SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

Readers from India might be surprised to find that Thailand has their own Ayodhya - or rather, Ayutthaya! (But regular readers wouldn’t be surprised to find Indian toponyms in Southeast Asia, eh?)

Siamese ayodhya
New Indian Express, 03 May 2008

The capital of the most mighty Siamese kingdom (33 kings ruled from here) Ayutthaya was indeed named after our own Ayodhya, and many Thai kings have taken on the official title of King Rama I, II, III and so on. So earlier this year, when I decided to take my family to Thailand (lest they suspect the worst about my annual visits the previous three years), we planned on the usual Pattaya and Bangkok - where we ran into the usual obnoxious Mr-Aggarwal-type tourists - and we also fit Ayutthaya into our itinerary.

Ayutthaya is a good two hours away from Bangkok and quite worth the trip, I gather. A pity that I missed the opportunity earlier to visit it a couple of months ago.

Related books:
- Dutch Perceptions of the Thai Court of Ayutthaya, Ca. 1604-1765 (Tanap Monographs on the History of Asian-European Interaction) (Tanap Monographs on the History of Asian-European Interaction)
- Ayutthaya-Venice of the East
- Ayutthaya and Sukhothai: World Heritage - Reflections Of The Past (2 Volume Boxed Set)
- Cultural Sites of Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia

Tags: Ayutthaya

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