Site of one of the greatest human tragedies

In the early 18th Century, Ayutthaya, the capital of Thailand had a population of roughly a million people ... roughly the size of London and Paris at that time. By all reports, it was a prosperous and advanced city of stone temples and ornate wooden buildings and houses. But that changed in 1766, when Burmese forces, on a mission of conquest, surged deep into Thai territory. For a while, the walls of Ayutthaya held the Burmese at bay, but after a 14 month siege, the city succumbed and was put to fire and the sword. Thousands died in those few dark days, and many thousands more were taken as slaves back into Burma. The city has lain abandoned ever since, with the scorch marks of an inferno on every wall and headless Buddha (yes, the Burmese even destroyed statues of Buddha ... they wanted nothing less than the utter destruction of the Thai nation). Can you imagine? London or Paris or Washington emptied and lying in ruin for the past 200 years... A very moving sight.