Seventy kilometres north of Bangkok is the small provincial town of Ayutai. The first-time visitor is usually amazed by the amount of red-brick ruins that the city is filled with. Stupas and palaces, temples and walls, incomprehensible ruins, remains of fortress walls, their sizes and shapes, all speak of the fact that these are fragments of great civilization. Before the Burmese broke into the city, a small detachment of 500 men under the command of the brave general Thaksin punched a hole in the circle of besiegers and escaped from the doomed Ayutai. Six months later, Thaksin declared himself king, assembled a powerful army and seven years later was able to defeat the Burmese troops. Thaksin decided to make Bangkok, or rather Tonburi, the left bank of the Chaopraya River, the new capital of the reborn Siamese state. But this did not help Ayutai anymore. The city was lying in ruins, and to restore it was above human strength. Besides, the danger of the enemy attack was still very high
Seventy kilometres north of Bangkok is the small provincial town of Ayutai. The first-time visitor is usually amazed by the amount of red-brick ruins that the city is filled with. Stupas and palaces, temples and walls, incomprehensible ruins, remains of fortress walls, their sizes and shapes, all speak of the fact that these are fragments of great civilization.
- Under the new 1768, apparently, as a gift, Burmese troops suddenly besieged the city and destroyed the capital of the greatest Thai kingdom of Ayutai almost to the ground. This was probably the only time in history when at the end of the 18th century one of the world's largest capitals was levelled to the ground, after which it was no longer able to revive. 800,000 inhabitants were destroyed, taken into slavery or left homeless. More than four hundred temples and monasteries were looted. Everything of value was taken to Burma. The king fell in battle. In general, there came a local end of the world in a separate Siamese kingdom.
- No one could have imagined such an outcome four hundred years ago, in 1351, when the Chiangsen prince Wu Tong, crowned recently under the name of Ramathibodi I, founded the new capital of the new kingdom. The old capital was struck by the cholera epidemic. He was looking for a suitable place for a long time, and stayed in Nakhonpathom for a while, but eventually decided to lay the groundwork for the city at the confluence of the Chaoprai and Lopburi rivers. The place turned out to be so successful that Ayutai, as the city was called, began to develop rapidly. It found itself at the crossroads of trade routes of India, China and Japan. And this meant the inflow of money, goods and foreigners. They all had their neighborhoods in Ayutai. In the XV century, the first Europeans - the Portuguese and Dutch - appeared. The peak of European influence fell during the reign of King Narai, who was considered a friend of Louis XIV. The city lived, developed and was rich. The result was a very beautiful, multifaceted and original capital city.
- Ayutai even earned the nickname of Eastern Venice. The fact is that even earlier, for defense purposes, a canal was dug in the north: the city found itself on the island. And, as it turned out, not for nothing. Very soon the period of almost continuous wars with Burma began. In the middle of the XVI century, central and southern Burma united under King Doberschwedch. With his successor, the great military commander Baynauna Burmese managed to reach northern Vietnam and Laos. They also made their way to Ayutaya and took the city on their second attempt in 1569. However, this time Ayutai managed to survive. The city was slightly plundered, but preserved. The invaders only dug up the city's fortifications, walls and towers. The king Kamaracha, who was obedient as they thought, was put on the throne, which means karma king in translation.
- Under the pretext of protection from the constant raids of militant Khmer Rouge Kamarach began to quietly strengthen the city. He erected more powerful brick walls and modernized the army. Within 15 years, his policy was aimed at restoring the country's former power. However, he could not take active action against Burma, because there, in Rangoon on the position of an honorary prisoner of 8 years was his son - the future national hero of Siam and King Narasuan. Over time, the latter was released to his homeland, where he became an outstanding military leader. He was even repeatedly called to Burma for joint military operations against the rebels.
- Once again he was summoned to suppress a rebellion in northern Burma. Narasuan soberly assessed the situation, saw that the Burmese capital is bare and, not thinking for long, moved his troops on it. But he couldn't take the city on the move. He had to retreat and give rearguard fights. Burmese did not dare to go deep into the territory of Ayutai. However, later an expeditionary corps was sent, which Narasuan easily broke. In honor of that first victory, by the way, the Temple of the Great Victory was erected.
- After a while Narasuan changed his father on the throne. It is believed that it was he who returned the lost freedom of Ayutai, which in total was the capital of Siamese for 416 years and saw more than thirty kings. And sometimes there were completely random people in power. For example, the temple of Wat Rachaburan was built in honor of the reign of one of them.
- King Indra died in 1424. He had three sons. After his father's death, the elder Ai and the middle I. Junior entered the struggle for the throne - Chinath did not claim anything and stayed away from the struggle for the throne, but it was he who was destined to become the ruler of Ayutthaya. The older brothers decided to find out who would be the ruler during the traditional elephant duel. The battle took place on one of the bridges across the numerous channels in the capital. In the course of the fight, the elephants fell from the bridge into the water, and both heirs died under their carcasses. So unexpectedly, Chinatech became the heir to the throne of the great power. He cremated the bodies of his brothers, buried them together and built a giant stupa on this place.
- In 1957, the burial chamber was opened by robbers. Gold jewelry and funeral items were stolen. The fact of looting forced the Thai government to dig seriously. That's when serious archeological work began here.
Before the Burmese broke into the city, a small detachment of 500 men under the command of the brave general Thaksin punched a hole in the circle of besiegers and escaped from the doomed Ayutai. Six months later, Thaksin declared himself king, assembled a powerful army and seven years later was able to defeat the Burmese troops. Thaksin decided to make Bangkok, or rather Tonburi, the left bank of the Chaopraya River, the new capital of the reborn Siamese state. But this did not help Ayutai anymore. The city was lying in ruins, and to restore it was above human strength. Besides, the danger of the enemy attack was still very high. The former capital of the vast Thai empire turned into an ordinary provincial town, the streets of which continue to surprise foreign visitors with the grandiose ruins of once great civilization.