, and the itinerary definitely wasn't to my liking, but what could I do except try to satisfy the group? We only visited Wat Yai Chai Mongkol, Wat Mahathat, and Bang Pa-in Palace before getting on a river cruise back to Bangkok. Out of these, only Wat Mahathat was located in the WHS, so I can't say I got to explore this site very well, but entering the core area really gave me a good idea of what the site is like as a whole.

The Historic City of Ayutthaya is made up of about half of the riverine island that formed the center of the once great capital of Siam. Many ruined temples stand today as proof of that, and these temples include Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Wat Mahathat, Wat Ratchaburana, Wat Phra Ram, and Wat Thammikarat, among other less preserved or less impressive ones. However, this also includes areas of empty space and of modern buildings, once located at the heart of the great city, but now showing no actual heritage value. It also means that other outstanding sites like Wat Chai Watthanaram …

I visited this WHS in December 2017 as a day trip from Bangkok. Being quite easy to reach by taxi, it is always pretty much crowded unlike Sukhothai. in the 18th century it also suffered extensive damage by the Burmese, so what is left today is pretty much ruins on quite a large scale.

The restoration works seem much worse than Sukhothai with total reconstructions, additions, restorations with reinforced concrete and iron railings on some of the few chedis and stupas which tourists can climb. However, what I disliked most was that there is no actual buffer zone or restricted area for vehicles and few parking spaces so it was not unusual to see SUVs driving literally over the lower city walls.

The patchwork of roads were surely built right on some of the most ruined temples so it is actually quite difficult to appreciate Ayutthaya as an ensemble and it is much more difficult to visit both on foot as well as by the shuttle-shaped tuktuks. There are all sorts of dos and don'ts but nothing against the use of loudspeakers by tour guides which are really a nuisance for all visitors (including the tour groups themselves!).

That said, I managed to enjoy the site by using a set of earphones and an audioguide and headed towards the perimeter of most stupas and prangs instead of the main pathway. At Wat Mahathat, I bought a combined ticket for 6 wats, namely: Wat Mathathat which houses the Buddha head in …

A short drive north from Bangkok lie the ruins of the Historic City of Ayutthaya, one of Thailand's first three World Heritage Sites, inscribed 25 years ago. As has been noted, Ayutthaya was of the former capitals of Siam, and, like Yogyakarta in Indonesia, was named after the Indian city believed to be the birthplace of Rama, hero of the Hindu epic "The Ramayana". I visited Ayutthaya as a day trip from Bangkok in the fall of 2012, and enjoyed the opportunity to walk around the ruins of the ancient city. The city was built on an island, and I'm curious how often it was flooded during its time as a capital, since portions of the site were being drained from flooding during my visit. I appreciated the vegetation which provided a natural contrast to the red brick prangs of temples like Wat Matathat, and occasionally grew over some of the statues, including a head of Buddha which had been overtaken by a tree. Ayutthaya was inscribed for the Thai art and architecture embodied in the palace and temples of the city; although the city is now mostly in ruins, you can still sense the grandeur that must have existed when it was the capital of Siam.

Logistics: Ayutthaya can be reached by car, as well as by bus and/or boat tours, from Bangkok.

The former capital of Thailand for more than 400 years is truly a tragic reminder of war time destruction that changed one of the most luminous cities of Asia to become fractions of brick ruins that its past glory can be seen from the beautiful old part of Bangkok which reportedly to be a small copy of Ayutthaya. I revisited the city after 18 years from my first visit to see that how much change of this historical park can be. Similar to the first time I saw this city, I am disappointed since most of the city areas are just a typical city in Southeast Asia with modern western styled buildings, and the city is expanding in every direction. I started to see ancient stupas surrounded by modern complexes or even in the middle of large circle. Anyway, these historical ruins are not part of World Heritage Site listed of Ayutthaya Historical Park which covered an area almost half of the river island only.

The first place I revisited was the ruins of Wat Phra Sisanphet, I noticed that a lot of changes happened in the area around the carpark, decades ago there was no carpark, and we had to park along the street with chaotic souvenir stalls. The ruins are still beautiful with iconic three stupas. The most visible change is the group of tourists, almost twenty years ago most of tourists are Western Europeans, but now most of them are Chinese tour groups, field trip …

I visited the Ayutthaya site in April 2015 as a day trip from Bangkok. I took a private taxi to get there and take me around to be able to see as much as possible. The UNESCO sites are on the island only; and not even all on that island are UNESCO. I saw the most important, but also two great sights outside the island.

The heat was extreme, but the temples were great. They have done a lot of restauration in the last years and everything is wel kept. Of course, it's ruins, but they are great. A lot was also build of wood which of cours eis gone, and also most relics you cannot see and the paintings inside the temples you cannot access too.

