Page:Golden pavilion at Wat Sai - Damrong - 1921.pdf/4

 at Wat Pamok in the following reign) to be the Chief Engineer to dig that canal straight. Phrarajasongkhram dug from the mouth of the canal by the Tachin river up as far as Khokkham, but the rest of the digging was completed in the next reign, so that the canal was straight, large and wide and is now called Klong Mahachai.

During thothe [sic] space of 55 years from B.E. 2246 until B.E. 2301, this Sanamchai canal was traversed frequently by the Kings of the three reigns and hence pavilions for resting both during the daytime and by night had to be erected at several spots. The people of Petchaburi have shown me that there was a pavilion of the Ayuthya period at Paknam Bangtabun, but the fabric of that pavilion is completely ruined. This pavilion at Paknam Bangtabun was a place for the King to rest on this very journey. The pattern of the golden pavilion at Wat Sai which is a pavilion divided into three rooms, one of which has walls and the other two open, seems certainly to be a resting place for the King during the daytime, and was certainly erected during the reign of Phrachao Süa as the natives of the place assert, or if this is not the case, was without doubt built during the next two reigns of the Ayuthya Period.

(3)There is still another point to be considered, namely for what reason was the golden pavilion placed at Wat Sai, whether it was built originally in that spot or pulled down and removed from some other place. On enquiry from the head-priest he answered that he had never heard that the pavilion had been removed from anywhere; also when the head-priest built the quay of the temple, during the digging operations a row of hardwood posts was found leading down from the pavilion which must have formed part of a landing stage for the pavilion. Taking this point into consideration it is obvious that if the pavilion had been built originally in that spot, the said spot must have been out the temple boundaries.

That a golden pavilion should have been built for the King in the Wat seems to be impossible, and if the situation of Wat Sai be considered it will be seen that it occupies two plots of land. In