Thread: Memory Lane (In my own language)

Wat Chaiwatthanaram…

is a Buddhist temple in the city of Ayuthaya Historical Park on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, outside Ayutthaya Island. It is one of Ayutthaya's best known temples and a major tourist attraction. Though a large compound part of Ayuthaya Historical Park however, it is not a part of the Historic City of Ayuthaya.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site can be reached by road or by boat.




The Wat was constructed in 1630 (Ayuthaya Kingdom; 1350-1767) by King Prasat Tong as a royal temple where the kings and their successors performed religious ceremonies. The high rank royalties were cremated here.


(Shot in the reign of King Rama V)


After the total destruction of the Ayuthaya Kingdom by the Burmese in 1767, Wat Chai Watthanaram was not spared. The temple was deserted. Theft, sale of bricks from the ruins including the beheaded Buddha statues were inevitably.

Only in 1987 did the Thai Department of Fine Arts start restoring the site and in 1992, it was opened to the public.








(Please bear with Thai language and watch this clip through, nice job --- starting from 2.00 onward)
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Little birds tell a story behind a photo (a computer colored version of a B&W photograph)



A chamberlain in the reign of King Rama VI. His life could be defined as “a star falls from grace”.

From one of the King’s favorites, his personal habit of being a lady’s man plus a gambling man caused him being deprived of his noble title, shunned from the royal society and finally, fired from his job.

He became an ordinary man working to make ends meet outside the palace and finally was stabbed to death.




One of King Rama II’s sons (57^th - with a commoner wife; born in 1811) also a cousin of King Rama III and IV.

He was considered a very capable Prince in many ways. It was too bad that he was fond of alcohol so much that he was known all over the Palace as a drunken Prince (though he was not the only one there).

Once being possessed by alcohol, he would change into a different person, say a monster. King Rama IV had to issue a warning forbidding anyone to visit him when he was leisurely at his house (mansion). Any matters dealt with him had to be formally done inside the King’s Palace.

Observed by Ernest Young B.Sc., Head Master of the Lower School of John Lyon, Harrow who used to stay in Siam in the reign of King Rama V (1868-1910).

Trial by ordeal in Siamese law-courts lasted down to quite recent times, and even now ordeals are practiced privately for various purposes.


(The first Thai enacted law)


In one of the fire ordeals the accuser and the accused had to walk with bare feet over a layer of live coals ten inches thick. The fire was made in a ditch, ten feet long by twenty inches wide and twenty inches deep.

As the competitors walked over the red-hot coals, an official pressed heavily on their shoulders to make them go slowly.

At the end of the trial the feet of the men were examined, and he who had no blisters, either then or during the next fifteen days, won the case.

If both were unhurt, they had to undergo another ordeal by water; if both were burnt, they were both fined. Only about forty years ago a trial of this kind occurred at a law-court in one of the smaller towns of the interior.

In the ordeal by diving, use was made of a pond or of the river itself. Two stakes were fixed about ten feet away from each other. The parties first said their prayers, and then entered the water with safety-ropes fastened round their waists. They walked into the water until it reached to their necks. Each laid hold of his stake, and then a long pole was placed so that it was supported by the shoulders of both competitors.

A signal was given on a gong, and an official leant heavily on the pole and pushed the heads of the parties under the water. He who remained under the water the longer of the two was the winner. If both remained under water longer than a fixed time, they were hauled up by the safety-ropes and the case was dismissed.

If the people who had quarreled were rich, they could employ people to dive for them, instead of getting wet and breathless themselves.

There is a story told of a man who once engaged a pearl-diver to represent him, and so won easily. A trial of this kind occurred at the northern town of Chiengmai as late as January, 1882.

Phya Tak (or King Taksin) once defeated the army of a rebel who was also a priest. When the rebel was captured, a large number of yellow-robed brethren were taken with him.

The King called them all together, and as he could not tell the innocent from the guilty, he said to them: "Those of you who confess your guilt must leave the priesthood, but I will give you other clothes, and set you free without punishment. Those who say they are innocent must prove their innocence by the diving-test. If you fail in this test, you will be executed."

Many priests confessed at once that they had been helping the rebel host. They were released as the King had promised. But many others swore that they were innocent. The King sat on a chair on the river-bank and watched the priests go down into the water one by one.

