Wat Noi, or the Little Monastery, (1) was located on Ayutthaya’s city island in the northwestern part of the city in the Pratu Chai Sub-district. The temple stood on the north bank of an ancient canal called Khlong Chang Maha Chai (1).
Wat Sop Sawan (defunct) was on the west side of the temple, while Wat Khok Chang (defunct) stood on its east.
There are no traces anymore of the former monastery. A Thai Army camp (old cantonment) has been installed on the site. I classified the temple as defunct.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.
The site is mentioned on a 19th-century map by an unknown surveyor. On the latter map, the monastery is depicted with two chedis, on the west side of the old ring road and close to the Kaeo Bridge (2), crossing the Chang Maha Chai Canal.
Wat Noi is not found on Phraya Boran Rachathanin’s map drafted in 1926 CE, nor on any Fine Arts Department map.
The defunct monastery was in approximative geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 13.48" N, 100° 32' 58.13" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Khlong Chang Maha Chai, or the Great Victory Granary Canal, is a defunct waterway on Ayutthaya's city island in Pratu Chai Sub-district. The east-west running canal had its mouth at the old Lopburi River in front of Wat Thamma and linked up with Khlong Pak Tho. The canal passed the fortified city wall at the Chang Maha Chai Gate, a large water gate between Wat Suan Luang and Wat Sop Sawan. The canal has been filled up somewhere after the fall of Ayutthaya (1767 CE), and no traces of the waterway are left today. (2) I believe this bridge shows on Kaempfer’s sketch drawn in 1690 CE, as part of a road along the east side of the Rear Palace and crossing the Chang Maha Chai Canal towards the Fang Canal Gate.
