The region of Ayutthaya stands at the centre of Thailand both geographically and historically. The fertile plain is the country's rice bowl as the bulk of the nation's food in grown here. And Ayutthaya has plenty to offer the visitor with its range of monuments and sites from just about every period of the country's history.

Rama IV revived Bang Pa-ln, the country residence of Ayutthaya's royalties, when he built a bucolic retreat away from the new capital in the 19th Century. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) turned it into an eccentric palace combining European and Thai architectures. The complex can be visited daily from 8.30am to 5pm.

The strange yet colourful melange of styles is best known through an image showing a neo-classical statue contrasting with a typical Thai pavilion at the centre of a small ornamental lake in the background.

A walk through the manicured gardens leads to a marble obelisk commemorating the death of Queen Sunanda, who drowned with three of her children on a river trip. Court etiquette preventing attendants from touching a royal person prevented courtesans from coming to their rescue when the boat capsized. The death of his favourite wife turned King Chulalongkorn into a zealous reformer of Thai customs.

In addition to Bang Pa-ln, you may wish to visit other historic sites such as Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopitr, a temple rebuilt in 1951 to house a 15th Century bronze Buddha statue (the largest in Thailand) and the royal Wat Sri Samphet, originally the largest in Ayutthaya and still one of thee best preserved.