Some of them stayed under the water the proper length of time, and so proved themselves not guilty; but others who failed were stripped of their robes and executed on the spot. Their bodies were burnt; their ashes were mixed with lime, and used to whitewash a part of a temple structure.

Sometimes melted lead was used in trial by ordeal. The contending parties thrust their hands into molten lead, and he who was not burnt won the case. Molten tin or boiling oil were used occasionally instead of the molten lead.

A regular method of settling disputes about money that had been lent was the trial by swimming. The parties had to swim either across a stream or against the current for a certain distance. The loser had to pay double the sum in dispute. Half the amount paid was given to the winner, while the other half was handed over to the Government as a fine.

Trial by means of candles was more comfortable than trial by fire and water. Two candles of exactly the same kind of wax, of the same weight, and with wicks containing the same number of threads, were lit and placed on suitable stands. The man whose candle burnt away first was the loser.

It is related of a certain nobleman that he was once asked to seize the throne and get rid of a usurper who was reigning at the time. He took two candles, one for himself and one for the usurper, and watched them burn. His own candle won. Taking this to mean that he would be successful, he raised an army, attacked the sovereign, defeated him, and reigned in his stead.

Then there were trials connected with eating and drinking. One of these consisted in drinking water in which a sacred image had been bathed. If any misfortune happened to the person within a fortnight after the day he took the water he was declared guilty.

In other cases rice was eaten; this was given by the priest, and was mixed with drugs and other nasty things. If the accused person was made sick by the dose, that proved him to be guilty. This form of trial was practiced until quite recently for the detection of various small offences.

Tree-climbing was also indulged in for the discovery of culprits. For this purpose a particular kind of tree was stripped of its bark, leaving a very slippery stem underneath. A man could prove his innocence of the charge brought against him by successfully "climbing the greasy pole."

The Ploughing Ceremony is an ancient royal rite held in many Asian countries to mark the traditional beginning of the rice growing season. The ceremony is rooted in Brahman belief, and is held to ensure a good harvest.

In Thailand, the ploughing ceremony dates back to the Sukhothai Kingdom (1238–1438). The ceremony is said to have been adopted from the Khmer.

In ancient Siam, the ceremony contains two rituals; Buddhism ritual and Brahman ritual.

It was King Rama IV who combined both ceremonies into a single royal one. The Buddhist part is conducted within the Grand Palace first and is followed by the Brahman part held at Sanam Luang.

The date is usually in May, but varies as it is determined by astrology.




[In the reigns of King Rama V (above) and VI (below)]


In the reign of King Rama VII, the ceremony was discontinued with the reason of economic recession. It was to be revived in 1960 by King Rama IX.

The ceremony is typically presided over by the monarch or an appointee. In the old days, the monarch himself has taken part in the ceremony and actually guided the plough behind the oxen within the guarded area.

The plough is made of wood gaily decorated with ribbons and flowers. About the yoke, at the ends of it and the end of the beam are both beautifully carved, and where the yoke is fastened to the beam there is a little gilded idol.

When it is ready for ploughing, the monarch or an appointee holds the handle of the plough and a long rod at the same time. He has to guide the plough nine times round the space marked out by three bamboos.

A nobleman walks in front of the bullocks, sprinkling consecrated water on the ground. After the third journey a number of selected women take part in the performance. Each of them carries a gilded rod over the shoulder. From the ends of this rod are suspended two decorated baskets, one gilded and the other silvered. The baskets are filled with
consecrated grain.

Three times more the plough is guided along the proper path, the women following scattered the precious seed to right and left.

People try to get a few grains to mix with the ordinary seed that is to be used in sowing the fields believing that if the consecrated seed be mixed with seed of the ordinary kind, then will the harvest be much richer.

Finally, the monarch or an appointee makes three more journeys after which he leaves the ground. The sacred cord is broken and the people rush about all over the place, picking up any of the grains that they can find and carefully treasuring them for the good luck they will bring.

After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food including rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky.

Depending on what the oxen eat, court astrologers and Brahmans make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not.

Little birds tell a story behind a photo (a computer colored version of a B&W photograph)




Younger brother of King Rama VI, the Prince’s health had always been weak since he was born (1889-1924, 8 years younger and shared the same parents with the King’s,).

There were quite a few times that he was sick so much that he appeared not to make it through.
Because of this, he needed a lot of rest and could not endure sleeping late.

When his big brother became King in 1910, he was assigned with important duties and that made him had to sleep late very often.

