Introduction
Ayutthaya is presently a modern city of around 60,000 population, some 80km from Bangkok in Thailand. Part of it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as it was the capital of the Kingdom of Siam for around 400 years up until 1767CE, and contains ruins of many of the religious structures from this and previous periods. In its day Ayutthaya (there are many variations in the spelling of this word like Ayuthaya, Ayodhaya and Iudea for example) was reported to be one of the most spectacular cities anywhere in the known world. Today it is a collection of monuments and precincts surrounded by the bustle of a modern regional city in Thailand.
The University of Melbourne in Australia, and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand are conducting a joint research project to re-create the greatness of Ayutthaya in the form of a photo-realistic, three-dimensional virtual world heritage model. In order to achieve this, photogrammetric records of the remaining monuments have been combined with early written records of the city and the assistance and expertise of the Royal Thai Government Fine Arts Department. The basis for the creation of the CAD models is, in many cases however, the photogrammetric record which will be described later. The models resulting from the research has formed the basis of a series of 'visualisations' and animations of the city, which are under continual development and enhancement.
A Glossary of Thai architectural terms is available at the end of the paper.