It was a glittering city on an island in the Chao Phraya River. Thirty-three kings built over 400 golden temples. It was the capital of the Siamese kingdom for 417 years. By the 18th century Ayutthaya was one of the world’s great cities. It was a cosmopolitan city with a population of Chinese, Khmers, Portuguese, Japanese, Dutch, English, Indians, French, Malays, Mons, Turks, Armenians, Persians, Moors and Thais. In 1617 the East India Company estimated the population of Ayutthaya as 150,000 to 200,000 – “as great a city as London”. In 1685 a French businessman thought it was “a bigger city than Paris”, and a Dutchman estimated that Ayutthaya had a population of half a million.
This book sets out to capture what remains of the old capital of Siam. It documents over 120 temple sites.