One of his regular assignments was to accompany his brother to see ‘plays’ that took place in a theater hall inside the Royal Palace.

There was one time that though having to sleep late for many consecutive nights earlier, that night, he had to accompany the King to see a play.

During the show, he was so much sleepy and wanted to go back to his bed but did not know how to make an excuse and when was the good time to bid the King goodnight.

So he was fidgeting in his seat. His uncle (King Rama V’s cousin), one of the very famous Princes in Siamese history, saw this and asked. After hearing, he suggested the young Prince to wait until the play’s intermission came then did it. The Prince heartily agreed.

After that night, every time the young Prince accompanied the King to see the plays, if he was so much exhausted when came the intermission, he would stand up and make a formal salute then leave.

Until one night at the theater, the King noticed his brother’s suspicious behavior that happened every time after the play announced an intermission. So he asked his cousin (the same Prince that gave the young Prince advice) and got the answer that the young Prince was tired and sleepy.

The King laughed and asked his cousin to tell his brother that from now on, if he wanted to leave, there was no need to formally bid the King goodnight, just disappeared.

The atmosphere inside Wat Sakate (where the Golden Mount is sited) in 1800’s.

Around that time, when a commoner died, the funeral could not be held within the city’s area (within the walls surrounding the city of Bangkok). The dead body had to be moved out to a ‘wat’ outside. The most famous Wat Sakate was one of them.

Note: Shown in the photo: the crematorium building is for noble/rich people. A empty coffin seen on the ground below of the photo is for a poor person's. The steel grating close by is used for cremating the corpses of poor people. Also a flock of vultures are seen perching on the roofs. A haunted site to behold.

Wat Na Pra Main was built in the reign of King Ramathibodi II who ruled Siam (Note: Until now the historians can’t not find the conclusion of what we called our land/tribe back then) in Ayuthaya period (existed approx. during 1350-1767).

During the final ransack of the capital of Ayuthaya that ended the Ayuthaya period, the Burmese used this temple as a command base which resulted in no demolishment only deserted until discovered later.

It is considered a temple which utterly reflects the remaining Ayutthaya architecture including the ordination hall where a Buddha image in the attitude of subduing Mara (= marn) is enshrined. At present, it is the largest crowned Buddha image from the Ayutthaya period.

The First Surgical Operation in Siam

Surgical operations were unheard of in Siam until American physician and missionary Dr. Dan Beach Bradley (aka Moh (= doctor) Budlay) arrived in Bangkok in July, 1835 (more on page 25).




The following month, on August 27, he performed surgery – without the benefit of anesthetic – on the forehead of a Chinese laborer with a benign tumor.

The operation was a success and Bradley received admiring applause. The surgeon was henceforth known as “the very smart doctor from America”.

On January 13, 1837, a cannon exploded at a temple fair at Wat Prayoon sited by the banks of the Chao Praya River on Thonburi side, killing eight people and injuring many more. One of the wounded was sent to Bradley, who amputated his right arm at the shoulder. Later that year, he spent almost an entire day extracting a man's molar.


(The monument erected to commemorate the event)


In his book “Siam Then”, Bradley recalls that one of his first medical tasks after arriving in Bangkok was treating slaves of the King who were sick with cholera, smallpox and other diseases caused by unhealthy living conditions. The doctor complained that he could do little in the long term because the royal court ignored his pleas to improve the slaves’ lot.




He later opened a small clinic in his house and within a few months had treated some 3,500 patients, ranging in age from 10 to 100. Bradley recorded in his journal 180 illnesses among the Siamese, with skin problems the most prevalent, followed by eye ailments, especially cataracts.




Bradley's reputation as a great doctor spread across the country. On November 10^th, 1836, a Buddhist monk from Sukhothai brought his brother, who had been blinded by infection and five other monks suffering from cataracts to see the doctor. He performed operations on all of them.

In treating the cataracts, it is believed that Bradley employed a cutting-edge method for the time, “extracapsular extraction”, which had just been invented by French ophthalmologist Dr. Daviel.

Bradley wrote that his medical fees were fruit and food. His single largest payment took the form of 45 buckets of rice from Chaophraya (noble rank given by the king) Polathep, another of the many cataract sufferers who was fortunate enough to meet the good Dr. Bradley.

