Chai Nat is a small agricultural town in central Thailand located on the river plain where the Chao Phraya, Tha Chin and Noi rivers meet. This fertile land was perfectly suitable for settlement. The town has a glorious past as it was an important town and strategic location before entering Ayutthaya. Its location also placed it right at the centre of the territorial conflict as Ayutthaya challenged the power of the Sukhothai Kingdom. The scenery around Chai Nat is typical of the central plain-lush rice fields crisscrossed by a network of the canal. The town was an important trading centre in the heyday of fluvial transport for many centuries, but decline set in as roads were built. The ruins of old temples and local archaeological remains attest to its past political importance in the rivalry between the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya kingdoms, as a cultural and artistic centre when Dvaravati and U-Thong art as well as Sukhothai and Ayutthaya influences were found in these sites.

Today, Chai Nat is a small town and does not have many visitors. The museum presents artefacts from Chai Nat regions such as religious art ranging from votive tablets to Buddha images in various styles, ceramics of Lopburi, Ayutthaya, Bangkok periods, and some fragments of the Wheels of the Law and stone bells found in Chai Nat.

The Archaeological Museum and the Ancient city of Chansean can be found in the Takhli district of Nakhon Sawan province. This ancient city of Chansean is about 700×800 metres, covering an area of about 300 rai. It was an ancient city of the Dvaravati Period and located in the southernmost area of Nakhon Sawan. This ancient town first became known to archaeologists in 1966, when it was discovered on aerial photographs by Khun Nid Hin Shinanan, a prominent city planner and enthusiastic amateur archaeologist. Khun Nid later visited the site several times, over and over again and photographed objects that had been found by local farmers. He showed the photographs to officials of the National Museum in Bangkok and finally, the excavations at Chansean were conducted in 1968 and 1969.

The city of Chansean, located about 16 km east of the Chao Phraya River, is one of the oldest ancient cities of the Dvaravati period. This ancient city developed from a local community of this basin that had contact with India and was contemporaneous with the city of U-Thong in the basin of the Tha Chin River and the city of Funan near the mouth of the Mekhong River.

The evidence for this is seen in artefacts which can be found in these areas and India, such as terra-cotta seals, fragments of decorative pottery, beads and other ornaments, all of which share many common characteristics.

Wat Lai in Lop Buri province

Wat Lai is an Ayutthaya period temple that exhibits exceptionally fine stucco reliefs dating from the reign of King Borommakot (1732-1758) on the end walls of the unusual, double ubosot. Although they have been severely damaged and restored many times, their reliefs remain among the finest surviving examples of stucco decoration of the Ayutthaya period. The museum of this temple also contains many seated Buddha images and religious objects from the Ayutthaya period.

Wat Phra Non Chak Si in Sing Buri province

Wat Phra Non Chak Si is one of the most important temples of Sing Buri. Its chief attraction is the colossal reclining Buddha image made of glided stucco in a wihan built during the Ayutthaya period, which measures 46 m in length and is made of glided stucco over a brick core. Scattered around the temple enclosure are numerous other buildings, dating from Ayutthaya and Bangkok periods. Immediately to the west is Wat Na Phra That, located 400 m away. This has a restored brick central prang of Ayutthaya style. It is surrounded by several ruins brick buildings, partially overgrown by vegetation.

The Siam Society will arrange a 2-day study trip to explore the remaining ruins of the historical sites in Chai Nat, Nakhon Sawan, Lop Buri and Sing Buri provinces, under the leadership of Mr Euayporn Kerdchouay, Senior Consultant of The Siam Society.