# SOURCES: Ayutthaya at its height (target c. 1688)

This file is the evidence base for the `ayutthaya-world` build. Every historical element placed in the world
must cite one or more claim IDs from this file (for example `CITY-03`) and carry the confidence level listed
here. Anything not covered here is **conjecture** and must be registered as such (section 9).

Compiled 2026-11-01 by the ayutthaya-plan scout. Research was split between two research subagents
(architecture; life, water and landscape). The scout lead then spot-checked three load-bearing claims directly
(marked **[verified by lead]**).

## Evidence scale

| Level | Meaning | How the build may use it |
|---|---|---|
| **strong** | Eyewitness or survey evidence, or several independent sources agree | Model it as fact |
| **moderate** | One good source, or a later text that is probably right | Model it, and note the source in code |
| **thin** | Weak, single late, or second-hand source | Model it only as a labelled reconstruction |
| **disputed** | Good sources disagree | Pick one version, record the choice, label it |
| **gap** | No source found | Conjecture register only (section 9) |

## 1. Source keys

The "Opened" column records who read the source directly: an R1/R2 research subagent, the lead, or nobody.
"Second-hand" means the claim was read only as quoted in another source.

| Key | Source | Opened |
|---|---|---|
| UNESCO | UNESCO WHC listing "Historic City of Ayutthaya" no. 576 and retrospective OUV statement, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/576 | R1, via Exa (direct fetch 403) |
| ICOMOS91 | ICOMOS Advisory Body Evaluation no. 576 (Nov 1991), https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/576.pdf | R1 |
| FAD-park | Fine Arts Department, Ayutthaya Historical Park history page, https://www.finearts.go.th/ayutthayahistoricalpark/view/8041 | R1 |
| CSP | Chao Sam Phraya National Museum virtual museum (FAD), https://virtualmuseum.finearts.go.th/chaosamphraya | R1 |
| B2011 | C. Baker, "Markets and Production in the City of Ayutthaya before 1767: Translation and Analysis of Part of the Description of Ayutthaya", JSS 99 (2011), https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/pub_jss/article/view/158376 | R1, R2 |
| B2013 | C. Baker, "The Grand Palace in the Description of Ayutthaya", JSS 101 (2013) 69-112, https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/pub_jss/article/view/158256 (includes a Khamhaikan chao krung kao (KCKK) appendix) | R1 |
| B2014 | C. Baker, "Final Part of the Description of Ayutthaya with Remarks on Defence, Policing, Infrastructure, and Sacred Sites", JSS 102 (2014) 179-210, https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/JSS_102_0h_Baker_FinalPartOfTheDescriptionOfAyutthaya.pdf | R1, R2 |
| P1992 | Piriya Krairiksh, "A Revised Dating of Ayudhya Architecture (II)", JSS 80.2 (1992), https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/1992/03/JSS_080_2b_PiriyaKrairiksh_RevisedDatingOfAyudhyaArchitectureII.pdf | R1 |
| K2015 | Kreangkrai Kirdsiri and Isarachai Buranaut, "รูปแบบสถาปัตยกรรมพระศรีรัตนมหาธาตุอยุธยา... สมัยสมเด็จพระเจ้าปราสาททอง", NAJUA (Silpakorn) 29 (2015), https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/NAJUA-Arch/article/download/44240/36611/102708 | R1 |
| K2021 | Kirdsiri, Buranaut and Janyaem, "Wat Chaiwatthanaram: A New Assessment of its Configuration and Dating", HASSS 21(1) (2021) 65-77, https://so02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/hasss/article/download/221512/167447 (laser-scan survey and BIM reconstruction) | R1, **lead** |
| LL | Simon de La Loubère, *A New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam* (1693 English edition of *Du Royaume de Siam*, 1691). Transcriptions: https://vajirayana.org/v2/asia/a-new-historical-relation-of-the-kingdom-of-siam/ and the chapter "Of the Houses of the Siameses" at https://thaishortstories.blogspot.com/2009/10/181.html. 1691 plates: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b23000685 | R1, R2, **lead** (houses and architecture chapter) |
| K | Engelbert Kaempfer, *History of Japan... with a Description of Siam* (visited 1690; published 1727), https://archive.org/details/historyofjapanto01kaem; plates https://archive.org/details/historyofjapangi01kaem | R2 |
| VV | Jeremias van Vliet, *Description of the Kingdom of Siam* (1638), translated by Ravenswaay, JSS 7 (1910), https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/JSS_007_1b_Ravenswaay_VanVlietsDescriptionOfTheKingdomOfSiam-2.pdf | R2 |
| G | Nicolas Gervaise, *Histoire naturelle et politique du royaume de Siam* (1688), https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_UjHcR_pAPP0C (French original) | R2 |
| Ch | Chevalier de Chaumont, *Relation de l'ambassade* (1686), https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Relation_de_l%E2%80%99ambassade_de_Mr_le_Chevalier_de_Chaumont_%C3%A0_la_cour_du_Roy_de_Siam/01 | R2 |
| Ta | Guy Tachard, *A Relation of the Voyage to Siam* (London 1688; French 1686), https://archive.org/details/b30336089 (Book III p. 143, Book IV p. 179 read in the scan) | P5c |
| Cy | Abbé de Choisy, *Journal du voyage de Siam* (Paris 1687), https://archive.org/details/ChoisyJourVoySiam1685goog00 (10 and 27 October 1685, pp. 194 and 230, read in the scan) | P5c |
| Love | R. S. Love, "The Making of an Oriental Despot", JSS 82 (1994), https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/1994/03/JSS_082_0e_Love_MakingOfOrientalDespot.pdf | R2 (excerpts) |
| RM | Rijksmuseum SK-A-4477, view of "IUDEA" (Ayutthaya), workshop of Johannes Vingboons, c. 1662-63, oil on canvas 97 x 139.7 cm, public domain, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-4477 | R2, **lead** |
| SJ86 | Sumet Jumsai (1986), as cited in Siriphatthanakun and Khanjanusthiti, Chulalongkorn thesis 2020, https://doi.org/10.58837/chula.the.2020.19 | second-hand |
| AH | ayutthaya-history.com: a secondary pointer only, never the sole source for a strong claim | R1, R2 |
| OSM | OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0), https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright : positions and outlines of in-situ ruins, wall and fort remnants and surviving canals, queried through the Overpass API on 2026-11-02 and converted to world metres (`src/world/city.js` GEO) | **lead** |

**Not opened** (any claim citing them is second-hand): Cushman, *The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya*; Damrong,
*Tamnan Phuttha Chedi Sayam*; the 1751 Ceylonese embassy account (via K2015); Baker and Pasuk, *A History of
Ayutthaya* (2017); Garnier, *Ayutthaya: Venice of the East*; Tachard beyond the two pages above (P5c); Smithies' translations; the UNESCO
nomination dossier itself; FAD excavation reports; the Thai Meteorological Department climate report.
**Phase 0 of the build should obtain the UNESCO nomination dossier and the FAD excavation reports for the first
slice's precinct.**

