Ban Khao Mao: Phraya Tak's first night outside the siege, and the road to Ban Phran Nok

The night the sky over the city turned red

The Royal Chronicle of Thonburi, Phan Chanthanumat (Choem) version, says the force left Wat Phichai at dusk on Saturday, marched by way of Ban Khao Mao, reached Ban Sam Bandit a little past the second watch, and then saw fire in the city, burning from Tha Sai along the main road as far as Wat Chatthan. The chronology in Silpa Wattanatham magazine tells it slightly differently: the force reached Ban Khao Mao on Sunday 4 January and saw the fire late at night. English-language works based on Burmese records note that on the night of 4 January some ten thousand houses inside the city walls burned. Several sources thus agree that there was a great fire at the time the force had just left.

Local legend says villagers in this area brought khao mao (pounded young rice) and arrows to give to Phraya Tak's force, and the name Ban Khao Mao has become tied to the story. But the name may be older, since khao mao was in any case a food of rice farmers at harvest time. The research team writing in the Thammasat Journal of History observes that villagers bringing supplies is unlikely, because the area was close to the Burmese lines.

Wat Sam Bandit, Ban Pho Sao Han and Khlong Chana

The next morning, Sunday 4 January, the force marched on to Ban Pho Sao Han and fought the pursuing Burmese until they broke and fled. That is all the chronicle says. Local stories have more. At Ban Sam Bandit it is said the force met 3 Mon monks out on their alms round. At Ban Pho Sao Han it is said that a woman named Pho and the villagers came to help in the fight, and that she died in it. And at Khlong Chana there is the legend of Khun Chana, an officer who had followed from Ayutthaya and died there.

The names Sao Han ("brave woman") and Khlong Chana are thus explained by these stories. They are village history and do not appear in the royal chronicles, but they have value as the memory of the communities along the route.

Ban Phran Nok

The same day the force halted at Ban Phran Nok. Soldiers who had gone out to look for food met another Burmese force, which had come up from Bang Khang in Prachin Buri territory, and were chased back. Phraya Tak mounted and rode out first with 4 other horsemen, while the rest of the soldiers formed two wings and attacked from the sides. The Burmese cavalry, 30 horses, was driven back onto its own foot soldiers until the whole force broke. Local legend tells of a hunter (phran) who led the soldiers out to find food, which is given as the origin of the village's name. The next day Khun Chamnan Phraison and an officer of the elephant corps came over with their elephants and offered to act as guides. The chronology in Silpa Wattanatham tells this stage differently: the force reaches Ban Phran Nok on 5 January, the Burmese come from Pak Nam Yothaka, and Phraya Tak has them ambushed with gunfire.

Today there is the Ban Phran Nok Memorial at Wat Ban Phran Nok, in Pho Sao Han subdistrict, Uthai district, with a statue of King Taksin. Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province holds a wreath-laying and offering ceremony every 4 January, to commemorate the day Phraya Tak succeeded in breaking through the Burmese siege.

Following the route by car

From the city island, drive across the Pa Sak River to Wat Phichai Songkhram, then take the Ayutthaya–Uthai road east through Khao Mao, Sam Bandit and Pho Sao Han subdistricts to the Ban Phran Nok Memorial. The distance is about 25 kilometres and takes about half an hour. The road does not follow the actual line of march at every point, but it passes through the same country.