Thailand Guide
The central plains
Wat Chai Watthanaram
Opening time: Daily 8am–6pm
Price: B30
Address: Southwest across the river from the main ruins
It's worth the ride to reach the elegant brick and stucco latticework of Khmer-style stupas at Wat Chai Watthanaram, across the river to the southwest of the island. These graceful ruins used to be a common stop on boat tours but because of recurrent flooding a wall now protects them from the river and access is only viable by road. Late afternoon is a popular time to visit as the sun sinks photogenically behind the main tower.
King Prasat Thong built Wat Chai Watthanaram in 1630, possibly to commemorate a victory over Cambodia, designing it as a sort of Angkorian homage, around a towering central Khmer corncob tower encircled by a constellation of four minor towers and eight tiered and tapered stupas. Most of the stucco facing has weathered away to reveal the red brick innards in pretty contrast, but a few tantalizing fragments of stucco relief remain on the outside of the stupas, depicting episodes from the Buddha's life. Around the gallery that connects them sits a solemn phalanx of 120 headless seated Buddhas, each on its own red-brick dais but showing no trace of their original skins, which may have been done in black lacquer and gold-leaf. To the east a couple of larger seated Buddhas look out across the river from the foundations of the old sanctuary. You can share their view by climbing the steep steps of the central tower behind them, which also gives you the chance to admire the tower's robust redented structure at close quarters.