## 2. City plan and hydrology

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CITY-01 | Founded c. 1350 by Ramathibodi I (U Thong); destroyed 1767 | UNESCO, ICOMOS91 | strong | |
| CITY-02 | The island is ringed by three rivers with a planned grid of roads, canals and moats | UNESCO | moderate | B2013: the Vingboons map layout is "badly wrong", so do not copy the painting's grid |
| CITY-03 | The island is "shaped like a junk", about 4 x 2 km | B2014 (Description: 100+ by 50+ sen) | moderate | World scale anchor |
| CITY-04 | The wall circuit was about 12 km long, about 5 m high, with 17 forts, 12 water gates and about 56.4 km of canals | SJ86 | moderate, second-hand | |
| CITY-05 | Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century river courses differ from today's. The Pa Sak now flows in the old Khu Khue Na; the old Lopburi-Pa Sak junction was about 6 km east. The eastern moat moved out after 1569 | B2014 n.31, n.41 | moderate | **Never trace modern hydrography.** Build the 1688 course from the 1687 French plan and Kaempfer's plan |
| CITY-06 | Roads ran on embankments 3-4 cubits high and 2-3 fathoms wide, brick-paved in the middle; many brick bridges | B2014 (quoting Phraya Boran c. 1900) | moderate | |
| CITY-07 | Streets were wide and straight, some planted with trees and paved with "Bricks laid edgewise". Bridges were of hurdles, some brick and "very high and ugly". Only about a sixth of the city was inhabited, all of it in the south-east | LL | strong (eyewitness 1687-88) | Dense south-east, empty west and south |
| CITY-08 | Streets ran along the canals, mostly narrow and "foul and dirty", some flooded at high water. The south and west were thinly settled with wild gardens. The island is like "the sole of a man's foot" | K | strong (eyewitness 1690) | Show both wide and narrow streets (LL and K disagree) |
| CITY-09 | The native quarter had streets of shops and morning and evening markets (fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, no meat), shade trees, 5-6 arched brick bridges and flimsy cane bridges | G pp. 46-47 | strong | |
| CITY-10 | Population about 150,000-200,000 in the 17th century | B2011 (citing Reid) | moderate (estimate) | Drives density of houses, boats and people |
| CITY-11 | The 1687 French map marks about 800 ha (south-west) and about 1,000 ha (east) as thinly settled "rustic" land | B2011 | moderate | |
| CITY-12 | The French plans (de la Mare 1687, Courtaulin 1686, Coronelli, Bellin 1751) all descend from sketches made during the 1685-87 embassies; La Loubère's plan is rough and off-axis | AH (pointer), dealer notes | moderate | Use for topology, not survey geometry |

## 3. Walls, gates and forts

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WALL-01 | Wall rebuilt in brick in 1549/50 and improved after 1569; extended to the riverbanks c. 1580 | AH (citing Cushman), B2014 | moderate, second-hand | |
| WALL-02 | Walls were "some of brick, some of laterite, and some of red stone", about 6 m (3 wa) high to the parapet, with an inner earthwork 6-8 cubits high | B2014 | moderate | |
| WALL-03 | Brick wall 4.5 fathoms high on the north and south sides, lower and decayed elsewhere | K | strong (1690) | Vary height and condition by side |
| WALL-04 | 23 great gates "with red-painted peaks" plus 61 tunnel gates; 12 or 22 forts depending on the manuscript | B2014 | moderate; fort count disputed | |
| WALL-05 | In Kaempfer's 1690 sketch, water gates rise above the wall, about 10 m tall, with inward-sloping pillars and a flared crosspiece like Bangkok's Great Swing; at least 20 are on his map | B2014, K | moderate | Single sketch: label the detail as reconstructed |
| WALL-06 | Pom Phet: laterite, 3 wa 2 cubits high, 3-wa walkway, 8 guns, 16 apertures | B2014 | moderate | **Plan shape: gap** (the restored remains are not documented here) |
| WALL-07 | A drum tower at Four Ways Road: "thirty fathoms high in three stories with an arched roof painted red" (about 60 m); on Kaempfer's sketch | B2014 | thin for the height (one post-1767 memory text; Kaempfer's sketch not yet checked) | Skyline landmark; Siamese tiered and curved ("arched") roof, not a belfry; height kept below Mahathat until the sketch is checked (C-32) |
| WALL-08 | Rama I demolished the walls for Bangkok's brick; only short reconstructed stretches survive | B2013, B2014 | strong | Present-day photos are not period evidence |
| WALL-09 | Whether the walls were whitewashed or plastered | none | **gap** | Default: lime-plastered (conjecture C-03) |

## 4. Grand Palace and Wat Phra Si Sanphet

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAL-01 | Trailokanat (r. 1448-88) turned the old palace site into Wat Phra Si Sanphet and built a new palace to the north. Prasat Thong added the Chakkrawat Phaichayon (1632) and expanded from 1636; Narai built the Banyong Rattanat | B2013 (following Prathip, FAD 2008) | moderate | 1688 palace = after Narai's additions |
| PAL-02 | Only plinths and short wall sections survive; the late-Ayutthaya ground level was 0.5-1.5 m below today's | B2013 | strong | **Every palace superstructure is conjecture** |
| PAL-03 | Palace wall 10 cubits high and 4-6 cubits thick; gate counts differ (24 or 16) | B2013 | disputed | |
| PAL-04 | Sanphet Maha Prasat (1448): nine-tiered mondop spire with arrow finials, long wings front and back, short side wings, three-tier porch roofs, a Narai (Vishnu) pediment figure, two storeys. Its spire was clad in gold in 1735 | B2013 | moderate | Best-documented hall. **In 1688 the spire is not yet gold-clad** |
| PAL-05 | Suriyat Amarin: on the north wall by the river, five-tier mondop spire, probably 1636 | B2013 | moderate; appearance thin | |
| PAL-06 | Wihan Somdet: four prang towers, roofs tiled with tin, peaks clad in tin with gold, marble terrace, Chinese stone lanterns, stone lions | B2013 | moderate | |
| PAL-07 | Chakkrawat Phaichayon (1632): built into the east wall, single mondop spire, open on three storeys | B2013 | moderate | |
| PAL-08 | Banyong Rattanat: cruciform, single spire, naga stairs, a 6-wa pond around it, about 10° off the compass; KCKK says "nine spires" | B2013 | disputed | |
| PAL-09 | Palace minor buildings: walls painted red with gold motifs, lacquered floors, "swan-tail" finials (hang hong), two-tier roofs | B2013 | moderate | |
| PAL-10 | No gold on the palace exterior and little gilding inside | LL **[verified by lead]**: "tho there appears not any Gold in the Palace of Siam on the outside, and there is but little gilding on the inside" | moderate (one eyewitness) | Supports the restrained 1688 finish (FIN-01) |
| PAL-11 | Against PAL-10, Caron and Schouten (c. 1636) wrote that the palace "Buildings and Towers [were] entirely gilded" | B2013 epigraph | disputed | Gilding probably varied over time |
| SAN-01 | The three bell chedis: conventionally two built in 1492 (for Trailokanat and Borommaracha III) and a third c. 1529/30 | P1992 (summarising the chronicles) | **disputed** | |
| SAN-02 | Piriya: Kaempfer's 1690 plan shows tiered chedis and a prang behind the vihara, absent from the 1665 view; the present three stupas may be a 1741-44 rebuild | P1992; followed by B2013 | **disputed** | **Hero landmark of uncertain 1688 form.** Default: conventional three bell chedis, labelled disputed |
| SAN-03 | Phra Si Sanphet image: cast 1500, about 16 m (8 wa), "completely covered in gold" | P1992, B2014 | moderate (KCKK differs) | Inside the vihara; gold is documented here |
| SAN-04 | The Burmese stripped the gold in 1767; the fate of the remains is disputed (Wat Pho chedi or the Phra Lokanat) | secondary; B2014 n.149 | disputed | Not needed for 1688 |

