Wat Kratoe was located off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya in the Samphao Lom Sub-district. (1)
The monastery stood south of Wat Phutthaisawan and more or less opposite Wat Tamnak.
There are no traces of the monastery above ground level.
The site is, at present, part of the grounds of Wat Phutthaisawan.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.
Wat Kratoe stood near Oil Press Village, where sesame oil and 'luk mai' oil (2) were extracted and sold. [1]
The monastery is shown as Wat Katoe (วัดกะเต่อ) on the 1974 CE Fine Arts Department (FAD) map. The 1993 CE FAD map does not name the site, while the 2007 CE map has Wat Kratoe. Based on the 2007 CE FAD map, the site was in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 16.05" N, 100° 33' 27.53" E.
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) 'Luk mai' oil, also called 'Samrong' oil, was made from the 'Sterculia foetida', a type of chestnut, also called bastard poon tree, hazel sterculia, or wild almond.
References:
[1] Baker, Chris (2011). Before Ayutthaya Fell: Economic Life in an Industrious Society. Markets and Production in the City of Ayutthaya before 1767: Translation and Analysis of Part of the Description of Ayutthaya. Journal of the Siam Society. Vol. 99. p. 53 footnote 36 and p. 56.
