AYUTTHAYA: A Buddhist temple built in 1750 during the Ayutthaya period has been flooded after a flood prevention wall collapsed on Sunday morning.
A section of the wall on the southern side of Wat Chula Manee in Bang Ban district collapsed at about 5.30am after the Chao Phraya river overflowed, inundating communities around the temple.
The grounds of the ancient temple were left 2 metres under water, damaging about 20 pagodas containing ashes of local residents' ancestors.
About a week ago, while the water level in the Chao Phraya was still low, members of the community strengthened an earth wall to prevent flooding around the temple.
The water level rose rapidly on Sunday after the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) discharged water through the Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat province at the rate of 2,779 cubic metres per second, causing the river to burst its banks.
Also on Sunday morning, the RID reported that water was being released from the Pasak Jolasid Dam in Lop Buri and Phra Ram 6 Dam in Ayutthaya's Tha Rua district at the rates of 1,227 and 905 cubic metres per second, respectively.
That water runs into the Pa Sak river running through Tha Rua, Nakhon Luang and Phra Nakho Si Ayutthaya districts, and many riverside communities were flooded.