## 5. Major temples

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CWR-01 | Wat Chaiwatthanaram is on the west bank, south-west of the island, on an east-west axis facing east to the Chao Phraya; outer wall 160 x 300 m | K2021 **[verified by lead]**; FOU93 gives about 194 x 117 m | strong (location, axis); **disputed** (outer-wall size: K2021 vs FOU93) | **First-slice precinct**; the build uses K2021's 160 x 300 (it fits the lead's measurement of K2021 Fig. 1) |
| CWR-02 | Central prang and four corner prangs on one base, 33 x 33 x 1.5 m; holes suggest copper plaques were fixed to the prangs | K2021 | strong (base); moderate (plaques) | |
| CWR-03 | Eight merus joined by a roofed gallery; merus are masonry with wooden superstructures; outer niches held reliefs of the Buddha's life; crowned Buddhas inside carry copper plates dated 16 March 1649 | K2021 | strong | **Corrected in P0 (CWR-17):** the meru spires are masonry and still stand; the lost timber parts are the gabled roofs on their four sides, the gallery roof and the porches |
| CWR-04 | Ubosot base 19.53 x 47.73 m with front and back gabled porches; curved fired-clay tiles excavated; two twelve-indented (yo mum mai sip song) chedis in front | K2021 **[verified by lead]** | moderate | |
| CWR-05 | A wood-and-masonry building north of the ubosot is identified as the royal gilded lacquered pavilion (Phlapphla Thong) | K2021 **[verified by lead]** | moderate | |
| CWR-06 | Founded 1630 by Prasat Thong (usual view) or 1612 by Song Tham (Three Seals Law) | K2021 | disputed | Exists in 1688 either way |
| CWR-07 | Central prang about 35 m high | Sumet Jumsai, *Naga* (1988) p. 120 via FOU93 p. 132; PRA94 pp. 19-20 ("about 35 m") via SAR20 p. 20 (P0 research) | moderate (not a surveyed elevation) | 35 m |
| CWR-08 | The gallery held about 120 stucco Buddhas, lacquered and gilded | blog derived from Wikipedia; DASTA | thin | |
| MAH-01 | Wat Mahathat's prang top collapsed in 1610. Prasat Thong rebuilt it in 1633 to about 44 m plus a 6 m finial, five-spired, the spire clad in copper-gold alloy and gilded | K2015 | moderate | Tallest skyline element in 1688 (about 50 m) |
| MAH-02 | The 1751 Ceylonese embassy saw eight gilded chedis, a two-tier roofed walkway, a five-spired prang with a top "of solid gold", and naga stair rails with mirror-glass inlay | K2015 (via Damrong) | moderate, second-hand, and 63 years after 1688 | |
| MAH-03 | The prang finally collapsed c. 1911 (some say 1904) | K2015 | moderate | It stands intact in 1688 |
| MAH-04 | The Buddha head in tree roots is post-1767 | Atlas Obscura, AH (pointers) | strong that it is post-1767 | **Never include** |
| RAT-01 | Wat Ratchaburana: built 1424 by Borommaracha II; crypt murals; looted 1957 and excavated by the FAD | CSP; JSS 67.2 (1979) | strong | Prang height: **gap** |
| SKY-01 | Phu Khao Thong: base built c. 1569 (Mon/Burmese type); Kaempfer (1690) gives "forty odd fathoms" high, a four-storey base and a very long spire; the 1744/45 restoration changed the top to today's redented form | P1992; Silpa Wattanatham 2001 | moderate; height disputed | **In 1688 it has the pre-1745 Mon-type top, not today's** |
| SKY-02 | Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon: maps show one spire c. 1650 and three by 1726 | P1992; B2014 n.148 | disputed | |
| SKY-03 | Wat Phanan Choeng: chronicle date 1324; image "ten cubits across the lap"; heavily restored today | secondary; B2014 | moderate | Today's building is not 1688. The surviving (restored, not known to be enlarged) image is about 19 m high with a lap of about 10-14 m: the build follows the surviving size, disputed against the text's figure |
| SKY-04 | Wat Lokayasutharam reclining Buddha about 42 x 8 m, brick and stucco, restored 1954/56 | Thai travel sources | thin | |
| SKY-05 | Van Vliet (1638) counted 350-400 temples, almost all gilded | VV | strong as his statement; conflicts with LL | Temple count drives the generic-wat generator |

## 6. Architectural forms and finishes

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIN-01 | Palaces and temples have no exterior ornament except their roofs, covered "with that ordinary Tin which they call Calin, or with Tiles varnished with yellow" | LL **[verified by lead]** | moderate (one eyewitness, 1687-88) | **Default 1688 finish: restrained** |
| FIN-02 | Temple roof timbers are "varnished with red interspersed with some streaks of Gold" | LL **[verified by lead]** | moderate | Red lacquer with thin gold lines |
| FIN-03 | Stupas are "Pyramids of Lime and Brick" with small, sharp tin spires; a Lopburi hall was plastered "extremely white, smooth, and shining" | LL (via R1) | moderate | White lime plaster, small tin tips |
| FIN-04 | Roofs step down in tiers, each lower roof seeming to come out of the higher one; the number of tiers marks rank (three for great officers, seven at the palace front) | LL **[verified by lead]**, LL II.2 | strong (hierarchy), moderate (numbers) | |
| FIN-05 | Roofing: tin tiles on palace halls (B2013); curved fired-clay tiles at Chaiwatthanaram (K2021); yellow-glazed tiles (LL only) | B2013, K2021, LL | moderate / moderate / thin | |
| FIN-06 | The prang is Ayutthaya's defining form; surviving brick-and-stucco buildings are "devoid of [their] decoration" | ICOMOS91 | strong | Today's bare red brick is wrong for 1688 |
| FIN-07 | The prang was revived as the main stupa under Prasat Thong; redented chedis spread from that reign | K2021, DASTA | moderate | |
| FIN-08 | Gilding is documented only for: the Sanphet Prasat spire (from 1735), the Wihan Somdet peaks, the Mahathat spire (from 1633) and its chedis (by 1751), the Phra Si Sanphet image, and state barges | B2013, K2015, P1992, LL | moderate | For 1688: Mahathat spire, images, barges; the Wihan Somdet peaks are disputed (PAL-06 is a post-1767 memory text; La Loubère saw no exterior gold, PAL-10): tin by default |
| FIN-09 | Exact forms of the chofa (roof finials) and bai raka (gable-edge ornaments) | none found | **gap** | Conjecture C-05 |

## 7. Houses, people and everyday life

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU-01 | Commoners' houses: floors, walls and roofs of "Hurdles of cleft Bambou"; 4-6 bamboo piles "as thick as one's Leg", about 13 ft high because of floods; a ladder outside; small houses on large plots | LL **[verified by lead]** | strong | |
| HOU-02 | Bamboo and board cottages roofed with "Gabbe Gabbe" and palm leaves; riverbank houses on piles about a fathom high with a ladder and a boat; houses on higher ground without piles | K | strong | Vary pile height 1.8-4 m |
| HOU-03 | Roofing: tile (VV, the RM painting) against leaf and bamboo for commoners (K, LL). The Description lists both a Tile Village and an "Attap Quarter" | VV, K, LL, B2011 | disputed | **Thatch for most houses; tile for temples, palaces, elite houses and brick shophouses** |
| HOU-04 | Ready-made house walls of bamboo, cadjan leaf or boards were sold to order | B2011 | strong | Supports a modular wall-panel generator |
| HOU-05 | Houses have one storey, "reported" so that no one stands higher than the king | LL **[verified by lead]**, VV | moderate | |
| HOU-06 | Great officers have timber houses inside bamboo enclosures with separate small apartments for each family | LL **[verified by lead]** | strong | |
| HOU-07 | Europeans, Chinese and Moors built brick houses. Kaempfer: over 100 identical stone houses of 8 x 4 paces, two storeys but no higher than 2.5 fathoms, flat tiles. The Description: Chinese brick shops along Chinese Street | LL, K, G, B2011 | strong | Brick shophouse rows in the south-east |
| HOU-08 | Monks' cells of planks, bamboo and leaves; temple compounds hedged with living bamboo | G | moderate | |
| PPL-01 | Both sexes wore the pha nung: men drawn between the thighs (chong kraben), women as a mid-calf skirt. Women usually bare above the waist; the rich wore a white muslin scarf. Officials wore an open muslin shirt and a tall white pointed cap. Commoners barefoot and bareheaded. Both sexes cut their hair to the top of the ears. Teeth blackened. Mon women wore longer hair | LL II.1 | strong | See conjecture C-08 (upper cloth for general audience) |
| PPL-02 | Men of rank wore tall muslin caps tied under the chin; foreigners wore turbans; palace guards and watermen were tattooed in black checks; soldiers wore gilt helmets and red tunics; monks had shaven heads, yellow robes and palm fans | Ch, K, Love | strong | |
| PPL-03 | Each nation had its own quarter, mostly outside the walls; about 3-4,000 each of Moors, Portuguese and Chinese, perhaps as many Malays | LL III.16 | strong (estimate) | |

