Ayyuthia: Can I get a wat wat?

I spent a few days on the AIT campus, primarily to secure the use of some borrowed field equipment and conduct a search of the primary literature in the library. Additionally I had to prepare and deliver a two hour seminar to a room full of graduate students. This latter assignment was sprung on me rather last minute, but after spending a day and night pulling my presentation together, I found I was too exhausted the following day to be nervous. The seminar went very well and I was held for 20 minutes afterward to answer questions. This was especially surprising as I had been told that nobody would ask questions. In Thailand professors are regarded with extreme respect, to the degree that students never challenge, debate, or even ask questions of their teachers. I must admit to a sense of satisfaction for receiving so many questions. It seemed the students and faculty were generally interested. Either that or they weren’t as intimidated by me as they would be a full professor. Either way, the seminar was a success in my mind – perhaps my best public speaking performance yet.

Seminar at AIT

That night Lucia – one of the University staff – invited me to join her and her 15-year old son to see a Thai film at the local cinema complex. Inside the cool dark theater, I almost felt as if I could’ve been at home in the States…. Until everyone stood up and began to sing the National Anthem. A brief movie montage appeared starring none other than the King of Thailand. Still screens flashed overhead, showing the King in his uniform giving food to a homeless man, the King hugging a group of children, the King playing his saxophone. Everyone around me sang proudly and I even noticed some eyes brimming with respectful tears. The monarchy is such a huge part of Thai culture, and the people seem to genuinely respect the King. Pictures of the Royal family are ubiquitous – on the walls of family living rooms, on billboards, bumper stickers, t-shirts, you name it. The thing is it doesn’t at all feel forced or contrived. The affection and pride are absolutely genuine. Historians and political analysts have attributed this to the fact that Thailand remains the only Southeast Asian country to have escaped European colonial rule, partly due to the tactful actions of the reigning Kings in the past. As a result Thais maintain a certain individuality and strong sense of national unity expressed through respect for the monarchy.



Long Live the King!

The movie was a very long, violent saga, the second of a three part series about one of Thailand’s Kings (King Neurasan). It was very entertaining – basically a Thai “Brave Heart”. The Thais and Burmese have been fighting for centuries, ransacking each other’s capitals in an ongoing battle for dominance. The movie (along with Lucia’s whispered explanations) helped clarify a lot about Thai history.

Inspired by the movie, the following day I caught a local train north to the ancient ruined capital of Ayyuthia. This city (the main setting from the movie) was at one time considered the capital of all of Asia. The founding King dug a series of trenches to isolate the city on its own island and divided it by rows of canals. In its heyday, t was a sort of Asian Venice, with small boats supplying the majority of commerce and transportation needs.

In the tuk tuk on the way to see the Ayyuthian ruins

Today Ayyuthia is a modern functional city, though tourism is probably the primary source of income. Ruins are everywhere, some thousands of years old. They turn up unexpectedly in the strangest of places: next to a post office, behind a 7-11, in the center of traffic circles. I took a tuk tuk (a colorful, tiny little three-wheeled truck) out to the central ruins and found a man sitting in the shade of a tree next to the river. Miraculously a pair of American tourists appeared just then, and together we convinced him to take us on an hour boat tour around the island city and canals for 200 baht apiece.

Ayyuthian reflection

I wanted to get an overview of the city before renting a bicycle to explore specific sites. The boat ride was beautiful and provided an inside look at both the ancient ruins and everyday modern residents of the city. A group of 8 or 9 year old monks ran out to the dock at their Wat to wave at us, a jumble of bright orange robes and sunny smiles. The red-bricked ruins looked beautiful reflected in the gentle river.

Ayyuthia by boat and the coolest looking but worst behaving bike ever

After a little aimless wandering and a wonderful accidental lunch of Som Tam and fresh mango, I rented a rusty old bicycle. It was covered in hologram stickers in the shapes of various animals and the seat wobbled and tilted so that I had to lean uncomfortably forward. But after a lengthy search it appeared to be the only bicycle for rent in a 3 block radius so I paid the obligatory 50 baht and off I went.

Elephants on parade

It was a wonderful day. I saw trains of elephants, stoically carrying tourists between the different sites. I pedaled through a beautiful park with ponds and bike paths connecting different sites. I tried to imagine ancient Ayyuthia at its prime, as it was presented in the movie I had seen. At sunset I found myself at one of the oldest sites, admiring the rosy light through the trees and the way the shadows made the venerable old Buddha statues seem to pop out from their hiding places in recesses along broken garden walls. I stayed until the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving me with the cicadas to enjoy the peaceful coolness of a stairway thousands of years old.

My rusty bike complained the entire way back to the bike shop, creaking and squealing every time I pedaled or tapped the breaks. Happy to be free of it, I enjoyed a cool rambutan shake at a trendy little bistro before flagging down a tuk tuk to take me back to the train. I soon found myself seated in an open car, the warm evening air rushing through the pane-less windows. I watched the evening scenery rush past, lights of villages winking through the tall grasses of the wetlands and rice paddies. Trains will come and go, those lights will change and multiply and shift, but the Ayyuthain ruins remain, a reminder of the resiliency of the Thai people.