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A historical map · Ayutthaya to Thonburi

In the footsteps ofKing Taksin

Tap a pin to read why that spot matters, choose a period to see what the place was like before the war, during the Burmese siege, at the fall and recapture of the city, in the Thonburi years and today, or tap Why does this spot matter? when you’re standing in Ayutthaya.

  • 17places on the map
  • 5periods to explore
  • 11campaign routes
  • 6chronicle episodes
  • 15years of Thonburi
Open the 5-period map ↓Campaign routes1-day tripBiography

The Burmese armies besieged Ayutthaya for about 14 months. Phraya Tak fought in defence of the city, then broke out to the east on 3–4 January 1767

  • Temple
  • Palace
  • Community
  • Fort / camp
  • Linked to King Taksin
  • Not yet built in the selected period
  • Burmese camp (shown by period)
  • Where the enemy got in
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    Follow King Taksin's campaigns

    Overview map of the routes of King Taksin's 11 campaigns

    From the breakout through the Burmese lines at Wat Phichai, the gathering of forces at Rayong and Chanthaburi and the return by sea to retake the capital at the Pho Sam Ton camp, to the wars that reunited the kingdom over the 15 years of Thonburi: this map traces 11 key campaigns, showing how the chronicles record each one and where historians still disagree.

    See all 11 campaigns

    Burmese siege camps around Ayutthaya

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    The Burmese armies camped around the city for more than a year, from the main camps at Pak Nam Prasop and Pho Sam Ton in the north to the siege works at Hua Ro, where tunnels were dug under the city wall. On the map above, Burmese camps are the diamond-shaped pins: choose the siege period to see them all.

    All 19 camps, with sights and food nearby

    The first fall, 1569The second fall, 1767

    Start with his life story

    Main articleThe life of King Taksin the GreatFrom his birth in Ayutthaya and his years as Phraya Tak to the breakout through the Burmese lines, the recapture of the capital at Pho Sam Ton, the founding of Thonburi and the end of his reign, with the real places involved.

    Places linked to King Taksin

    A star ★ marks places tied to King Taksin's life. Every page tells the place's story across all 5 periods.

    TempleWat Choeng Tha★The temple where the boy Sin is said to have studied under Phra Achan Thongdi, before he grew up to be Phraya TakPalaceAncient Royal Palace★Where the young Sin was presented as a royal page, and where some chronicles say King Taksin spent the night after recovering the capitalTempleWat Phu Khao Thong★The plain where Phraya Tak went out to fight the Burmese early in the war, and where the Burmese commander later set up his campTempleWat Yai Chai Mongkhon★Where Phraya Tak and Phraya Phetchaburi stationed their flotilla during the floods at the end of 1766TempleWat Sangkhawat★The river battlefield where Phraya Phetchaburi was killed, in the fight that changed Phraya Tak's mind about defending the cityTempleWat Phichai Songkhram★Phraya Tak's last camp at Ayutthaya, and the starting point of his breakout through the Burmese siege on 3 January 1767CommunityBan Khao Mao★The line of march on the first night after the breakout, the night Phraya Tak saw the city on fireFort / campPho Sam Ton camp★The main Burmese camp north of the city, which King Taksin retook at the end of October 1767

    From late Ayutthaya to Thonburi

    Start with the overview, then read one period at a time: the Ban Phlu Luang dynasty, the war that ended Ayutthaya, the rival factions after the fall, and the Thonburi kingdom.

    OverviewLate Ayutthaya to Thonburi: 94 years that changed SiamFrom the last years of Ayutthaya to the end of Thonburi in 17821688–1767Ban Phlu Luang dynastyLate Ayutthaya, the age in which King Taksin was born and grew up1764–1767The war of the second fall of AyutthayaTwo Burmese armies besieged the capital for about 14 months, until it fell on 7 April 17671767–1770The factions after the fallThe country broke into several factions, until King Taksin brought them together within about three years1767–1782Thonburi15 years of a capital on the Chao Phraya River, and a single king

    What the chronicles say

    The chronicles tell the same events in different ways. We set them side by side, one event at a time, with links to the original texts.

    January 1767Phraya Tak leaves Ayutthaya: desertion, or orders?5 sources comparedApril 1767How King Ekkathat died: the Thai chronicles and the Burmese chronicle4 sources comparedOctober–November 1767The battle of Pho Sam Ton and the fate of Suki4 sources compared1767–1777Why Thonburi, and how the outside world saw the new king4 sources compared1779–1782The last years: was the king really deranged, or was it a political charge?5 sources comparedApril 1782The last days of Thonburi: what each document says5 sources compared

    What are the chronicles, and which versions exist? →

    Travel and food in King Taksin's footsteps

    ItinerariesOne day in Ayutthaya in King Taksin's footstepsA one-day Ayutthaya plan in King Taksin's footsteps: Maha Chai Fortress, Wat Choeng Tha, the Phu Khao Thong plain, the Royal Palace and Wat Phichai Songkhram.ItinerariesHalf a day along the breakout route: Wat Phichai to Ban Phran NokA half-day drive along Phraya Tak's breakout route of January 1767: Wat Phichai Songkhram, Ban Khao Mao, Wat Sam Bandit, Ban Pho Sao Han and Ban Phran Nok.ItinerariesAyutthaya in the evening: along the southern line of the siegeAn afternoon-to-evening route along Ayutthaya's southern defences of 1767: the Portuguese Settlement, Wat Phanan Choeng, Phet Fortress and Wat Chaiwatthanaram.FoodRestaurants and markets near the ruins20 places, grouped by nearby siteWhere to stayAyothaya HotelOur recommended hotel in the middle of the city island, with distances to the ruinsSouvenirs & giftsSouvenirs and must-buy gifts from Ayutthaya14 items, with where to buy

