Wat Pa Phai, or the Monastery of the Paddle Quarter, was situated on Ayutthaya’s city island in the Ayutthaya Historical Park in the Pratu Chai Sub-district.
On its north stood San Phra Kan, a Brahmin shrine (south of the City Foundation Stone or Lak Mueang), while Wat Pa Mo (defunct) stood in the southwest and Wat Rak (defunct) in the west. The compound of the Phra Khlang (1) stood in the south. Wat Pa Nai (defunct) stood in the east across the Maha Rathaya Road (aka Phra Khlang Road), present Sri Sanphet Road.
There are no traces of foundations or brickwork at ground level, and I classified the temple as defunct.
The monastery stood on the place where is at present a Thai style house, just north of the old Provincial Building, where Ayutthaya's Tourist Office is located (the Thai style house belongs to the Tourist Authority Thailand - TAT).
The site is mentioned on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE and on a 19th-century map by an unknown surveyor. The position of the temple matches both maps. On the oldest map, the temple is indicated with the presence of a chedi. On a 1993 Fine Arts Department (FAD) map, the site is called Wat Pa Phrai, which was rectified on the 2007 CE FAD map.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction is unknown.
Wat Pa Phai was in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 3.89" N, 100° 33' 35.57" E.
Footnotes:
(1) The Phra Khlang was the head of the Krom Khlang, the Ministery of External Relations and Maritime Trading Affairs of Ayutthaya, according to the Law of the Civil Hierarchy. He was in charge of the royal warehouses, the commercial monopolies controlled by the court, and the relations with foreigners. Effectively the official was the King's merchant. The Three Seals Law specified a sakdina of 10,000 for the Phra Khlang.
