The lake pavilion
A golden Thai pavilion on the water.
Chainwit. — CC BY 4.0 · Stefan Fussan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gisling — CC BY-SA 3.0
A royal summer palace on the bank of the Chao Phraya River south of Ayutthaya, begun by Ayutthaya's kings in the seventeenth century, abandoned after the city's fall, then revived by Kings Mongkut and Chulalongkorn in the nineteenth century into a unique ensemble of buildings in different styles. Its best-known sight is the Aisawan Thiphya-Art, a small golden Thai pavilion standing in the middle of the lake, one of Thailand's loveliest images. Around it are a colourful gilded Chinese-style palace, an observation tower, European-style buildings, neat gardens with hedges clipped into elephants, and lakes with bridges. Foreigners pay about a hundred baht, and the palace opens daily from eight to four, sometimes closing for royal occasions. Modest dress is compulsory: no shorts or bare shoulders. The palace is large, and electric carts and bicycles can be hired at the entrance. Make it a stop on the way between Bangkok and Ayutthaya, about twenty kilometres south of the old city. An hour and a half to two and a half hours is enough, and mornings are pleasanter.
A golden Thai pavilion on the water.
Thai, Chinese and European.
Hedges clipped into elephants.
Bang Pa-In, about 20 km south of Ayutthaya
Yes, it is on the way from Bangkok. Start at the palace in the morning, continue to Ayutthaya's temples, and end the day with sunset at Wat Chaiwatthanaram.