WRESTLING WITH DESTRUCTION

ILL-PREPARED: Many ruins are located on the property of municipal sites in Ayutthaya, such as Wat Prasart, which has suffered from the flooding along with the nearby hospital.

The ancient city of Ayutthaya, founded in 1350, near the site of an earlier Khmer settlement, grew into a thriving maritime city that European visitors described as the ''Venice of the East''. The old city evolved into a vital regional centre for trade, religion and refuge. 

Five dynasties and 34 kings ruled in Ayutthaya before Burmese troops destroyed the Siamese capital in 1767.

New Siamese capitals were built in Thon Buri and Bangkok, which further expedited the destruction of Ayutthaya. To fund his wars with Burma, 

King Taksin the Great sent boats to the old capital to retrieve silver from Wat Pradu Songtham and gold from Wat Phutthaisuwan. King Rama I later hauled away ships full of Buddha images and building materials. 

King Rama III then dismantled Ayutthaya's city walls and fortresses to construct Wat Saket in Bangkok, which collapsed into rubble that is now known as the Temple of the Golden Mountain. 

French missionary Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix observed at the time that there was a mania to seek treasure in the ruins of Ayutthaya.

People have continued to destroy the ancient ruins in modern times. With nationalistic fervour, in the 1950s, Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram created land codes to push Ayutthaya into becoming a modern city. 

Ancient canals were buried to make way for roads and motor vehicles. A shockingly large number of ruins were cleared away to create space for modern buildings. 

The Chao Phraya Dam, completed in Chai Nat in 1957, permanently changed irrigation practices and the local rice industry.

Also in 1957, massive city-wide looting occurred when valuable treasure was discovered in crypts at Wat Mahatat and Wat Rajaburana. 

This theft spread to the lesser-known ruins in the city as well. Ironically, Phibun's nationalistic push to modernise the country helped destroy the traditional lifestyle that comprised Thailand's heart. Locals became even more detached from this historical past, and greed took over. 

In 1964, Sumet Jumsai, the father of Thailand's architectural preservation movement, observed bulldozers flattening old chedis so that precious items could be sold, and he noted government plans to divide land in the old city to sell to private individuals. 

Because of this destruction, a small group of people became more conscious of the historic value of Ayutthaya's historic sites and attempted to protect them.

One of the first victories for the preservation of ancient sites in Ayutthaya took place in 1972. Building works ploughed up five temples near Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon for an extension of the Ayutthaya Agricultural School. 

This development was halted after students petitioned for the protection of these ruins. A second victory occurred with the passage of the Conservation of Monuments Act of 1985. 

Another victory occurred in the 1990s as squatters were pressured to finally leave slum dwellings beside Ayutthaya Historic Park. Over 60 families encroached on this protected property during the 1970s and refused to relocate for nearly 20 years.

The battle between the modern and ancient city continues to this day as the city struggles to answer questions about the value of old historic sites within a modern city of increasing population growth.