## 8. Water, boats, foreign quarters, landscape and climate

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAT-01 | Floating raft houses and shops lined both banks "several rows deep" around the south of the island, "about twenty thousand" | B2011 (Description) | strong as text, **disputed** as fact | A late (18th-century) picture. **For 1688, use moderate density** |
| WAT-02 | Suburbs of "inhabited Ships" holding two or three families, floated to fairs at high water | K (with figures 9-11) | strong (existence) | |
| WAT-03 | No 17th-century map or painting shows boats or rafts moored along the rivers | B2011 p. 41 | strong | The maps say nothing about traffic |
| WAT-04 | Four main floating markets, including Bang Kaja at the south-east corner opposite Pom Phet by Wat Phanan Choeng; 30 land markets outside the walls | B2011 | strong (text) | Hero market location |
| WAT-05 | Named trading-boat types: southern boats with about 6 m beam; Phetchaburi boats; northern "swing-tail" boats in the high-water season; attap boats; Mon coconut boats | B2011 | strong | Boat library |
| WAT-06 | Junks, Indian sloops and European "kampan" ships anchored at Ayutthaya in the monsoon | B2011 | strong (late Ayutthaya) | |
| WAT-07 | Large ships anchored about 4 leagues off the river mouth; unladen junks and ships came up only as far as Bangkok. But Gervaise describes ships berthing and being built in a basin by the foreign quarter | K, G | disputed | **No big European ships at the city by default**; junks and small sloops are fine |
| WAT-08 | Four customs posts; Kaempfer calls the Bangkok fort the "Key of the Kingdom" | B2011, K | strong | |
| BAR-01 | Balon hull carved from one tree, 16-20 fathoms (30-40 m) long; up to 100-120 paddlers sitting two abreast, cross-legged, facing forward; prow and stern rise "like the Neck and Tail of some Dragon, or some monstrous Fish"; the steersman stands at the stern; state barges have a gilded canopy on columns with a pyramidal top and gilded paddles; nobles' cabins are lacquered red or black by rank | LL II.5 | strong | Prow carving form: **thin** (C-06) |
| BAR-02 | 1685: about twelve all-gilded balons and nearly 200 others in two columns; the ambassador's barge was 72 ft long, all gilt, with 70 rowers and silver-plated oars | Ch, Love | strong | |
| BAR-03 | The royal Kathin procession of 1638 had 350-400 boats and 20,000-25,000 people; gilded royal boats had 60-100 rowers | VV | strong | |
| BAR-04 | Today's royal barges are Bangkok-era builds (Suphannahong 1911, Anantanakharat 1914, Narai Song Suban 1996) | Nation (newspaper) | moderate | **Do not copy them as Ayutthaya fact** |
| BAR-05 | Barge sheds by the palace held over 150 balons | G, B2014 | strong | |
| FOR-01 | Dutch factory south of the city "very splendidly" built; below it Japanese, Mon and Malacca villages; across the river the Portuguese village with the Dominican church of St Domingo, an Augustinian church and the Jesuit St Paul | K | strong (1690) | |
| FOR-02 | The Dutch lodge was rebuilt in stone and lime in the 1630s; excavated main building about 12.5 x 45 m, two storeys | VV; AH (FAD digs 1952, 2004, 2008) | strong (VV); moderate (AH) | |
| FOR-03 | Portuguese settlement digs since 1984: Dominican church foundations, 200-254 burials | museumthailand.com, AH | moderate | |
| FOR-04 | Japanese village on the east bank south of the city; no buildings survive and their form is unknown | B2011; pointers | moderate (location); gap (form) | |
| FOR-05 | The Chinese market ran more than 0.5 km along Chinese Street in the south-east of the island | B2011 | strong | |
| VEG-01 | Bodhi trees planted near temples as holy; banyans sacred; bamboo everywhere as thickets and temple hedges; nipa-like "Gabbe Gabbe" downriver; shade trees on streets; bananas; palm toddy tapped into bamboo tubes; coconuts by boat; sugar from the southern sugar-palm belt | K, LL, G, B2011 | strong | Species list |
| VEG-02 | Mango trees in the city | none | thin | |
| VEG-03 | Rain tree (*Samanea saman*) is a New World species; no introduction date for Siam was found | Wikipedia (origin only) | gap | **Exclude by default** |
| VEG-04 | New World crops (chili, papaya, pineapple) probably reached Siam via the Portuguese in the 16th-17th centuries; no Siam-specific scholarly source was found | travel article only | thin | Minor props only, never hero props |
| VEG-05 | The river banks were lined with evergreen trees, areca and coconut palms, villages, temples and fruit trees; behind them open rice plains to the horizon, which ends in lines of trees. Tachard: "the Banks on both sides being covered over with Trees always green, and beyond them there being nothing but vast Plains reaching out of sight covered with Rice" (III p. 143). Choisy: "Les deux côtez de la riviere sont bordez d'arequiers & de coquiers" (p. 194); beyond the villages "de grandes campagnes de ris", the horizon "borné par de grands arbres" (p. 230). Kaempfer: "many villages ... with abundance of Trees some bearing fruit, some not" (vol. I, ch. III p. 45) | Ta, Cy, K | strong (three eyewitnesses, all in the wet season) | P5c: a wooded village belt along the outer banks, open harvested paddy behind (January: CLI-01) |
| VEG-06 | Temple grounds: "une grande cour sablée, partagée entre plusieurs rangs d'arbres & quelques petits jardins que les Talapoins cultivent; leurs Cellules sont sous ces arbres", closed by a living bamboo hedge (G III.x pp. 218-220); sacred fig ("Topoo") trees planted near temples (K vol. I, ch. II pp. 34-35) | G, K | strong | P5c: more trees in temple grounds; prang platforms and the paved royal courts stay open (M1, CWR-10) |
| VEG-07 | In the city: low houses "behind which there are trees that cast a shade into the Streets" (Ta IV p. 179); streets of the native quarter "bordées de beaux arbres" (G I.x p. 46); the thinly settled parts "full of grass, Herbs, Shrubs and Trees, that grow wild" (K vol. I, ch. II p. 28); streets "in some places planted with Trees" (LL I.ii p. 6) | Ta, G, K, LL | strong | Supports CITY-07, -08, -09: trees in and behind the house lots |
| CLI-01 | The flood "begins with the Month of September or sooner" and falls from December; floating rice is harvested from boats and the straw left in the water | K | strong | Monsoon look (ref 7) |
| CLI-02 | Three seasons: a dry December-January "winter" with north winds, a "little summer" February-April, and a rainy "great summer" with south winds | LL I.8 | strong | |
| CLI-03 | Ayutthaya (TMD station 48415, 1961-90): December rain 0.8 mm against August 260 mm; January minimum 17°C; April maximum 35.9°C | Wikipedia pointer to TMD | moderate | Verify against the TMD report |
| CLI-04 | Sun at 14.35°N: noon elevation 52° (December solstice, south), 75-76° (equinoxes), 81° (June solstice, north); overhead about 29-30 April and 15 August; day length 11 h 16 min to 12 h 58 min | computed (R2) | strong | Sun model in `looks.js`; June-July noon sun is in the north |
| CLI-05 | Dry-season burning haze | none | thin | It is a modern pattern; use moderate humidity haze |
| CLI-06 | Fireflies in the rainy season; monkeys along the riverbanks | LL, K | strong | Optional life details |
| NIT-01 | When the waters fall, the whole river is covered with floating paper lanterns; lanterns at temples, the palace and noble houses; New Year wall lanterns, Chinese fireworks and boat races | LL II.6, K, B2014, B2011 | strong | A night look option for a later phase |

