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Ayuttaya Field Trip
By Molly Angstman
Ayuttaya Field Trip - March 8
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Wat Phra Si Sanphet in Ayuttaya
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Most of my travels in Thailand have been to islands. My friends and I (Ulfie, Linh and me) decided we should take a trip that was more educational. The school-sponsored field trip to Ayuttaya in March was a perfect option. Ayuttaya is full of my beloved dusty religious structures and the trip was nearly free. The Ministry of Education in Thailand gives my university (Webster University Thailand in Cha-am, Thailand) money every year so our foreign student population can learn to appreciate such historic landmarks.
We started out at 7 am in the usual bus that we take to school everyday. The ride took about 5 hours, as Ayuttaya is north of Bangkok traffic. Our first stop in Ayuttaya, first capital of Thailand and historic birthplace of incredible Thai art and culture was the… Tesco-Lotus shopping mall. So we ate at KFC and shopped for shoes. This first taste of Ayuttaya proved to be consistent with the rest of the city - New Thailand is built directly on the top of Old Siam.
The afternoon was spent as so many of my Thai afternoons have been spent - wandering around kind of lost, desperate from the heat. We visited two major temple structures, neither of which seemed very spiritual under the ruthless Thai sun.
Saturday was spent doing much of the same. The problem with Ayuttaya is the sheer volume of temples it has to offer. This “problem” has been a key element in the evolution of the very specific Ayuttayan sense of humor. The city is very quirky in the sense that the citizens seem to be only oddly aware of their ancient past. Little boys play soccer against a 15th century pagoda. There is a giant stupa in the front lawn of the Thai Farmer Bank. Farmers must plant around ruins bigger than their tractors.
Basically, the people in Ayuttaya treat their national treasures kind of like trees. They are everywhere and seem to take care of themselves. They are little noticed because they have been there (literally) forever.
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