Ayuthaya

Shortly after our wedding Elvira my wife and I flew off to Bangkok to spend our honeymoon in the Thai capital city in the year 2002. We really had a wonderful time together. The warm climate combined with the vibrant life and rich culture of Thailand added even more charm and gloss to our honeymoon.

After having arrived at Bangkok airport we hired a young Thai tour guide who would take us on sightseeing for the coming couple of days. Our guide, a handsome and well-mannered youngman from Chinese kin, took us to the former royal palace somewhere in town on the second day. After that he led us to the royal workshop where jewels were made by skilled craftsmen. Those jewels were mostly made from gems found in Thailand itself.

The most impressing visit was however our daytrip to the ancient capital city of Ayuthaya. On the third day in Bangkok our guide took us upon our special request to the ruins what were left of this ancient Thai capital. It was almost a two hours ride by cab from the present capital city of Bangkok to Ayuthaya. The road led us through vast and endless rice paddies which had gone dry in late October. In fact, Ayuthaya was located in a neighbouring province of Bangkok itself.

I remember that it was on a hot and relatively dry sunshiny day when we headed off to Ayuthaya. When we finally arrived at Ayuthaya the place looked much like a huge green park with lots of old trees and ruins scattered all over the park.

Frankly, there was no much left of the once awesome and large ancient Thai capital. Ayuthaya became the capital of the powerful Thai empire which grew in power from the 14th and 15th century. The city was one of the wealthiest in Asia by that time. A British visitor once described Ayuthaya as the greatest of all cities in Asia and its Court was magnificent and beyond compare.

The tide however had turned against the Thai. The might of their rival, the Burmese, was rising. The Burmese invaded and occupied the most part of what was the Thai empire. In around 1767 the Burmese finally destroyed Ayuthaya after a siege of two years. The Burmese ransacked and burnt down this ancient Thai capital completely. They literally destroyed everything that was sacred to the Thai.

When we walked along the ruins of the temples and other buildings traces of that destruction were clearly visible. The completely burnt down ruins were still black of the horrific fire which destroyed the city. The many statues of Buddha found in Ayuthaya had their head cut off. It was a macabre sight. Even on a beautiful sunshiny day like this we shivered by the sight of the huge mass destruction which was so obviously savage and brutal. It was not hard for us to imagine how horrifying the scene it must be when this city fell.

Luckily, there were not only ugly things to be found there in Ayuthaya. Our guide took us to look at a brand new buddhist temple full of splendour just a stone-cast distance from the ruins. Our Thai guide informed us that this new temple was built with money offered by the Burmese. It was a friendly gesture by the Burmese people in order to reconcile with their Thai neighbour.

It really made us feel good to see how these modern Asian nations made efforts to come to terms with their past and to be willing to build on a more constructive future together.

Yee Chuen Leung
Chief Editor