## 9. Conjecture register (things the world will invent)

Each one must be labelled "reconstruction" in the web UI and must not be narrated as fact in the film.

| ID | Conjecture | Why needed | Default choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| C-01 | All palace hall superstructures (PAL-02) | Only plinths survive | Follow B2013's descriptions; keep the palace at middle distance in hero shots |
| C-02 | The 1688 form of the Wat Phra Si Sanphet chedis (SAN-01/02) | Dating dispute | Conventional three bell chedis, labelled disputed |
| C-03 | City wall surface finish (WALL-09) | No source | Lime-plastered brick, laterite at Pom Phet |
| C-04 | Pom Phet plan shape (WALL-06) | No source | Plain angled bastion, no decorative detail |
| C-05 | Chofa and bai raka forms (FIN-09) | No period source | Simple early forms; avoid ornate Bangkok types |
| C-06 | Barge prow carving (BAR-01) | Only "dragon or monstrous fish" attested | Generic dragon or fish prows; never the modern swan Suphannahong |
| C-07 | Raft-house density (WAT-01) | Late text, possibly inflated | Moderate density along the southern banks |
| C-08 | Women's upper garment (PPL-01) | Sources say usually bare above the waist; the channel's general-audience rules and platform policies | **A plain breast cloth for all women: a deliberate, recorded deviation** |
| C-09 | Japanese, Malay, Mon, Malacca and Persian quarter buildings (FOR-04) | Undescribed | Generic timber and brick; keep at distance. **No Makassar quarter in January 1688:** the community rose in September 1686 and its camp was destroyed |
| C-10 | Dutch lodge elevations beyond the footprint (FOR-02) | Footprint only | Plain two-storey brick-and-lime block with tiled roof |
| C-11 | Generic temple compounds (SKY-05: 350-400 temples) | Too many to document | Variant generator constrained by FIN-01..08 |
| C-12 | Exact street and canal geometry (CITY-12) | Plans are rough sketches | Topology from the 1687 plan and Kaempfer; geometry fitted to CITY-03 |

## 10. Anachronism blocklist

Never put these in a 1688 scene:

- Ruins, bare red brick, headless Buddhas, leaning or collapsed prangs, Wat Mahathat as a stump.
- The Buddha head in tree roots (MAH-04).
- Fine Arts Department restorations (1956, 1987-92) and modern Wat Phanan Choeng, Mongkhon Bophit wihan and Lokayasutharam fabric.
- Today's river courses, especially the Pa Sak in the Khu Khue Na (CITY-05). U Thong Road on the wall line.
- Bangkok-era style: glass mosaic, green-and-orange glazed roof tiles, gold-covered buildings, Wat Arun, the Bangkok Grand Palace, the Wat Phra Kaew golden chedi.
- Today's royal barges (BAR-04).
- Phu Khao Thong with its post-1745 top (SKY-01).
- The Damnoen Saduak tourist market look: straw and conical hats, indigo shirts, piled tourist sampans.
- Long hair on Siamese women; shirts and sandals on commoners.
- Hills or mountains on the horizon (they come from the Vingboons painting; the plain is flat).
- Rain trees (VEG-03), concrete, glass, corrugated iron, electric light.

## 11. Target-year dependencies (1688 versus c. 1750)

| Element | c. 1688 (recommended) | c. 1750 |
|---|---|---|
| Main eyewitnesses | La Loubère, Kaempfer, Gervaise, Chaumont, Tachard; 1686-87 French plans | Description of Ayutthaya and KCKK (memory texts compiled after 1767), the 1751 Ceylonese embassy |
| Sanphet Prasat spire | Not gold-clad | Gold-clad (1735) |
| Phu Khao Thong | Pre-1745 Mon-type top | Redented top (1744/45) |
| Wat Phra Si Sanphet chedis | Disputed form (SAN-02) | The three bell chedis (if Piriya is right, newly rebuilt 1741-44) |
| Raft houses | Moderate | Dense (WAT-01) |
| Gilding overall | Restrained (LL) | More gilding attested (1735 spire, 1751 Mahathat) |
| Popular hook for a Thai audience | King Narai's court and the French embassies (until mid-1688: Narai died 11 July 1688, HIS-01) | Borommakot's restorations |

## 12. Slice-1 additions (P0 lead, 2026-11-01)

P0 obtained K2021 directly (PDF, 13 pages, read in full by the lead) and measured its Fig. 1 aerial photograph
(north up, the 33 m prang base as the scale bar, about 0.39 m per pixel at 150 dpi, so positions are good to
about 5 %). The UNESCO nomination dossier was **not** obtained (whc.unesco.org returned 404/403 to direct
download); a research helper is searching for it and for FAD reports, and its findings land in
`data/ayutthaya-slice1/research/chaiwatthanaram-sources.md` outside the repo.

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CWR-09 | North of the ubosot a wooden-masonry ruin measures 11 x 43 m; its pillars mark 15 bays; the base is 0.3 m high with an upside-down lotus moulding. K2021 reads the pillars as a stilted timber building, the royal Phlapphla Thong pavilion, later a preaching hall | K2021 4.6 (citing Pengtago 1994) **[verified by lead]** | moderate (plan); thin (superstructure) | Plan and bay count are fact; the stilted timber body, roof and lacquer are reconstruction |
| CWR-10 | West of the main enclosure is "a huge field surrounded by walls", presumably the royal cremation ground of Prasat Thong's reign, later a monastery zone | K2021 3 **[verified by lead]** | moderate (field and walls); thin (use) | Inner wall between field and temple; monks' cells in the field are conjecture (HOU-08 type) |
| CWR-11 | Plan positions measured from K2021 Fig. 1: meru centres on a square of about 57 m; main base about 88 m square; ubosot centre about 62 m east of the prang; the chedi pair about 87 m east and 36 m either side of the axis; the pavilion about 63 m east and 56 m north; east outer wall about 112 m east of the prang, near the river bank; **west outer wall about 106 m west of the prang** (so the enclosure measures about 218 x 160 m on the photo, against K2021's text 300 x 160 and Fouser's 194 x 117: CWR-01 disputed) | K2021 Fig. 1, measured by the lead | moderate (present-day ruins, about 5 %) | `src/world/layout.js` PRECINCT |
| CWR-12 | Four Meru Rai stand at the gallery corners and four Meru Thit at the cardinal points; their inner vestibules join the gallery; the exterior vestibules with niches of Buddha-life reliefs were added later; twelve crowned Buddhas in bhumisparsa mudra sit inside the merus | K2021 4.3 **[verified by lead]** | strong | Crowned Buddhas inside the merus, gallery Buddhas see CWR-08 |
| CWR-13 | The ubosot base is a series of superimposed lotus mouldings with pointed mouldings, possibly with low enclosing walls; the hall probably resembled the ubosot of Wat Na Phra Meru and the vihara of Wat Thammikarat | K2021 4.4 (after Prateep Pengtago) | moderate (base); thin (superstructure) | Superstructure is reconstruction (C-15) |
| CWR-14 | K2021's reconstruction (Fig. 11) shows the five prangs and the chedi pair fully gilded and every roof in red-orange clay tile | K2021 Fig. 11 | thin for the gilding (a modern reconstruction built on the plaque holes of CWR-02, not an eyewitness record); moderate for clay roofs (CWR-04 tiles found) | See C-13 |

