Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
volt (1771-1802). The Siamese king granted him a large fighting force, and the prince re-
turned to his own country. His first attempt to destroy the rebellion failed, but he later
succeeded and eventually founded the Nguyen Dynasty, the last of the Vietnamese dynas-
ties, unifying Vietnam after centuries of warfare. A number of Vietnamese refugees who
had travelled with the prince to Bangkok stayed in the city, the Catholics settling down in
the Portuguese community and the Buddhists nearby, where they built their own temple,
Wat Yuen Talat Noi—
yuen
being the Thai word for Vietnamese. The temple, distinctive
with its Chinese roof, was later renamed Wat Upai Ratchabumrung. The bodhi tree in the
fore-court, with the gold silk draped around its trunk, has grown from a sapling presented
by Rama
V
.
