WAT PHICHAI SONGKHRAM





Wat Phichai Songkhram, or the Monastery of War Victory, is a temple still in use by the monastic clergy. It is a classic-built temple with an ordination and sermon hall. While no prang is in situ and the vihara is relatively large, it was likely constructed in the late Ayutthaya period. A copper plate at the monastery indicates that it was built shortly before the final war between Burma and Ayutthaya in 1765 CE. The temple is located outside the city island in the Kramang Sub-district, at the mouth and south bank of Khlong Ban Bat (1).


The temple is mentioned in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya as being the place where the Phraya of Kamphaeng Phet (the later King Taksin), with his followers, set up camp in December 1766 CE.


The Phraya of Tak was promoted to Phraya Kamphaeng Phet by the Siamese King Suriyamin (Ekathat) and appointed as a brigade commander of a boat army that he had to constitute at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon to confront the Burmese in the open plains southeast of Ayutthaya. Phraya Kamphaeng Phet assigned the Phraya of Phetburi as his front guard while Luang Saraseni's troops were in support. The front guard, consisting of five fighting boats, got in contact with the enemy. The boats of the Phraya of Phetburi were entirely encircled by the numerous boats of the Burmese. Phraya Kamphaeng Phet and Luang Saraseni moored their boats and watched but did not advance to reinforce the front guard. The troops of the Phraya of Phetburi were slain and the latter, after a heroic battle, was impaled by the Burmese. Phraya Kamphaeng Phet and Luang Saraseni fled the scene, did not return to the capital, and set up stockades, respectively, near Wat Phichai and the adjacent Wat Kluei. Phraya Kamphaeng Phet, likely convinced that Ayutthaya would soon be lost to the Burmese, decided to seek his fortune in the south, while Luang Saraseni went his own way and fled elsewhere.


The troops of Phraya Kamphaeng Phet consisted of about 1,000 Thai and Chinese soldiers. The folk tale states that he prayed at Wat Phichai to seek good fortune in his planned escape to the south. On leaving the temple, the weather turned bad. Considering this as an auspicious sign (indeed, it is somewhat rare to have rainy weather in the cool season) and taking advantage of the situation, he broke through the Burmese encirclement after some fighting near Hantra Village. Later, he clashed with a pursuing Burmese army at Three Bandits Village, got them defeated and continued his travel to the south.


“During a time in the middle of that day, meanwhile, the Phraya of Kamphæng Phet, who had established a stockade at the Monastery of Victory, thereupon assembled his groups of followers and troops of soldiers, about one thousand Thai and Chinese completely outfitted with weaponry of every type, together with his master soldiers and important persons—they consisted of five masters, namely, the Phra of Chiang Ngoen for one, Luang Phrom Sena for one, Luang Phichai Asa for one, Luang Ratcha Saneha for one, and Khun Aphai Phakdi for one—and his khun, mün and many other unimportant persons. They organized themselves and decided to take the army and flee toward the east. Luang Saraseni, however, did not go along with them at all. He took his groups of followers and fled elsewhere. As soon as it began to rain hard, forming an auspicious moment propitious for victory, the Phraya of Kamphaeng Phet accordingly led the brigades of his army forth from the stockade at the Monastery of Victory and marched his army along toward the Village of the Division of the Seal. Just as it was getting dark, meanwhile, the brigades of a Burmese army, having learned [about his flight], managed to advance in pursuit and catch up with him, and they faced and fought each other in capable fashion. The Burmese army, being unable to withstand [his army], retreated and went back. He thereupon marched his army along toward the Village of Popped Rice and reached the Village of the Mixed Pundits during the middle of the night of that [same] day, at about a little past the second yam. He thereupon looked and saw the light of the fires burning inside the Capital and accordingly had the army halted to stay in that place.” [1]


Professor Bidya Sriwattanasarn writes in his weblog [2] that Phraya Kamphaeng Phet (formerly called Phraya Tak and later King Taksin] had among his followers several Portuguese descendants. This fact is not recorded in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya but was derived from Portuguese research published in 1983 [3], which specified that 79 Portuguese soldiers belonging to the “Department of Western (foreign) marksman soldiers” (กรมทหารฝรั่งแม่นปืน) had been engaged in Phraya Tak’s army during the period 1767-1768 CE. At least one of the four chiefs of this small Portuguese regiment (2), Khun Rit Samdaeng, joined Phraya Tak’s Army. After the Burmese were driven out, they were granted land by King Taksin to establish a new settlement named the Bandel de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Lit. the Village of Our Lady of the Rosary). The village was situated on the east bank of the Chao Praya River, south of Wat Kalayanamitr at the entrance of Khlong Bangkok Yai Canal, not far from Wat Arun and the former Palace of King Taksin at Thonburi. Sriwattanasarn assumes that the 79 Portuguese soldiers mentioned above were of the same group assigned to defend the French settlement (St Joseph Church) prior. The monastery was called Wat Phichai during the Ayutthaya era. The word ‘songkhram’, meaning ‘war’, was added to its name by the locals later during the Rattanakosin period. The monastery is indicated on a map drafted in the 19th century and Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map (1926 CE).


In the manuscript "Testimony of the King from Wat Pradu Songtham", a document likely compiled in the Early Rattanakosin period, it is written that there was a land market at Wat Phichai in Ban Bat. (3) [4]


There was a boat ferry between Wat Phichai and the landing near the Jao Jan Gate (4), east of Wat Pa Thon, connecting the city. In Ayutthaya times, there were twenty-two ferry routes. In the eastern area, the four other crossings were: Tha Chang Wang Na to Tha Wilanda, north of Wat Khwang Fortress to Wat Taphan Kluea, south of Wat Khwang to Wat Nang Chi and north of the Rachakrue Fortress to Wat Ko Kaeo. [6]


Wat Phichai Songkhram is in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 14.65" N, 100° 34' 55.84" E.





Footnotes:


(1) Khlong Ban Bat, or the Canal of the Village of the Monk's Alms-Bowl, is in the Ho Rattanachai and Phai Ling sub-districts of Ayutthaya. The waterway links the Pa Sak River with Khlong Kramang in the Phai Ling Sub-district and Khlong Khao Mao in the Hantra Sub-district. Given its rectilinearity and east-west orientation, this canal was man-made.

(2) The Three Seals Code indicated the existence of a structure called the Department of Western (foreign) marksman soldiers. This small regiment consisted of 170 Portuguese soldiers divided into four platoons. Each platoon contained around 45 men and was led by a chief, with a deputy chief and three lieutenants.

(3) Ban Bat or Alms Bow Village was known for making puppets, covered trays, and two-level pedestal trays for sale. [5]

(4) The Jao Jan Gate was a large land gate in the city wall, where it was forbidden to take corpses out.


References:


[1] Cushman, Richard D. & Wyatt, David K. (2006). The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. Bangkok: The Siam Society. p. 514.

[2] The Portuguese Bandel in the Kingdom of Thonburi: reward of the Portuguese Sharp-Shooters in Siam, 1768 A.D. written 29 Oct 2010 - http://siamportuguesestudy.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html - Weblog retrieved 6 November 2010.

[3] Early Portuguese accounts of Thailand - Joaquim de Campos, Joachim Joseph A. Campos - Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, 1983.

[4] Baker, Chris (2011). Note On Testimonies And Description Of Ayutthaya. Journal of the Siam Society. Vol. 99. p. 77. (paragraph on KWPS).

[5] 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. 54.

[6] Rachathanin, 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 Rachathanin - Revised 2nd edition and Geography of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Ton Chabab print office. Nonthaburi (2007). p 91.