### Phase-0 research additions (research helper + lead, 2026-11-01)

New source keys (files and page notes in `data/ayutthaya-slice1/research/chaiwatthanaram-sources.md`, outside the repo):
**FOU93** = B. L. Fouser, *Wat Chaiwatthanaram and the legitimation of King Prasat Thong*, MA thesis, Univ. of
Victoria 1993 (uses the FAD blueprint and model); **PRA94** = Prathip Phengtako (FAD excavator), *Wat
Chaiwatthanaram* (1994), not obtained, read through **SAR20** = N. Sartjinpong, Chulalongkorn dissertation 2020,
and **FAD21** = Fine Arts Department, *Prathip Witthat* (2021); **ICR2013** = Integrated Conservation Resources for
the World Monuments Fund, needs assessment and lab tests (2013-14), printed in Thailand's UNESCO State of
Conservation report 2016; **HEECK** = G. Heeck's 1655 journal (Terwiel 2008), identified with this temple by AH;
**OSM** = OpenStreetMap outlines (imagery traces). The UNESCO nomination dossier was not obtainable; the 2016 and
2021 SOC reports place this temple outside the inscribed property.

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CWR-15 | Central prang: a spire of 7 stacked tiers with a lotus-bud top that carried an **iron finial** (nopphasun; iron collars found); steep stairs on all four sides, the east stair to a chamber about 2 m square, N/S/W niches about 2 m high and 1 m deep; statue pedestals flank the stair feet; **no stucco ornament on its exterior** | PRA94 pp. 19-20, 24 via SAR20 p. 20; FOU93 n. 98 | moderate | Mouldings and tier antefix forms only; a dark iron finial |
| CWR-16 | Corner prangs about 11 m tall on a base just over 5 m square, spire of 6 tiers; red and blue limewash survives inside their niche tunnels | FOU93 p. 131 (height scaled from 35 m); PRA94 p. 24 via SAR20 p. 22 (tiers); ICR2013 lab (limewash) | thin (height); moderate (tiers); strong (limewash) | 11 m |
| CWR-17 | Merus: square plan with redented corners (roughly octagonal), footprint about 11 m; **masonry spires of 7 tiers, standing, about 24-25.5 m with a small prang-shaped finial**; gabled timber roofs on all four sides of each meru (lost; beam holes survive); covered porches; corner merus have 2 openings, middle merus 3; exterior relief panels about 3.5 x 6 m in porch rooms | FOU93 pp. 112, 115; ICR2013 PDF p. 213; K2021 Fig. 8 (lead-checked scale bar) | strong (form, timber roofs); thin (heights) | Masonry spire + timber gable roofs on four sides |
| CWR-18 | Gallery about 55 m square; outer brick-and-stucco wall with false windows of stepped balusters; one inner row of paired piers carrying a gabled timber-and-tile roof, probably double-tiered at the merus; open to the courtyard; 2 doorways on the east, 2 on the west; floor about 1 m above the main platform, which is about 1.5 m above ground | FOU93 pp. 103-111, 125; PRA94 via SAR20 p. 26; ICR2013 PDF pp. 213-215 | moderate (sizes); strong (form) | Corridor width: no source (C-17) |
| CWR-19 | 120 gallery Buddhas: 104 along the outer walls (28 N, 28 S, 24 E, 24 W) and 16 flanking the merus; each just over 1 m, seated in bhumisparsa, facing inward, on a 0.5 m base on a 0.5 m brick platform; **black lacquer and gold leaf on every image** | FOU93 p. 125; PRA94 pp. 24-35 via SAR20 pp. 25, 31; ICR2013 lab (black coating) | strong | Supersedes the thin CWR-08 |
| CWR-20 | 12 crowned Buddhas (2 in each corner meru, 1 in each middle meru), almost 4 m high, stucco over wood, on brick-and-stucco thrones with wooden halos; black lacquer similar to urushi | FOU93 p. 127; K2021 p. 69; ICR2013 PDF pp. 321-323 | strong | |
| CWR-21 | Ubosot superstructure in the FAD model: 9 bays, stepped-mullion false windows, wrap-around porch, two colonnades of 5 square columns, **triple-tiered timber roof with ceramic tiles**, gabled front portico like Wat Na Phra Men; roof tiles excavated: curved kap kluai tiles with thepphanom eave tiles; three seated sandstone Buddhas at the west end | FOU93 pp. 108-109; PRA94 p. 36 via SAR20 pp. 28-30; K2021 p. 70; FAD21 | moderate (model); strong (tiles) | |
| CWR-22 | Three walls (kamphaeng kaeo around the raised platform, a middle wall, an outer wall); outer wall about 1 m thick and 2 m high; **8 outer gates** (3 E, 1 W, 2 N, 2 S), about 2.5 m high, open-topped, triple stepped barrel-vault roofs with stucco ribs imitating curved tiles; the platform about 1.5 m with double-indented corners and its wall about 1 m above it | FAD plan (PRA94 p. 11 via SAR20); FOU93 p. 106; FAD21 p. 179 | moderate (walls); strong (gate form) | |
| CWR-23 | River front: no excavated landing; a brick path from the river through the middle east gate to a central stair about 1.5 m high; lime-production ruins between the outer wall and the river | FOU93 pp. 103, 106; FAD plan legend 15 | thin | Steps down the bank are conjecture (C-15) |
| CWR-24 | All structures are lime stucco over fired brick (brick was never the finish); non-hydraulic lime with fine iron-rich sand; meru interiors painted green, red and black on white; coffered teak ceilings in black lacquer over red with gold leaf | ICR2013 PDF pp. 210-252, 321-324 | strong (lab) | White plaster, very slightly warm |
| CWR-25 | Many nail holes on all five prangs, none on the merus or the gallery. The covering is disputed: copper plaques (K2021), gold-plated tin sheets (King Chulalongkorn via McGill), metal sheathing fixed with lead nails (PRA94); the FAD excavation found no sheathing, but lead lumps and sheets | K2021 pp. 66-68; FOU93 p. 133; PRA94 via SAR20 pp. 20, 88 | strong (holes); **disputed** (material) | See C-13 |
| CWR-26 | 17th-century descriptions: Heeck (1655) saw a temple "glittering with gold ... like a gilded mountain", a dome-like tower girded by gilded images, a stair to a door halfway up, stone guardians with tigers, a square gallery packed with gilded images; a VOC river map labels it "De gouden Pagoot", Valentijn (1724-26) "the golden Pagoda of the King", the 1687 French plan "Pagode Royale" | HEECK (Terwiel 2008 pp. 61-62); identifications via AH | moderate (eyewitness and maps, identified by a secondary site); **disputed** against the restrained general record (FIN-01) | Strongest support for gilded prang sheathing (C-13 alternative) |
| CWR-27 | The main axis runs about 20 deg north of due east (azimuth about 70) | OSM ubosot outline | thin | The build keeps due east (K2021 Fig. 1 north arrow) |
| CWR-28 | Twin twelve-indented chedis: base 12 m square, about 12 m high (perhaps the surviving height), a single stair on the east, outside the kamphaeng kaeo; built two years after the founding | Parisut 1993 thesis via SAR20 p. 38 (size); PRA94 pp. 38-39 via SAR20 (date); FOU93 p. 107 | thin (size); moderate (date) | 16 m (C-15) |
| CWR-29 | A single west gate; from it a walled road (chanuan-thang-thao, a screened passage for ladies of the court) runs west | FOU93 p. 105 (from an FAD blueprint) | moderate | Its length and wall height are C-15 |
| CWR-30 | Architectural finds of the FAD excavation: an iron finial (nopphasun), many kinds of nails, terracotta lotus-petal finials, wall-coping tiles, terracotta lamps, stucco eave tiles with door guardians, stucco niche frames, wall-post caps, relief fragments, **sema stones** and a **gable finial (chofa)** | PRA94 via SAR20 p. 88 (research U5) | moderate (finds list; forms not illustrated in what we hold) | Sema stones round the ubosot; the chofa exists, its form is FIN-09 / C-05 |
| HIS-01 | King Narai was put under house arrest in Lopburi on 17-18 May 1688 and died on 11 July 1688; Phetracha took the throne (crowned 1 August 1688); the French garrison left Bangkok in November 1688. A December 1688 setting therefore falls in Phetracha's reign | W. A. R. Wood, *A History of Siam* (1926) ch. XIV (https://vajirayana.org/v2/asia/a-history-of-siam/chapter-xiv-reigns-of-king-petraja-king-prachao-sua-and-king-tai-sra); a 1688 English merchant's letter, JSS 80.1 (1992) (https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/1992/03/JSS_080_1e_LetterByEnglishMerchant1688.pdf); Wikipedia "Siamese revolution of 1688" (pointer); found by the round-1 history review | strong (well established) | The slice is set in **mid-January 1688** (Narai alive, dry season, La Loubere just gone) |

