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Photo: Mr.Peerapong Prasutr, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
There's nothing left of the Japanese Settlement, so instead, the Japanese government decided to create a Japanese-style park at the location where the Japanese Settlement have been according to the documents of Dutch East India Company. The Ayutthaya Historical Study Centre started a branch here, a museum about Ayutthaya's foreign relations with Japan and other countries. It starts with an interesting film lasting about 15 minutes and then you can explore the museum on your own. Very interesting and gives a good background of the city's history.
The Japanese Village, known in Thai as Ban Yipun or Muban Yipun, was a historic Japanese ethnic enclave (nihonmachi) just outside the capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom that flourished from the 17th century to the mid-18th century, now in the area of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District. It was located on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya river, facing the Portuguese enclave on the western bank, and adjacent to the British and Dutch enclaves. It is believed that approximately 1000 to 1,500 Japanese lived in the enclave, though the Japanese book Shamu-koku fūdo gunki (暹羅国風土軍記) estimates there were up to 8,000 ethnic Japanese during the Kan'ei period (1624–1644). The inhabitants of the enclave consisted of mercenaries, traders, Japanese Christians, and Thai and Chinese slaves.
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A scattering of ruins, highlighted by the Dominican church (วัดโปรตุเกสโดมินิกัน). Inside the church are the excavated remains of members of the settlement. It is kind of an eerie sight, but interesting. The skeletons of those inside the church apparently belong to those who were of higher status within the settlement, like priests. It was said to be the largest community of Westerners after it was settled in the early 1500s. The settlement was destroyed in 1767 after the fall of Ayutthaya.
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The Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded in 1602 was the largest and most impressive of the early modern trading companies operating in Asia. The Dutch established their first trading post in Ayutthaya in 1608. By the 1630s the Dutch received land and permission to build a lodge on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River. The two-storey brick building was known to the Dutch as de logie and the settlement developed into a separate village. This building was destroyed by the invading Burmese armies in 1767. After being archaeologically excavated, the brick foundation of the building was found and during the celebrations of 400 years of Thai-Dutch relations, Queen Beatrix donated a royal gift to establish an information centre near the site of the Dutch lodge. The Thai Fine Arts Department excavated the site and found many artifacts, such as Chinese porcelain, Dutch pipes, and a coin.
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A working monastery south of Ayutthaya. No one knows how old it is, but it existed before Ayutthaya was founded as the capital. It contains a gilded 19 meter high seated Buddha from 1334 CE, called Luang Pho Tho (หลวงพ่อโต) by Thais and Sam Pao Kong (ซำเปากง) by Thai-Chinese, restored several times in history. A small room to the right of the main hall contains a nice collection of Buddha images and the room is painted with many individual unique pictures, in bright colours offset with gold. At the end of the temple, there is a shrine dedicated to Chao Mae Soi Dok Mak (เจ้าหญิงสร้อยดอกหมาก). The temple was visited in 1407 CE by Zheng He.
This fortress was the city's most important defensive structure in the 15th century. It was built of wood in 1350 CE by King Mahachakraphat, and later rebuilt with bricks. A few walls still remain and the grounds have a nice view of the river. The fortress is close to Wat Suwan Dararam, and is right beside a ferry that can take you to Wat Phanan Choeng.
This modern wat with no ruins can be accessed by side streets off U-Thong Rd. The wat contains a few small spires, and some nicely decorated modern buildings.
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King Naresuan the Great commanded that the pagoda be built to celebrate the victory of his single-handed combat on elephant back. He also intended a huge construction to match the large pagoda of Wat Phukhao Thong. The large pagoda from a distance, and some of its ruins appear on well-known photos of temples in Thailand. Constructed in the reign of King U-Thong, the temple features a large reclining Buddha in saffron robes in its own ruined viharn, and, most spectacularly, a huge chedi swathed in golden cloth set in a courtyard which is lined by Buddha images all wearing saffron robes. Very photogenic.