Ayutthaya, after the floods | Bangkok Post: travel

TRAVEL SCRAPBOOK

A group of French tourists were enjoying a buffet breakfast at the River View Place Hotel on U-Thong Road in Ayutthaya, a day after the floodwaters receded in the inner part of the ancient city, while hotel staff were packing food items for flood victims, which has become one of their routine jobs since the old capital of Siam was inundated.

The grounds of Wat Phra Si San Phet is almost completely dry and the Fine Arts Department will start the restoration process soon. Right now the site is only open during the day because there is no power to run lights. During the peak of the flood, many dogs found refuge in the area surrounding these ancient ruins. And when we visited the area, we spotted about 10 dogs. All of them were very thin and weak but still searching for food. Some of the dogs just looked at us from afar while others followed us around the site — but all of them wagged their tails, hoping we had some food to give them. As we continued our tour around the ancient temple grounds we discovered that the three pagodas still looked as beautiful as they did before the flood. However, a few areas were still in need of a quick clean-up before welcoming tourists again.

Tourists travelled from Phitsanulok to Ayutthaya, a World Heritage site, after they were informed the water had been pumped out of the old town.