Wat Chang Yai, known in Thai as วัดช้างใหญ่ and sometimes rendered as Wat Chaing Yai or Wat Chiang Yai, stands as an active Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya. Situated off the historic city island in the northwestern outskirts of the former capital, its name translates as the Great Monastery of the Elephant or Temple of the Large Elephant, reflecting deep ties to the Mon communities and the royal war-elephant traditions of the Ayutthaya kingdom.
The area’s history reaches into the late sixteenth century, when internal conflicts in Burma prompted Prince Naresuan, then governor of Phitsanulok, to return from campaign with large numbers of Mon people. Relatives of Peguan nobles, a head monk, and an estimated ten thousand others settled in the outskirts of Ayutthaya, including the neighbourhoods around what became Wat Chang Yai, Wat Chang Noi, and Wat Chumphon. These Mon settlers, formerly skilled mahouts and trainers of war elephants, integrated into Siamese military life and ...
Wat Lokaya Sutha, also known as Wat Lokayasutharam or Wat Lokayasutha, is a ruined Buddhist temple located in the northwest section of the Ayutthaya Historical Park. It stands directly west of the former Royal Palace and near Wat Phra Si Sanphet. The name has been interpreted as “Temple of the Earth” or linked to earlier references as Wat Lok Sutha, meaning the Monastery of the Celestial World. Its proximity to the royal palace, about 350 meters away, and the presence of a surrounding moat connected to nearby canals indicate that it once held considerable importance.
Little definitive information survives about its founding. The exact construction date remains unknown, though the architectural style of its central prang, which shares elements with those at nearby Wat Mahathat and Wat Ratchaburana, points to the early Ayutthaya period. Estimates place its origin in the fourteenth or early fifteenth century, with some sources associating it with the reign of King Intharatcha I, also known as ...
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 ...