A great place for a day trip from Bangkok.

please see my website for more photo's and the route I took on a GPS map.

www.christravelblog.com/thailand-top-5-ayutthaya-day-trip-bangkok/

The challenge posed by this site is to make sense out of the scattered remains of the capital of a former strong Southeast Asian empire. Its complete name Phra Si Nakhon Ayutthaya only suggests the reverence and significance Thais generally identify with to the ancient city.

I agree with Els that ruins here are really ruins - it's a bit sad that this site was utterly devastated during the Burmese siege. The present condition of this site does not, in any way, give justice to how it used to be based on historical records and accounts, descriptions and praises, and even map renditions. However, I believe that its current state still holds a distinct charm and mystery for WHS enthusiasts and regular tourists alike.

Upon arriving Ayutthaya, my agenda there was not really clear: either I visit the WHS-inscribed sites only, or just choose some major ones and pay those other great temples --that didn't make it to the inscription -- a visit as well. Eventually, I decided to do the latter. Much to my surprise, two temples that are not inscribed left me with really strong impressions: Wat Yai Chaimongkon and Wat Chaiwatanaram. Among the inscribed temples, however, Wat Rachaburana probably offers the most unique experience with its 2-tiered chambers and few remaining old murals inside the principal prang. Although the scales of Wat Maha That and Wat Phra Si Sanpet are impressively grand, these being largely in ruins, it was hard for me to reconcile the fact the …

I visited this site in February 2012. Floods occurred a few months ago and some traces are still viewable, however the authorities are working to preserve the splendor of the place.

The historic center of Ayutthaya was founded during the 14th century and became the capital of the Ayutthaya kingdom. The capital was destroyed by Burmese armies and given up since the end of the 18th century. Nowadays, the historic site consists of numerous buildings, more or less well preserved, scattered throughout the city and out. This site is one of the better examples of the Thai art and of a Southeast Asian ancient city. Not too far from Bangkok (two hours by van), it's possible to visit major sites in one day or two.

This was my first Asian WHS so it will have a little bit of a special place for me.

There are quite a few different ruins and temples to visit within the central area, each charging a separate admission fee. My favourite site was the first one I visited Wat Ratururana which had an impressive cluster of chedi's. The central one was particularly impressive as you could not only climb up it but also descend inside to see a small but impressively decorated chamber at its very heart.

I spent the best part of an afternoon dotting between the main sites, meeting fellow travelers and enjoying a relaxing stroll through the water lined park behind Wat Prah Mahathat. A week or so before I visited there had been pretty extensive flooding in the area and there were still a fair few places that were underwater. This meant I didn't get to visit any of the wats off of the central island. However it was very heartening to see that there had seemed to been a pretty good response from the local authorities to aid those affected by the flooding.

This was a really good day trip to make from Bangkok, and the sites seemed reasonably impressive.

[Site 5; Experience 6]

Ayutthaya has abandonned stupas from subsequent empires and buddhist styles. The city must have been very impressive in its day but now it is a quiet place with few visitors. There are numerous temples that might be of more interest to someone doing research or a student of architecture.

Outstandingly beautiful! It is actually one of the reasons I took a trip to Bangkok in the first place. The ruins really takes you to the ancient times... still well maintained so that you could feel that you're in the different lifetime when visitiing..

The stone craft detail is just beautiful..

Words couldnt do it justice..

Three temples to be recommended: Wat Phra Si Sanpet, Wat Maha That and Wat Chai Wattanaram (the best!)

I feel proud of my country for the great and long history especially Ayutthaya City. I and my family visit Ayutthaya every school's vacation. I like to visit the temples in order to respect the old historic image Buddha. Whenever I went there it made me feel that I had been in the Ayutthaya period again for the imagination to the brave kings fighting the enemies on the head of their elephants among the brave Thai soldiers for protecting the freedom of Ayutthaya. It will be your special day if you like to visit the ancient things or places. This historic city appropriates for being on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Please visit here, it is not far from Bangkok. You can travel by passenger-boat along Chao Phraya River or by car or bus on Phrahon Yothin Road. You won't find it disappointing.

I visited Ayutthaya in March 2003 after seeing only a small photograph in a guidebook. I wanted to get a feel of old Siam and was not in any way disappointed. Sure the splendor is gone, but this sprawling complex was most certainly the real deal. Hiring a tuk tuk driver for ten bucks was a wise investment, and we got to all the main sights. Getting to Ayutthaya was no problem, though the train was a more comfortable ride even the the cost (approximately $1US) was the same. Whichever way you get there, this is an easy and worthwhile day trip form Bangkok