Ancient City 
estruction in 
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in Bangkok 
Recently, the 
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Thailand has 
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create life in 
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jnal resource. 
  
At the moment the project is in the initial stages, 
at the time of writing this paper few 
visualisations had been created apart from those 
used to verify the feasibility of the methodology. 
It is envisaged that considerably more progress 
will be presented at the XVIII ISPRS Congress. 
The dates used in this paper are those based on 
the Christian era, the Thai Buddhist dates can be 
obtained by subtracting 543 years. 
2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF SIAM, THAILAND AND 
AYUTTHAYA 
The human settlement of what is now known as 
Thailand has been found to go back some 5000 
years, although like all statements derived from 
the archaeological record new discoveries may 
change this. It is thought that the ‘Thai’ people 
migrated southwards from the southern 
provinces of China over a long period of time, 
following the river valleys across the Indo- 
Chinese Peninsula. This was often a forced 
migration as a result of internal and external 
strife between the provinces in China. The 
Menam region (Central Thailand around the 
Menam River) was ruled by a variety of dynasties 
over the centuries, including long time 
adversaries the Burmese and the Khmer. The 
Khmer rulers gained precedence for a time, 
eventually establishing the seat of their 
northern regional governor at Sukhothai 
(another World Heritage Site) around 1150+. The 
Khmer domination of this city ended under the 
concerted efforts of smaller states, establishing 
what became known as the ‘Pra Ruang’ dynasty 
(the first ‘Thai’ dynasty). The rulers of this 
dynasty extended the borders of their conquests 
as far as the Malay Peninsula, whilst inheriting 
much of the arts and cultures of the defeated 
Khmers. 
A national language was devised at Sukhothai 
around 1283, based on Mon and Khmer scripts, 
which had their origins in Southern India. The 
development of a common language helped 
strengthen the increasing national identity of 
the ‘Thai’ people, and this script is still in use 
today (albeit with some changes). In addition, 
Thai Buddhism (Theravada) became codified 
during the same period, and the age of the 
Sukhothai kingdom is often viewed as one of the 
golden periods in Thai history. The borders of 
the new Sukhothai swelled and contracted as a 
result of the various battles fought between 
Principalities, but eventually the region came 
under the governance of the southern kingdom 
of Ayutthaya in the reign of Maha Tammaraja II 
(13708, ending the city's 140 years of 
independence and the Sukhothai monarchy. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
        
  
   
  
   
  
  
   
  
    
      
   
  
  
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Figure 1: Map of Siam, from De La Loubere. 
  
Ayutthaya was a well established town before it 
became the capital of Siam, supposedly it was 
founded by a Prince of Ut'ong (U-Thong) in the 
year 1350 or 51. Or, more to the point: ... So he 
had his troops cross over and establish 
themselves on Dong Sano Island.... In 712, a 
Year of the Tiger, second of the decade, on 
Friday, the sixth day of the waxing moon of the 
Jifth month, at three nalika and nine bat after 
the break of dawn, the Capital City of Ayutthaya 
was first established [i.e., Friday March 4th 
1351, shortly after nine o'clock in the morning] 
(Wyatt 1984, translation from Cushman). It is 
named after Ayodhaya, the home of Rama in the 
Ramayana epic, which means 'unassailable' or 
‘undefeatable’ in Sanskrit. It is set on an island 
417 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B5. Vienna 1996