### Slice-1 conjectures

| ID | Conjecture | Why needed | Default choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| C-13 | Surface finish of the five prangs in 1688 (the chedis, merus and gallery have no nail holes: plain lime plaster, CWR-25) | Holes on all five prangs (CWR-25) mean a metal covering; its material is disputed (copper, gilt tin, lead-nailed sheets); 17th-century sources call the temple golden (CWR-26); the owner's chosen look is restrained (FIN-01, FIN-03) | **Default (owner's restrained look):** unpainted tin sheathing (La Loubère's "calin", FIN-01; PRA94's lead-nailed sheets) over the prang bodies, porches and spires, silvery-grey and dulled; bases white plaster. **Alternative rendered for the owner at Gate A:** gilded metal sheathing (CWR-26, K2021 Fig. 11) |
| C-14 | Reach geometry: river width (about 150 m), bank profile and late-December 1688 water level; the island's wall and gardens across the river as a backdrop | CITY-05 forbids tracing modern courses; the 1687 plans give topology only | Southward flow past the temple, bend east to the south (topology of the 1687 plan and Kaempfer); wall on the far bank (WALL-01, -02), thinly settled gardens behind (CITY-07, -08, -11) |
| C-15 | Heights and details no source gives exactly: corner prangs (11 m, thin), merus (24.5 m, thin), chedis (16 m; 12 m may be the surviving height), gallery eave and roof heights, the middle wall's line, the positions of the 7 outer gates off the axis, steps down the river bank, lost timber superstructures in detail | Survey gives plans; heights are scaled or estimated | Values in `layout.js`, modest proportions after the K2021 point clouds and the FAD model (CWR-21); labelled reconstruction |
| C-16 | Exact spacing, pose details and pedestal mouldings of the gallery and meru Buddha images (number, size and finish are documented: CWR-19, CWR-20) | Sources give counts and sizes, not every form | Regular spacing along the outer walls; restrained Ayutthaya-period features; black lacquer with worn gold leaf |
| C-17 | Gallery corridor width and roof section | No source gives the width (CWR-18) | About 4.6 m, from the K2021 Fig. 9 cross-section; gabled roof over the corridor |
| C-18 | Vernacular details of commoners' compounds: granaries, kitchen huts, verandahs, propped shutters, fences | HOU-01..06 describe the houses, not every outbuilding | Simple bamboo-and-thatch forms in the HOU-01/02 idiom, small and few |
| C-19 | The vegetation of the slice and (P2) of the whole city and its plain (gardens and orchards, street trees, bank planting, sugar palms and village groves on the plain, lotus in the ponds): species mix, density and placement; species not named in VEG-01 (areca palms, bank shrubs, reeds, dry-season grasses, straw heaps) | VEG-01 lists species by name only; no source maps them around this temple | VEG-01 species dominate; others small and generic; open precinct courtyards; never VEG-03/VEG-04 plants or water hyacinth |
| C-20 | Paddy layout of the plain in mid-January: plot sizes, dyke heights, paths on bunds, harvested stubble | Rice and its flood-season harvest are attested (CLI-01), the field pattern is not | Irregular plots 40-90 m, dykes 0.3-0.5 m, stubble and fallow, a few damp plots |
| C-21 | Form of the merlons on the city wall's parapet | WALL-02 gives heights only | Plain rectangular merlons, about 1.1 m every 2.2 m |
| C-22 | Monastic use of the west field in 1688 and its monks' cells (kuti) | CWR-10 says the field was a royal cremation ground, "later" a monastery zone; when is unknown | A few small plank-and-leaf cells (HOU-08 type), kept at the west end |
| C-23 | The meru exterior relief vestibules (porch rooms with Buddha-life panels) existed by 1688 | CWR-12: they "were added later" than the merus, at an unknown date; Piriya proposes renovations in the 1730s-50s (A5) | Shown, labelled disputed: their 1688 presence is a guess |
| C-24 | Floating vegetation on the river in mid-January: mats of water spinach and grass, leaves | Not described for this reach; water spinach is native and grows along Thai waterways | A few small drifting mats; never water hyacinth (introduced about 1901) |
| C-25 | Fishing gear on the reach: stake weirs with woven screens, lever lift nets, conical traps, cast nets drying | Fish were a staple sold at the markets (CITY-09) but the gear is not described for 1688 | Simple bamboo-and-rattan forms, few and small |

## 13. P2 city additions (lead, 2026-11-02)

The city plan (`src/world/city.js`) places every standing monument where it stands: ruins have not moved since 1767,
so their positions are evidence for 1688 even though their present form is not. Rivers are a different matter
(CITY-05): the ring of water is fitted to the 1687 plan's topology and to the monuments, and is conjecture C-26.
Check of the fit: the fitted island is about 760 ha and its wall line about 12.0 km, against CITY-03 (about 4 x 2 km) and
CITY-04 (a circuit of about 12 km); three in-situ wall remnants lie within 5-25 m of the computed wall line.

