A forgotten heritage

To the layman, Paniat is unheard of. It is an ancient town that lies in the eastern province of Chanthaburi. It sits at the foot of Khao Sa Bap, a square settlement that was once guarded by walls but levelled out, buried and forgotten to make way for an orchard village. However, the site retains remnants of Khmer culture that highlight the dynamic interaction between Siam and its neighbours.

Located on the site of Paniat, a traphang (pond) was used for performing rites.

"In BE 12, Dvaravati towns in the Central Region were circular or oval in shape, but those in Khmer culture were square in shape, and this place fits this description," said Assoc Prof Santi Pakdeekham, a historian and vice-secretary of the Office of the Royal Society, on a trip to Chanthaburi. It was organised by the Media Centre for Arts and Culture, Thai PBS, on June 17-18.

"Evidence like inscriptions confirms that this ancient town belongs to a historic period. The presence of walls shows that the community was quite large and had a remarkable culture."

Located in the grounds of Wat Thong Thua, a museum keeps decorative lintels that attest to Khmer culture. For example, Thala Borivat is the oldest stone found here. Its remaining half-piece features makara (a crocodile-like creature with an elephant's trunk in Hindu mythology) and a garland. In fact, Thala Borivat is considered one of the earliest art periods in Khmer culture, according to experts.

"Students have been taught our history begins in Sukhothai, but in fact, there are other cultures that preceded it. Paniat was under the influence of Khmer Empire. While its power was waning, Sukhothai emerged in late BE 18. In Ayutthaya's Palace Law, Chanthaburi was one of its 16 tributary states, which means that it had been autonomous and at some point receptive to Khmer culture," he said.

Walking further, the remnants of laterite stones form an outline of a traphang, or pond, for performing rites. This porous, rough structure stands above ground level and features ducts that carried water from nearby canals. In Khmer culture, various terms are used for describing different kinds of irrigation. Baray is a large reservoir for a settlement. Unlike natural swamps, a traphang is a small pond.

Old fortifications.

Founded in 1767 during the fall of Ayutthaya, Wat Thong Thua is presumably a royal temple. Its old ubosot (ordination hall) is painted with bai sema (boundary markers) and apsaras holding a lotus. Inside, pillars stand askew to carry the weight of the roof.

Under the foundation of Luang Por Thong is the sword and other relics of King Taksin. His two bones are kept in a purple cloth with royal patterns and sit in an ivory urn.

The origin of King Taksin is obscure. It is said that he was the son of a Teochew Chinese gambler or trader and a Thai wife. In 1759, he became the governor of Tak. In the wake of the Burmese attack on Ayutthaya, he led followers to the eastern coast, where he won further support from local leaders and set up a headquarters in Chanthaburi. Soon after the fall of Ayutthaya, he returned to disperse the remaining garrisons and founded a new capital in Thon Buri.

His base was located on the current site of the Taksin Camp. It is Chanthaburi's old town that lasted from the reign of King Narai to that of King Rama III, when people were relocated to a new town. Visitors can explore the remains, especially King Taksin's camping ground and old fortifications. There are also military facilities, a temple and other legacies of French occupation.

Archaeological finds in the storage room of the National Maritime Museum.

Built in the reign of King Rama III, Noen Wong Fortress was a new town that was eventually abandoned. During that time, Annam Siam Yuth, the war between Siam and Vietnam in Cambodia, sparked fear of invasion and therefore culminated in the establishment of the new settlement. Sitting at the foot of the hill, the fortified town features a wall made of laterite stones and cannons. Inside, there are a temple and a pillar shrine.

"But it ended in failure. It was unfit for habitation. This mound is above sea level and located on the site of an extinct volcano. The relocation didn't work," said Erbprem Vatcharangkul, the first director of the Underwater Archaeology Division of the Department of Fine Arts.

King Rama III had the Noen Wong Fortress built along with two others in Pak Nam Laem Sing. One is the Phairi Phinat Fort. The other is presumably buried under the Red Block Building, which was part of the French headquarters. Following the Franco-Siamese Crisis of 1893 (the Ro So 112 Incident), France occupied Chanthaburi for a decade, withdrew, and then seized Trat and its group of islands for three years.

Thala Borivat is a decorative lintel that attests to Khmer culture in BE 12.

"During the first renovation, fishermen said they found a cannon underwater. Upon retrieving it, the weapon was found to be stamped with the insignia of Napoleon. According to Lord Sakorn Kotchaket, when French officers left Chanthaburi for Trat, they brought cannons with them. Siamese officers who replaced them thought they would dump these malfunctioned weapons. It is plausible," he said.

Under their rule, French officers built a citadel nearby. From the outside, its blocky structure includes vertical shooting holes. Inside, it features a raised platform where chickens were probably raised. It is said that they imprisoned the Siamese and had them wallow chicken droppings, hence the name "Khuk Khi Kai". Lord Sakorn Kotchaket, however, argued that this kind of punishment was meted out to their own folks.

"He obtained new evidence and revisited his childhood memory. In his record, the French imprisoned their misbehaving soldiers in a confined space where they weren't allowed to see the light of day or had them walk with equipment until they were ordered to stop. I deduce that they were locked up here," he said.

The old ubosot of Wat Thong Thua.

The trip came to a close at the National Maritime Museum. Underwater archaeology began at the site of a shipwreck in Koh Kham, Chon Buri, in 1974, before it expanded nationwide. After an office was founded at the Noen Wong Fortress, the museum was opened around the turn of the century. It chronicles the history of maritime trade and underwater archaeology. For example, there is a life-size replica of a submerged junk ship in Bang Kachai.

"This vessel carried goods on board, including red-coated teak wood, an export product of the Rattanakosin kingdom, and copper, an imported material from India. Its body is around 1.5m above the sand, but the remaining structure is based on speculation," he said.

Inside the old ubosot of Wat Thong Thua.

The museum houses around 14,000 underwater items, some of which can be seen through the open glass of a storage room. Celadon, for instance, is traced to the Si Satchanalai Kiln.

"Underwater artefacts are kept in fresh water to avoid the damaging effect of salt formation before conservation starts," he said.

Although their destinations were veiled in mystery, the discovery of these objects in the region provides a significant clue about the shipping routes of those days.

Far left The relics of King Taksin. They are kept in a purple cloth with royal patterns and then placed in an ivory urn.

Tuek Daeng.

Khuk Khi Kai.

The Taksin Camp.

Taksin Camp, the old French headquarters, have been turned into a museum.

Assoc Prof Santi Pakdeekham of the Office of the Royal Society reads script on a cannon at the Noen Wong Fortress.

The Noen Wong Fortress.

Erbprem Vatcharangkul, the first director of the Underwater Archaeology Division of the Department of Fine Arts.