Maha Chai Fortress, Hua Ro: where Ayutthaya's wall came down on the night the city fell

The weakest corner of the city

Maha Chai Fortress stood where the old Lopburi River (today Khlong Bang Khuat) reached the city island. The channel on this side was narrower than on the others, so enemies had used this corner to close in on the city since the war of 1569, when King Bayinnaung's army built a causeway across the river opposite Hua Ro. After that war Chandra Kasem Palace was built and the city wall on this side was extended to the water's edge, to close the weak point.

In the war of 1766–1767 Ne Myo Thihapate chose this same corner as his main point of attack, because the channel was at its narrowest. The Burmese built a bamboo bridge across the river opposite the Ro weir by night. The Siamese sallied out and at first drove the Burmese back, but lacking reinforcements they were beaten. Studies say it was the last time the people in the city went out to fight.

Tunnels and fire under the wall

At the end of March 1767 the Burmese built three camps on the Hua Ro side and dug five tunnels under the base of the wall, shored them with timber and packed them with fuel. On the afternoon of Tuesday 7 April, at about three o'clock, the Burmese lit the fires at the foot of the wall beside Maha Chai Fortress, while the camps around the city kept up a cannonade. When the props had burned through, the wall above subsided at dusk. At about eight in the evening the Burmese commander ordered an assault on every side at once, through the breach and by scaling ladders. The Burmese were inside the city by about midnight, and fire spread through the whole town.

On the bank opposite the fortress there is also Khok Phama, the "Burmese Mound", in the area of Wat Mae Nang Pluem, believed to be the remains of a Burmese camp built at this time.

Hua Ro after the war

After the fall, the Hua Ro neighbourhood gradually became a riverside trading community again. Some studies suggest that when King Taksin's fleet came up to Ayutthaya on 24 October 1767, it lay over for a night in the Hua Ro area before attacking the Pho Sam Ton camp, further up the same waterway. Later, in the reign of King Rama I, the city wall was taken down and its bricks used to build Bangkok, and Maha Chai Fortress disappeared from sight.

In 2009 the building of a convenience store uncovered the line of the fortress wall and ceramics. They were covered over again, and a small memorial wall was built on U Thong Road near the market entrance.

A walk around Hua Ro

Come in the morning to see Hua Ro Market at its liveliest. There are several places for breakfast, such as Je Ni's Rice Porridge and Buk's Red Pork Rice in the market, and Chandra Kasem Palace is a few minutes' walk away. If you want to see the side where the Burmese camped, cross the bridge to Wat Mae Nang Pluem to the north. Thai Mitr 2 Gold Shop is also here in the Hua Ro Market area, for anyone who would like a gold keepsake from Ayutthaya.