Wat Chang Yai วัดช้างใหญ่ or the Great Monastery of the Elephant is an active temple located off the city island in the northwestern area.
On site is an old ordination hall in the Early Ayutthaya style (1351 - 1491) and other more recent temple buildings. The ubosot has one elevated front porch with a single entry door - likely none in earlier times. Initially the hall had five square windows on the sides, but due to the bad condition of the building, two of them on each side have been filled, while at the same time the whole structure was fortified by installing concrete support beams around the hall.
The old hall has mural paintings from the Ratanakosin period, painted during the reign of
King Rama IV. The mural paintings are damaged and slowly fading away. There are also some traces of old faded paintings on the outside wall at the entry of the ubosot. The main Buddha image in the ordination hall is in U-Thong style, depicted in sitting posture and in the Bhumisparsa mudra also ...
Port FC, one of Thailand’s oldest professional soccer clubs, was founded in 1967 as the Port Authority of Thailand Football Club by employees of the national port authority. The side quickly established itself as a domestic powerhouse, claiming multiple Kor Royal Cup titles in its early decades along with several Queen’s Cup triumphs. After competing in the Thai League from the mid-1990s, the club underwent name changes and ownership shifts before Nualphan Lamsam assumed control in 2015, restoring the Port FC name and steering the team back into consistent top flight contention and occasional continental competition.
Vissel Kobe traces its roots to 1966, when it began as the Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club in Okayama Prefecture. The team relocated to the port city of Kobe in 1995, adopting the name Vissel—a blend of “victory” and “vessel” to honor the city’s maritime heritage. After earning promotion to the J.League in 1997, the club endured years of mid-table finishes and financial ...
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish sustained contact with the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, beginning in 1511 shortly after their capture of the vital entrepôt of Malacca. Aware that Malacca had been a distant vassal of Siam, the Portuguese commander Afonso de Albuquerque promptly dispatched an envoy, Duarte Fernandes, by Chinese junk up the Chao Phraya River to the Siamese court. King Ramathibodi II received the visitor cordially, accepted the fait accompli of the Portuguese conquest, and opened the way for further diplomatic exchanges. Subsequent missions followed: one led by António de Miranda de Azevedo in 1512 and another by Duarte Coelho in 1516–1518. These culminated in a formal treaty of friendship and commerce, the first such agreement between Siam and a European power.
Under its terms the Portuguese obtained permission to reside and trade at Ayutthaya and other Siamese ports, to practise their religion freely, and to enjoy certain commercial privileges and tax exemptions. In ...
The ruin commonly identified as Wat Worapho, also known by its earlier name Wat Rakhang or the Monastery of the Bell, stands directly west of the former Grand Palace within the Ayutthaya Historical Park.
It forms part of a protected cluster of restored ruins that also includes Wat Worachettharam and Wat Lokaya Sutha, and it is most easily reached from the western side of Khlong Tho. The site occupies a large area that once stood on the north bank of Khlong Fang and the west bank of Khlong Pak Tho, with traces of a surrounding moat still visible in places though partially obscured by later road construction.
The precise date of the monastery’s founding remains uncertain, yet it clearly predates 1600. The Royal Chronicles first record it in connection with the ordination of Prince Si Sin around 1602. While living as a high-ranking monk there under the title Phra Phimontham Anantapricha, the prince gained renown as a Buddhist scholar deeply versed in the scriptures and royal manuals. His scholarly ...
