| WAT THONG 1 (วัดทอง) |
| Wat Thong or the Golden Monastery was located off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya in Samphao Lom sub-district. (1) It was situated near the mouth of Khlong Khu Cham on its east bank at the confluence with the present Chao Phraya River. Adjacent lies the present active Masjid Islam Watana. In its vicinity but a bit east were situated Wat Khok Sung and Wat Wihan Khian. There are no visual traces from the monastery anymore at ground level and houses were built in situ. Its historical background and period of construction are unknown. The Pak Khlong Khu Cham floating market (2) was held in the vicinity of Wat Thong, at the rear of the Surau Khaek (3), located on the west bank of Khlong Khu Cham. Near Wat Thong along Lai Song Street was held another market, being one of the thirty known land markets outside the city. [2] The site is indicated on a mid-19th century map and on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926. Some remains of the temple were excavated by the Fine Arts Department (FAD) in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 32.40" N, 100° 33' 52.30" E. Footnotes: (1) Literally the sub-district of the capsized junk. The area was known before as Ban Samphao Lom. (2) The Pak Khlong Khu Cham floating market was one of the four large floating markets on the river around Ayutthaya ("Pak" stands for mouth of the canal). [1] (3) A "surau" is a Malay word for a small Muslim prayer hall or house, used for the daily prayers. It does not have the same status as the "masjid" (Arabic - place of prostration) or mosque, to be used for the special Friday prayers. A surau can be upgraded to a mosque, but a mosque can never be downgraded to a surau, even if the Muslim community builds a new mosque. It can be more or less compared with what is a chapel and a church for the Christians. The Surau Khaek is mentioned on the mid-19th century map. References: [1] Phanna phumisathan Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya: Ekasan jak Ho Luang - Geographical description of Ayutthaya: Documents from the palace - Dr Vinai Pongsripian - Bangkok (2007) - page 84. [2] Ibid - page 85. |
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| Text & maps by Tricky Vandenberg Updated February 2016 |
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| (Detail of Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map - Anno 1926) |
| (Detail of a 19th century map - map is orientated S-N) |
| (Detail of a 2007 Fine Arts Department GIS map - Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department - 3th Region) |