| ID | Claim | Source | Evidence | Build note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CITY-13 | Positions of the standing monuments (Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the palace enclosure, Mahathat, Ratchaburana, Thammikarat, Phra Ram, Lokayasutharam, Na Phra Men, Phu Khao Thong, Phutthaisawan, Kasattrathirat, Phanan Choeng, Yai Chai Mongkhon, Kudi Dao, the Front Palace enclosure, the Pa Than bridge, the Dutch, Japanese and Portuguese settlement sites) | OSM | strong (location, about +-20 m); nothing about 1688 form | `city.js` LANDMARKS, FOREIGN. Pond outlines (Bueng Phra Ram, the palace pools) are present-day landscaped ponds; `facing` for temples without outlines (Phanan Choeng, Phutthaisawan, Na Phra Men) is a choice (C-30) |
| CITY-14 | Canals that still run inside the island: Khlong Tho, Makham Riang, Maha Chai, Bang Ian, Chakrai Noi, Pratu Thep Mi, Klaep; the Bueng Phra Ram ponds | OSM | moderate (channels exist today; their 1688 course is assumed unchanged) | Other links are C-12 |
| CITY-15 | Wall and fort remnants in situ: north wall near Wat Tha Sai, east wall stretch, NE stretch, Pom Thai Sanom, Pom Pratu Khao Pluak, Pom Phet, the Chong Kut tunnel gate; the palace and Front Palace enclosure walls | OSM | strong (location) | Fixes the wall line about 20 m behind the bank. Several remains are restorations on old lines (the wall stretches and Pom Phet, WALL-08; the Front Palace enclosure, rebuilt under King Mongkut): their positions are evidence, their outlines are not |

### P2 conjectures

| ID | Conjecture | Why needed | Default choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| C-26 | The 1688 water ring and its widths: the Chao Phraya W and S (about 150 m), the old Lopburi channel N (about 80 m), the Khu Khue Na moat E (about 55 m), the Lopburi from the north to Hua Ro; the Bueng Phra Ram ponds' extent | CITY-05 forbids modern courses; the 1687 plans give topology only (CITY-12) | Centrelines fitted to the 1687 topology and the in-situ monuments (Phutthaisawan south of the river, the palace and Pom Pratu Khao Pluak on the north channel, Pom Phet at the confluence), widths from C-14; slice-1's reach kept near Wat Chaiwatthanaram. Where today's channels occupy the old beds (the north channel, today's Khlong Mueang; the east moat, today's Pa Sak in the old Khu Khue Na, CITY-05) the courses follow them and only the widths are reduced. The 1688 Pa Sak (joining the Lopburi about 6 km east) lies outside the frame and is not modelled |
| C-27 | District density: which parts of the island were built up and how densely | LL and K give only "a sixth, all in the south-east" and "south and west thinly settled" (CITY-07, -08, -11) | Dense south-east (about 160 ha in the plan polygon); civic centre and north-east thin (density 0.25 and 0.2: temples, officials' compounds, gardens); palace; gardens and orchards with scattered houses and wats in the west and south; villages along the outer banks; foreign quarters south (FOR-01) |
| C-29 | Forms of the junks and small Indian sloops in the river and their anchorage south of Pom Phet in mid-January | WAT-06 names the ships, not their form, number or berth; WAT-07 keeps big European ships away | A few junks with battened sails and two or three small sloops at anchor by the foreign quarters; no European ships |
| C-30 | Elevations of the named city temples (P2): superstructures on the in-situ outlines, and heights no claim gives (Ratchaburana about 38 m, Phra Ram 34, Lokayasutharam's prang 26, Phutthaisawan 27, Kasattrathirat 30, Yai Chai Mongkhon 58, Kudi Dao 36, Thammikarat 24); layouts of Na Phra Men, Phanan Choeng and Kasattrathirat, which have no outlines | Only plans (OSM ruins) and a few heights (MAH-01, SKY-01) survive | The thaiarch kit's Chaiwatthanaram-type forms scaled to each footprint; restrained finish; the reclining image under an open pillared vihara |
| C-31 | Wat Phra Si Sanphet above its plinths, apart from the three chedis (C-02): the mondops, the great vihara and the other halls, the cloister, the chapels and small chedis; their heights and roofs | Only plinths and the chedis survive; the vihara held the 16 m gilded image (SAN-03) | Restrained royal-temple forms from the thaiarch kit on the in-situ outlines: white plaster, clay-tile tiered roofs, small tin tips |
| C-32 | Forms and finish of the city's brick bridges, bamboo footbridges and the drum tower (CITY-06/-07/-09 give types and "very high"; WALL-07 gives height, storeys and a red arched roof) | No elevation survives except the Pa Than bridge's ruin | Steep single-arch plastered brick bridges, hurdle-and-pole footbridges; a three-storey timber drum tower on a brick base with a red roof |
| C-33 | Forms of the Portuguese village's churches (St Domingo, St Paul, the Augustinian church) | FOR-01 names them and FOR-03 found the Dominican church's foundations; no elevation survives | Whitewashed brick, tile roof, arched door, small bell turret and cross, inside a churchyard wall; modest, kept at middle distance |
| C-34 | Market stalls, sheds, awnings and goods on land (CITY-09 lists the goods; FOR-05 the Chinese market) | No source draws a stall | Low mats and trestles, palm-leaf and cloth awnings, open thatched sheds; fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, pots and baskets, no meat; New World produce left out (VEG-04) |
| C-35 | Form of the naga stair balustrades (PAL-08 attests naga stairs at the Banyong Rattanat; MAH-02's mirror-glass inlay is 1751) | No 1688 naga is described or survives intact | A restrained five- or seven-headed lime-plaster naga with moulded scales, no inlay, no flame crests, no gilding |
| C-36 | Numbers and placement of people in the streets, markets, landings, temple courts and at the palace gates in mid-January 1688 | CITY-10 gives the population; no source counts a street | Thousands of small figures, denser in the south-east and at markets; monks in temple courts; officials at the palace; none in the foreign quarters until foreign dress is modelled |
| C-37 | Dress of the city's foreigners in January 1688: Chinese, Moors (Persians and Indians), Europeans (Dutch, Portuguese, French), Japanese, Malays (PPL-02 gives turbans for foreigners; PPL-03 their numbers) | Not described in our sources beyond PPL-02 | Chinese men in long jackets and loose trousers with hair tied up under a cap (no queue claimed); Moors in turbans and long coats; Europeans in plain 17th-century coats, breeches and hats; few, small, at their quarters, Chinese Street and the markets |
| C-38 | The flood-season variant for ref 7 (P3): **1 December 1687**, the flood at its height and beginning to fall; the water surface about 2.25 m above the January level, so the plain lies under about 0.5 m of water while the island and the embanked streets stay dry; tall deep-water rice standing in the flooded fields, ripe, and cut from boats; a rare late storm at the turn of the season. The outer court of Wat Chaiwatthanaram stands about 0.25 m under water; the raised platform and the ubosot stay dry (not recorded for 1687; it follows from the chosen level) | CLI-01 gives the flood, its fall from December and the harvest from boats; CLI-02 the rains; CLI-03 makes December the driest month, so the storm is unusual; deep-water rice heads in early November and is cut in the 1st and 2nd lunar months (December-January) (general agronomy, thin for 1687); no source gives the level or the day. Narai is alive (HIS-01) and La Loubère's embassy is still in Siam | Rendered only with `?season=flood`; the world's history and every other shot stay mid-January 1688; the flood build places only its own date, sun and sky entries (P3 history review M1, M2) |
| C-39 | State barges on the water by the palace at sunset (ref 6): a few balons and a gilded state barge rowing out from the barge sheds, not a procession | BAR-01/-02/-05 attest the barges, their crews and the sheds by the palace; no outing is recorded for a given evening, and the great processions (BAR-02/-03) belong to other months | A small royal outing on the north channel; no Kathin or embassy procession in mid-January |
| C-28 | Fort and gate positions and forms beyond the named and in-situ ones; water-gate form beyond Kaempfer's sketch (WALL-05) | WALL-04 gives counts (disputed), not positions | Forts at corners, channel junctions and every 600-800 m; great gates with red-painted peaks where main streets meet the wall; water gates where canals cross it; tunnel gates between |