The Emerald Buddha (Pra Kaew Morakot)

is made of a precious green stone, described variously as jade or jasper rather than emerald, as "emerald - morakot" here refers to its color rather than the stone. The image has not been analyzed to determine its exact composition or origin.

The figure is 48 centimeters (19 in) wide at the lap, and 66 centimeters (26 in) high. The Buddha is in a seated position, with the right leg resting on the left one, a style that suggests it might have been carved in the late Chieang Saen or Chiang Mai period, not much earlier than the fifteenth century CE.

However, the meditation attitude of the statue was not popular in Siam/Thailand but looks very much like some of the Buddha images of southern India and Sri Lanka, which led some to suggest an origin in India or Sri Lanka.




The Emerald Buddha is adorned with three different sets of gold seasonal decorations: two were made by King Praputtayodfa Chulalok (Rama I); one for the summer and one for the rainy season. The third was made by King Nangklao (King Rama III) for the winter or cool season.

In 1996 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of King Phumipol Adulyaded (Rama IX), the Bureau of the Royal Household commissioned a replica set of the seasonal decorations to be made in all the same materials.

This new set was funded entirely by donations. The original set, which were made over 200 years ago, were retired and are on display at the Museum of the Emerald Buddha Temple in the Middle Court of the Grand Palace.

The seasonal decorations are changed by the King of Thailand, or a senior member of the royal family in his stead. The ceremony of the changing is on the 1st waning of lunar months: 4, 8 and 11 (around April, August and November).

The sets of gold clothing not in use at any given time are kept on display in the nearby Pavilion of Regalia, Royal Decorations, and Thai Coins on the ground floor of the Grand Palace, where the public may view them.


(Summer, Rainy season, Winter)

Every picture tells a story...


Computer colored version of B&W photograph

Another nice view of Golden Mount shot in the reign of King Rama V.

It started from King Rama I's grandson, King Rama III (1824–1851), who decided to build a chedi of huge dimensions inside Wat Sakate. Unfortunately, the chedi collapsed during construction because the soft soil of Bangkok could not support the weight.

Over the next few decades, the abandoned mud-and-brick structure acquired the shape of a natural hill and was overgrown with weeds. The locals called it the ‘poo kao’ which means ‘mountain’ as if it were a natural feature.




During the reign of King Rama IV (1851-1868), a renovation began by putting a small chedi on top of the poo kao. It was completed early in the reign of his son, King Rama V (1868–1910). A relic of the Buddha was brought from Sri Lanka and placed up in the top of the chedi.


The surrounding concrete walls were added later to stop the hill from sliding


During the reign of King Rama V, a high ranking soldier perceiving the height of the construction would provide advantage strategy asked the King to grant permission to demolish the chedi on top of the 'poo-kao' which was built by the order of King Rama IV and clear the area for military camps setting including a space for a cannon (how could they bring it up, I wonder) and that would make the place a fearsome fortress.

The King denied…

Anyway, a signal post for military use was allowed by the King to be fixed on top. No date was told when it was ordered to be taken down.

A documentary (photos not included) titled: The birth of Bangkok-Rattanakosin

At his enthronement on June 13, 1782, King Rama I bestowed an auspicious name upon the new capital of Siam on the east bank of the Chao Praya River: Krungthep Mahanakhorn Amorn Rattanakosin Mahintra Yutthaya Mahadilokpop Noparat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Rachanivet Mahasathan Amornpiman Avartarnsathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukamprasit.




The name is locally shortened to "Krungthep Mahanakorn" or "Krungthep", but to foreigners, the city remains known as Bangkok.

The design and architecture for the settlement of Rattanakosin closely followed the traditions of the ancient capital of Ayutthaya Kingdom. It was sited, for protection, beside a river, and turned into an artificial island by the construction of defensive canals.




To the north of the Grand Palace, adjoining the royal temple of Wat Pra Kaeo, was Pra Sumain Field, where royal cremations were held. In the east was Sanam Chai, where the King reviewed his troops. To the west was the river, and to the south Wat Poh.




King Rama I ordered the ceremonial raising of the City Pillar on April 21, 1782. It is made from laburnum wood and decorated with heartwood and contains the city's "birth certificate".

For a long time a rumour persisted that on the day the City Pillar was erected four snakes had crawled beneath it and been swiftly killed, a bad omen signifying that Bangkok would remain the capital for only 150 years.

