Footnotes:
(1) Sub-district called after the village Ban Samphao Lom near the Chao Phraya River. The village is on the Monthon Krung Kao map (1916 CE). John Bowring (1857, London, John W. Parker and Son, West Strand), in his book ‘The Kingdom and People of Siam’, wrote: "Between the modern and the ancient capital, Bangkok and Ayuthia, is a village called the “Sunken Ship,” the houses being erected round a mast which towers above the surface at low water."
(2) Not many people realise the Chao Phraya River was not running on the west side of the city island in the Ayutthaya period. At that time, it was the Lopburi River that flowed around Ayutthaya. Today's Phraya River ran through the Bang Ban Canal to Si Kuk and from there to Bang Sai (historical site: Chedi Wat Sanam Chai), where the Lopburi River joined the old Chao Phraya River. At the time, the old Chao Phraya River was situated about ten kilometres west of the centre of Ayutthaya. The city was linked to the ancient Chao Phraya River in the northwest of Ayutthaya via the Khlong Maha Phram and in the southwest via the Khlong Nam Ya. Steve Van Beeck (1994), in 'The Chao Phya: River in Transition" (Oxford University Press - New York.), writes that "It was not until 1857 that an alternative path was created [for the Chao Phraya River]. A 5-kilometre channel was dug from the entrance of Wat Chulamani to Ban Mai. The river responded by following this new course and abandoning the old one, in effect making a secondary river of the stretch that ran from Ban Mai, and into the Chao Phya Noi. Half as wide as the river above and below it, the 1857 Ban Mai shunt funnels the Chao Phya down to Ayutthaya."
(3) The first Buddha image was restored and completed in 1964 CE, and it is now displayed at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum in Ayutthaya. The second Buddha image was finished in 1966 CE and is housed at the Bangkok National Museum. The third image was assembled at Wat Phra Pathom Chedi on the south side in 1967 CE. The three Dvaravati images, seated with legs pendant (bhadrasana), have the right hand raised in a teaching gesture (vitarka mudra) and the left resting on the knee. They were once part of the stupa at Wat Phra Men in Nakhon Pathom. Four of these images were arranged around a central structure. The fourth Buddha image was moved from Wat Phra Men to Phra Pathom Chedi in 1861 CE and is now housed in its ordination hall.
(4) In the Ayutthaya period, there were twenty-two ferry routes between the mainland and the city island. In the southern area, the five other crossings were: the crossing to Wat Phanan Choeng, Tha Hoi to Wat Pa Jak, Tha Dan Chi to Wat Surintharam, Tha Chakrai Noi to Wat Tha Rap and Tha Wang Chai to Wat Nak.
References:
[1] Krom Sinlapakorn (1968). Phra Rachawang lae Wat Boran nai Jangwat Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya (Fine Arts Department).
[2] Interview of Mr Thanit Yupho, former Director-General of the Fine Arts Department, by Mr Prathum Chumphengphan, former head of the Chao Phraya National Museum on 7 February 1986 CE.
[3] Ratchathanin, Phraya Boran. Athibai Phaenthi Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya kap khamwinitjai khong Phraya Boran Racha Thanin. Explanation of the map of the Capital of Ayutthaya with a ruling of Phraya Boran Ratchathanin - Revised 2nd edition and Geography of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Ton Chabab print office. Nonthaburi (2007). p. 91.
