Wat Chaiwatthanaram

Built in the 1630s under King Prasat Thong, Wat Chaiwatthanaram borrows the Khmer temple-mountain plan and turns it into something distinctly Ayutthayan. A single tall prang stands at the centre of a raised platform, surrounded by four smaller prangs and eight chapels linked by a gallery, the whole arrangement a model of the Buddhist cosmos. Rows of seated Buddha images line the gallery, most of them headless, and stucco reliefs survive in patches on the chapel walls. The riverfront setting is the other half of it: the complex faces the Chao Phraya, so the brickwork takes the low western light directly and the ruin is often photographed from a boat.

What you actually see

• The central prang - the corn-cob tower on its raised platform.
• The ring of chapels - eight structures joined by a gallery of seated Buddhas.
• Surviving stucco - reliefs of the Buddha's life still legible on some walls.
• The river frontage - the complex seen from the water, best late in the day.

When to go

Late afternoon into sunset is when the west-facing brick looks best, and the site stays open into the evening with the prangs lit. November to February is the cool season. Weekends bring large numbers of Thai visitors who rent period costume for photographs, which is worth knowing before you arrive expecting solitude.

Honest expectations

It is fully ticketed, roped in places, and busy at golden hour, with tripods competing for the same three angles. Almost every Buddha image in the gallery is headless, which some find affecting and others simply bleak. The site sits low and floods in bad years. Shade is minimal and the brick platform holds heat well past four.

Nearby

Ayutthaya's island temples across the river and Bang Pa-In to the south.