Lost city found in Thailand

Archaeological mission led by Professor Santi Pailopli from Chulalongkorn University discovered traces of a lost city in the historical center of the modern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, located in northeastern Thailand.

Heritage Daily reports on the discovery. The find has an element of chance, as the lost city was discovered using aerial photographs taken back in the 1950s. Modern archaeologists were able to see what remained unnoticed by their predecessors.

Upon careful analysis of the images, researchers identified signs of an earthen embankment with a regular rectangular shape, extending north from the Tahong Canal. Archaeologists also noted that the modern embankment runs along the border of this mound.

Subsequent field studies confirmed that the unknown city existed here even before the construction of Nakhon Ratchasima and the Tahong Canal, created during the reign of King Narai the Great of Ayutthaya. His reign lasted from 1656 to 1688.

In history, Narai the Great is known as a wise ruler-diplomat. He preferred trade and diplomatic agreements with other countries, including Persia, to military actions.

Notably, the king delegated a significant portion of his power to Greek traveler Constantine Phaulkon, who became his favorite. The Greek received exceptional authority and effectively became a co-ruler of the state. Thanks to Phaulkon, Siam established diplomatic ties with the court of French King Louis XIV.

Archaeologists interpreted the earthen embankment they discovered as the boundary of the lost city, which, in their opinion, was comparable in architecture to other cities of that period but significantly exceeded them in size.

Calculations showed that the area of the ancient city was about 3.4 square kilometers, which is twice the size of the city of Nakhon Ratchasima built later on its site and significantly exceeds the size of other settlements of that time.