Ayuthaya, ancient capital city, sacked by the Burmese. This  view is looking south from inside the moat toward two different wats.  The wat in the foreground is in ruin, the one in the distance has been restored.

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This sitting Buddha is about three meters tall.  Without the white stucco, these ruins continue to deteriorate. May be a catch-22 there, because to do such restoration may detract from its archaeological and cultural value. (Ayuthaya)

Venus in the sunset over an illuminated chedi. To the right, out of frame, are two more almost identical chedis in line with this one. The center chedi has a colony of bats that were streaming out for their evening meal as I made this photo.

Two chedis.  The foreground structure has lost its stucco.  It seems that although much of the stucco has been lost due to weathering over the last 300 years, at least some of the monuments had been covered with gold. The Burmese took it all.

Dragonfly on a lotus flower. (Sukhotai)

A monthly Thai cultural performance is done (mainly for Japanese tourists) on the most spectacular site of Sukhotai's ruins. Here is a group of what must have been a total of about 50 performers.

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