| WAT AM MAE (วัดอำแม) |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Wat Am Mae was situated on the city island of Ayutthaya in the south in Pratu Chai sub-district in an area called Thung Khaek (1). The monastery was located on the west bank of Khlong Pratu Thep Mi, which connected the old Lopburi River (at present Khlong Mueang or City Canal) in the north with the Chao Phraya River in the south at Thep Mi water gate. In the vicinity of the Wat Am Mae was the Saphan Wanon, an old bridge, of which some of it remains are still visible. Wat Borom Phuttharam lie on its east, while Wat Pa Jan stood on its south. To its north was Wat Pa Rong, located along the same canal. There are no traces anymore visible of the monastery above ground level. In the vicinity of Wat Am Mae in the Great Khaek Village was a fresh market called the "Chinese Market". [1], The site is indicated on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926. Am Mae is not a Thai name, but more likely a Muslim name possibly derived from the name Ahmad and might be connected to Sheikh Ahmad, a prominent Muslim merchant from Persia in Ayutthaya in the early 17th century or Sheikh Ahmad's family branch, who became very powerful in the Siamese administration from that period onwards. I believe Wat Am Mae could have been a mosque. In the old texts of the Kamhaikhan Khun Luang Ha Wat and the Kamhaikhan Khun Luang Wat Pradu Songtham, is mentioned that Wat Am Mae stood at the end of Great Khaek Village Jao Chen. Jao Chen refers to the person of the Phraya Chula Rachamontri in the reign of King Suriyamarin (r. 1758-1767). Chen was a Persian Muslim and the last Chula Rachamontri of the Ayutthayan era. If we look at Engelbert Kaempfer's sketch we can see, next to the symbol of a temple being Wat Am Mae, a construction with a crescent moon. The latter could have been the workplace of the Phraya Chula Rachamontri. Wat Am Mae was located in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 56.10" N, 100° 33' 54.19" E. Footnotes: (1) Khaek (Thai language) is a foreigner from the Arabian sub-continent, the Indian sub-continent, Malaysia or Indonesia. References: [1] Markets and Production in the City of Ayutthaya before 1767: Translation and Analysis of Part of the Description of Ayutthaya - Chris Baker - Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 99, 2011 - page 63. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Text & maps by Tricky Vandenberg Updated April 2016 |
| (Detail of Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map - Anno 1926) |
| (Detail of a 2007 Fine Arts Department GIS map - Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department - 3th Region) |
| (Detail of Engelbert Kaempfer's sketch map - Anno 1690) |