    Other key places in the fall of Ayutthaya

    Fort / campMaha Chai Fortress, Hua RoThe corner of the wall the Burmese undermined with tunnels and fire until it collapsed on the night the city fell, 7 April 1767TempleWat Mae Nang PluemThe bank opposite Maha Chai Fortress where the Burmese camped to attack the city; what remains is Khok Phama, the "Burmese Mound", near the templeTempleWat Na Phra MenThe temple the Burmese used as a position for firing on the palace, which is why it escaped the fire on the night the city fellTempleWat Phra Si SanphetThe palace temple whose gold-covered Phra Si Sanphet image was burned and stripped of its gold on the night the city fellTempleWat MahathatThe great temple at the centre of the city island that was burned, its Buddha images beheaded, when the city fellFort / campPhet FortressThe river-mouth fort at the south-east corner, on the side where the Chinese volunteers' junks were trapped by a Burmese iron chainTempleWat Phanan ChoengThe temple of the riverside Chinese community, near the camp of the Chinese volunteers at Khlong Suan Phlu in the war of the fallCommunityPortuguese SettlementThe Portuguese community whose camp fell in March 1767; some of its soldiers went on to serve in King Taksin's armyTempleWat ChaiwatthanaramThe riverside temple on the west bank that served as a stronghold on the southern side, holding out against the Burmese for nine days before it fell

    King Taksin's life on the Ayutthaya map

    Tap an event to jump to that spot on the map. Years are CE, with the Buddhist Era (BE) year used in Thai books shown beneath. Old documents that began the year in the fifth lunar month record the events of January–March 1767 (BE 2310) under BE 2309.

    1. 1734BE 2277

      Born in Ayutthaya (17 April 1734 is the date generally accepted). There is no evidence of where in the city his family home stood.

      Birthplace unknown
    2. c. 1741BE c. 2284

      Begins his schooling under the monk Phra Achan Thongdi at Wat Kosawat, today's Wat Choeng Tha.

      View Wat Choeng Tha on the map
    3. c. 1750sBE c. 2290s

      Presented as a royal page at the Royal Palace, then sent to serve at Tak, where he rose to be its governor, Phraya Tak.

      View Ancient Royal Palace on the map
    4. 1766BE 2309

      Late in January Phraya Tak and Phraya Phetchaburi go out to fight the Burmese on the plain by Wat Phu Khao Thong, but are beaten back.

      View Wat Phu Khao Thong on the map
    5. 1766BE 2309

      During the November floods Phraya Tak and Phraya Phetchaburi command a flotilla stationed at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon.

      View Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon on the map
    6. 1766BE 2309

      The fight at Wat Sangkhawat: Phraya Phetchaburi's boats are surrounded and he is killed. The chronicles say Phraya Tak's force did not go to his aid.

      View Wat Sangkhawat on the map
    7. 1766BE 2309

      Phraya Tak moves his camp to Wat Phichai, on the east bank of the Pa Sak River.

      View Wat Phichai Songkhram on the map
    8. 1767BE 2310

      3–4 January: he breaks out through the Burmese lines from Wat Phichai, heading east. On the evening of the 4th, at Ban Khao Mao, the fire in the city can be seen.

      View Ban Khao Mao on the map
    9. 1767BE 2310

      7 April: the Burmese set fires beneath the city wall at Maha Chai Fortress, Hua Ro, until the wall collapses. Ayutthaya falls.

      View Maha Chai Fortress, Hua Ro on the map
    10. 1767BE 2310

      25–27 October: King Taksin attacks the Pho Sam Ton camp, held by Suki, and takes it.

      View Pho Sam Ton camp on the map
    11. 1767BE 2310

      Late October: he has the body of King Ekkathat exhumed and cremated, and surveys the burnt-out city.

      View Ancient Royal Palace on the map
    12. 1767BE 2310

      6 November: he leaves the Pho Sam Ton camp and goes down to set up his capital at Thonburi.

      Thonburi (off this map)
    13. 1767BE 2310

      28 December: he is crowned king at Thonburi, which is why this date is King Taksin the Great Day.

      Thonburi (off this map)

    How this map works

    This site pins 17 key places from King Taksin's life and the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 at their real coordinates around the old capital, then tells the story of each one across 5 periods: the last years of Ayutthaya, the siege, the fall and recapture, the Thonburi years, and today. Places that did not yet exist in the period you choose appear as dashed pins. The Pho Sam Ton camp and Ban Khao Mao lie outside the map's opening view: zoom out, or tap their names in the list, to see them.

    When you visit Ayutthaya, tap the “Why does this spot matter?” button. It uses your phone’s location to find the nearest important site and tells you how far away it is. Your location is used only on your device and is never sent or stored anywhere.