King Rama IV, an expert on astrology, therefore formally inscribed a new birth certificate, changing the date to December 5, 1852. The new pillar was built and now rests side by side with the old one in the City Pillar Shrine on Maha Chai Road.

Oddly, however, the 1932 political coup that changed Siam from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy occurred on the city's "original" 150th anniversary.




King Rama I also had images of devas, or guardian angels, forged: Phra Suea Muang (symbolising military power), Phra Song Muang (civil power) and Phra Lak Muang (juridical power). The first two are now in the Thepharak Shrine, near the City Pillar Shrine. Phra Lak Muang is the pillar itself.




The image of Phra Siam Devadhiraj, chief of all Siamese guardian angels, was created in the reign of Rama IV and can be seen today in the Grand Palace's Phaisan Taksin Throne Hall.




The Emerald Buddha (Phra Putta Maha Mani Rattana Patimakorn, or Phra Kaew Morakot), often described as the national Buddha image, was placed in Wat Phra Kaew. Brought from Vientiane by King Rama I, it is said to have first appeared in Chiang Rai around 1434, according to Lanna chronicles.




The King ordered the extension of defensive canals from Lod Canal, which had been dug in King Taksin's time, to the present-day Banglamphu-Ong Ang canals. The Padung Krung Kasem Canal was dug later.

People settled on both banks of the Chao Praya River. The old areas on the west bank, in present-day Pasi Charoen district and from the Temple of Dawn to Wat Rakhang, were crowded with communities of Thais, Mons (the ethnic group who inhabit Myanmar's Mon State) and Chinese.

Not far from Bangkok Yai Canal there lived Muslims and Catholic Christians, including French and Portuguese.

The east bank, along with the Grand Palace and Wat Pra Kaeo, now became home to people from all walks of life. Nobles and royal attendants settled near the Grand Palace, while Bang Lumpoo area bloomed from a simple village of gardeners to become, since the time of Rama IV, an entertainment hub.




The old Chinese population of the area that became the Grand Palace resettled at Sampeng. Present-day Ta Tien from Ban Moh to Pahurat became a home to Viet, Lao and Mon communities.




Wat Poh, built in the Ayutthaya period, was enlarged and became the primary temple under King Rama I's patronage. It is said to have been Thailand's first university, because King Rama III later ordered texts inscribed on stone slabs around the temple for people to read and learn from.




Wat Mahathat was also enlarged between the reigns of Rama I and Rama IV and became the center of Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhist learning in Southeast Asia.




King Rama I also built Wat Suthat to house, Bangkok's tallest vihara hall, an eight-metre-tall statue of Phra Sri Sakaya Muni Buddha he had brought from Sukhothai. It is believed that the King wanted the temple, in Buddhist tradition, to symbolise the center of the universe. Wat Suthat is situated in the center of Rattanakosin, near where the Brahmin Devasathan Temple and the Giant Swing were built in 1784.




The Siamese historically practised both Buddhism and Hinduism, as derived from Sri Lanka and India, while several royal ceremonies had their roots in the Devaraja (god-king) doctrine of Khmer tradition. Triyumpavai-Tripavai, the Swing Ceremony, was held to honour Shiva's annual visit to earth. In a ritual believed to symbolize the rising and setting of the sun, teams of young men were swung to a height of 25 meters to grab a bag of gold suspended from the end of a bamboo pole with their teeth.




The ceremony was one of 12 annual royal rituals. In the Ayutthaya period it was held in the first lunar month but moved to the second lunar month in the Rattanakosin period, ultimately dropping from the list of royal ceremonies during the reign of Rama VII.

No temple within Rattanakosin was allowed to hold cremations, so Wat Sakate was built outside the city wall for the purpose. The nearby Golden Mount was built during the reign of Rama III.

This photo was taken in the reign of King Rama IV (1851-1868). No records telling the detail about this girl whether she was a royalty or a commoner but one thing for certain is she being at least from a very rich family for around that time, photography was just introduced to Bangkok and known only among the high society areas.


(Note: She was told (from the trace of her top knot just being shaved) to be a teenage girl and well-groomed, with neat hairdo and sideburns (The small photos show the clear example of hairdo and sideburns which was the popular style among grown women around that time. They are for tying flowers’ stalks). The decoration on the table contains a betel quid tray, a vast with flowers and a (old styled) make-up set. In conclusion, she was becoming an amazingly beautiful debutante.)

This style of women’s hairdo was changed when entering the reign of King Rama V.