Wat Ratchaburana, Ayutthaya

Why go

Wat Ratchaburana is a ruined temple on the city island of Ayutthaya, beside Wat Mahathat. The province's tourism page says that, according to a chronicle, King Borommarachathirat II (Chao Sam Phraya) built it in 1424 where his two elder brothers, who had killed each other fighting for the throne, were cremated. It says thieves dug into the main prang in 1957 and took gold objects, that the Fine Arts Department has restored the prang, and that visitors can see inside it, including the room where the treasure was kept. Chao Sam Phraya National Museum's history page says the museum was built to keep and show the objects from this temple's crypt. The Fine Arts Department's park page names Wat Ratchaburana among the island monuments excavated and restored under the government programme of 1956. This record is the Ayutthaya temple, not Wat Ratchaburana in Bangkok or Phitsanulok.