Wat Khom, or the Khmer Monastery, is located off the city island in the southeast area of Ayutthaya, in the Suan Phlu Sub-district. Wat Phanan Choeng was in the northwest, and Wat Monthop (defunct) was in the southwest.
The monastery stood on the west bank of Khlong Suan Phlu (1), just below the confluence of the last with Khlong Thanon Tan (2).
There are no traces above ground level as urbanisation took its toll.
The history and establishment of this temple is unknown.
The temple's name suggests that this area was a former settlement of Khmer immigrants. The word "Khom" is translated in most of the Thai dictionaries as (ancient) Khmer - "Khamen Boran", a member of the ancient Khmer race dominating the Indochinese Peninsula before the 14th century. We read in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya that in the early years of the city-state, many wars had been fought with the Khmers of Angkor and a lot of Khmer prisoners were rounded up and subjected to the "corvee" system. A major Khmer group - approx. 2200 people - migrated to Siam during the reign of King Narai (1656-1688 CE) because of infighting in their country. [1]
Wat Khom appears on Phraya Boran Ratchathanin’s map of 1926 CE and the Fine Arts Department maps as early as 1957 CE.
The temple was situated on the "Dutch Island" in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 35.29" N, 100° 34' 54.25" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Khlong Suan Phlu, or the "Canal of the Betel Garden", flows through the Kramang and Suan Phlu sub-districts of Ayutthaya. The canal is situated off the city island in the southeastern area. The canal links the Pa Sak River in the north with the Chao Phraya River in the south. Khlong Suan Phlu created an island called "Ko Wilandia" in the Ayutthayan era. The Dutch settlement and Wat Phanan Choeng are situated on this island.
(2) Khlong Thanon Tan or the Canal of the Sugar Road. It flows through the Kramang and Suan Phlu sub-districts. The canal links Khlong Khao San with Khlong Suan Phlu and the Pa Sak River and probably gave access earlier to Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. No monasteries were situated along its banks. The canal forms an island called "Ko Kaeo" or "Crystal Island", with a stretch of the Pa Sak River and Khlong Khao San. Ko Kaeo was an important battleground during the wars with the Burmese. The canal is filled in and is only used as a water drainage canal (heavily polluted).
References:
[1] Charnvit Kasetsiri & Michael Wright (2007). Discovering Ayutthaya. Toyota Thailand Foundation. p. 141.