A little Thai history anyone?

While taking a break outside of a ruin in Ayutthaya, a young Thai woman who had been educated in the US stopped and chatted with me for a bit. She indicated that Ayutthaya was the 2nd capital of Thailand (Siam). Sukhothai was the first, Thonburi the 3rd and Bangkok 4th. She said there was some talk of moving it yet again since Bangkok is so congested - hard to imagine but I guess time will tell. From what little I've read, the real history of the area is much more complex and dynamic than her brief synopsis. But there is no doubt that Ayutthaya and Sukhothai are unique and interesting places.

Arriving in Ayutthaya by bus was pretty exciting. The history of the area is readily apparent - there are ruins everywhere. Old mixed with new and streets simply built around ( often unidentified) ruins. The city is actually an inland island. There are rivers on all 4 sides.

A random ruin in the middle of the road

Ruin complexes were all over - mostly Wats

According to a sign at the site of the Grand Palace, the traditional Thai belief was that where ever the King stayed was the center of the universe - "the center of supreme power and divinity". As such, a Wat (temple complex) was built in each of the 4 directions of the palace grounds. Interestingly, the Wats comprised the vast majority of the visible ruins. They were made primarily of brick and stone where the palace buildings apparently were mostly timber. When the Burmese finally succeeded in sacking the town (after 20 some unsuccessful attempts), they looted and burned the palace grounds destroying untold amounts of art and history. There was a large model speculating what the palace grounds looked like based on historic accounts, piles of rubble and traditional architecture but the grounds themselves were mostly a beautiful park with some low brick walls and foundations.

Speculative model of the Palace grounds

By contrast, the ruins of Sukhothai are separated from the modern day town (new Sukhothai) by about a 25 minute bus ride. I rented an amazing old bicycle that practically rode itself and tooled around the ruins and beautiful grounds.

There is a statue of Ram Khamhaeng the 3rd ruler of Sukhothai and acknowledged "father" of the Thai alphabet. An inscribed obelisk next to the statue tells of the area during his reign in a great deal of detail. There's an interesting write up about it on wikipedia (just search on Ram Khamhaeng). Even though the story was a bit utopian, I was disappointed to read that it's authenticity is in question. Dunno if this can be zoomed in on and read or not but here's the bulk of the translation that was in the on site museum:

I've spent the last 3 days in Sukhothai mostly resting and am feeling better. Chiang Mai tomorrow! The buses I've taken here are literally never on time so I thought it might be easier to plan a night in a hostel for my first night so probably won't see Sean and family for a day or two but I'm really looking forward to it.