Noh Na Paknam
Noh Na Paknam was a prolific writer, art historian, and preservationist who worked closely with Silpakorn University and the Fine Arts Department, and who wrote extensively on Thai temples, antiques, and murals. From November 1966 to March 1967 CE, he spent five months in the Ayutthaya area, visiting known temples and ruins. He visited Wat Nom Duan on 11 February 1967 CE. The following is a report from his site visit.
"From Wat Pho, walking across the Thung Kaeo fields and veering slightly northwest, we found a pagoda spire atop the treetops on an island in the middle of the field. The pagoda is a small, octagonal, Sri Lankan-style structure situated on a high mound. Numerous Buddha images made of white sandstone were also found, though only fragments remained, recognisable as mere pieces. The temple itself is severely damaged, with almost nothing left except the single pagoda it was likely excavated for bricks during the brick-selling era. (3) The fallen roof tiles are corrugated terracotta. Bricks found measure 32.5 × 5.5 × 8 cm and 24 × 28 × 6 cm. To the north of the island is a large lotus pond. It is believed that originally, it was a moat or large pond surrounding the temple, similar to Wat Chongkrom and Wat Phra Ram in Thung Khwan. These temples are located in very similar places. This discovered temple is called Wat Nom Duan." [1]
Today, we can conclude that the small octagonal Sri Lankan-style pagoda, which still existed in 1966 CE, is gone.
Footnotes:
(1) Thung Kaeo, or Crystal Field, is an area north of the city of Ayutthaya bordered on the west and north by Khlong Sra Bua, on the east by Khlong Hua Ro, and on the south by Khlong Mueang.
(2) Khlong Pha Lai, or the Canal of the Patterned Cloth, was a canal situated off the city island in the northern area, running partly in present-day Tha Wasukri and Khlong Sra Bua sub-districts. The canal is defunct, but some stretches still exist. Most of the waterway, though, has been filled up. Khlong Pha Lai had its mouth west of Wat Mai and ran adjacent to Khlong Sra Bua into the old Lopburi River, now called Khlong Mueang.
(3) The Ayutthaya monasteries were sacked and plundered by the Burmese and further dismantled after the fall of Ayutthaya to reconstruct the Siamese capital in Bangkok. Most parts of the walls and forts were dismantled during the reign of King Rama I (1782 - 1809 CE), whose bricks were used to construct the city walls of the new capital in Bangkok. In 1784 CE, bricks from the ruins of Ayutthaya were used to build a barrage in the Lat Pho Canal at Phra Pradaeng to stop saline water from intruding farther inland. Another round of collecting building material occurred in the reign of King Rama III (1824-1851 CE) when remaining bricks and laterite stones, including those of the Thamnop Ro causeway and the Elephant Bridge, were sent down to Bangkok to be used in the construction of a giant stupa, a copy of Ayutthaya's Chedi Phukhao Thong, called Wat Saket, which collapsed into rubble. Ayutthaya's temple bricks were also used to strengthen the bed of the Bangkok-Ayutthaya-Lopburi railway track at the end of the 19th century. In the last century, as demand for antiques increased and amulet markets mushroomed, Ayutthaya's ruins were plundered once more. During the fifties and early sixties, witnesses recount, it was common for locals in the Ayutthaya area to collect the bricks of the ruins. The Department of Religious Affairs agreed to allow merchants to dig up bricks from abandoned temples and load them onto boats to sell. The bricks were used locally to help expand other temple sites but were mostly sold to contractors and shipped on a large scale, as there was demand from Bangkok. Trucks and boats from Bangkok collected the bricks at 20 Baht a load. On 15 December 1966 CE, Noh Na Paknam lamented: "Fortunately, Phraya Boran Ratchathanin had surveyed and mapped the area otherwise, future generations would not even know that the area was once a temple. This represents a great decline in the way people lived during that era. Just over 20 years ago, people deeply respected temples and strongly believed in karma and merit. Even when leaving a temple, they would wipe their feet on the grass to prevent soil and sand from clinging to their homes, considering it a sin to take from the temple. Nowadays, excavating and selling bricks from temples has become a minor issue. Even the Department of Religious Affairs once openly organised the excavation and sale of bricks from old temples. Until now, villagers have followed suit. It's gotten to the point where people are cutting off the heads of Buddha statues and selling them, which has become commonplace. Before, foreigners did it themselves. No Thai person dared to hire them because, as Buddhists, they were still ashamed of the sin. Now, we Buddhists are doing it ourselves, without needing foreign intervention, and offering to sell the statues to foreigners. It's incredibly shameful, because even foreigners don't have a history of Christians beheading statues of Jesus and selling them to tourists. This bizarre and outlandish practice is only happening in Thailand. And as for relying on laws to protect ancient artefacts, no government has taken any action. The matter has therefore continued, and we continue to lose our ancient art, left to chance. It's a truly sad and tragic situation." On 25 January 1967 CE, Noh Na Paknam noted: "Speaking of Ayutthaya bricks, it feels like a grave mistake by the government. Once, bricks from various temples were auctioned off for resale, to the point that even contracts from the Department of Public Works and the municipality once specified the use of broken bricks from Ayutthaya, effectively destroying Ayutthaya itself. Even today, the illegal excavation and sale of ancient bricks continue frequently." (Prayoon, 2527).
