Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, the capitals before Bangkok

Thai history is often told as a story of three capitals. First came Sukhothai, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, then Ayutthaya for four centuries, then Bangkok, from 1782 to the present. The reality was more complicated, with rival kingdoms in the north and powerful neighbours on every side. But the outline holds, and the ruins of the first two capitals, both north of Bangkok and both World Heritage Sites, are the best places to understand how the Thai state and its culture came to be.

Sukhothai, the dawn of happiness

Sukhothai, whose name is often translated as "the dawn of happiness", emerged in the thirteenth century as Thai-speaking peoples broke away from the declining Khmer empire based at Angkor. Its most celebrated ruler, King Ramkhamhaeng, reigned in the late thirteenth century. He is traditionally credited with devising the Thai script, on the strength of a famous stone inscription that describes a just and prosperous kingdom: "in the water there are fish, in the fields there is rice". Some scholars have questioned when and by whom the inscription was made, and the debate has been heated, but its place in Thai national memory is secure.

What makes Sukhothai remarkable is its art. Its sculptors developed a distinctive Buddha image, serene, graceful and almost weightless. They also created the walking Buddha, one foot raised in mid-stride, a form Sukhothai made its own. Its builders gave many of its temples a characteristic lotus-bud tower. The old city is now a historical park of brick and laterite ruins, great seated Buddhas and stupas, set among ponds, lawns and trees. Cycling around it in the early morning, with the light on the ponds and the ruins reflected in them, is one of the great pleasures of a trip to Thailand. Si Satchanalai, a sister city to the north, is quieter still and was famous for its glazed ceramics, exported across Asia.

Ayutthaya, the city on the island

In the fourteenth century, the centre of power shifted south, to a new city founded in 1351 at Ayutthaya, on an island formed by the meeting of three rivers. It was a superb site for trade, with easy access to the sea. Over the next four centuries Ayutthaya grew into one of the great cities of Asia, the capital of a kingdom that traded with China, Japan, India, Persia and Europe. Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, Japanese and Chinese merchants had their own quarters outside the walls. Seventeenth-century European visitors described a city of gilded temples and palaces, comparing it favourably with the great capitals of Europe.

In 1767, after a long siege, a Burmese army took the city and destroyed it, burning palaces, temples and libraries and carrying off much of the population. The Thai court was re-established downriver, first at Thonburi and then at Bangkok, and Ayutthaya was never rebuilt as a capital.

Its ruins are spread across the island and its banks, among the streets of the modern town. Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the royal temple, has three great bell-shaped stupas in a row. At Wat Mahathat, a stone Buddha head is held in the roots of a fig tree, one of the most photographed images in Thailand. Wat Chaiwatthanaram, on the riverbank, has a tall central tower in the Khmer style, best seen at sunset.

Seeing both

The two capitals sit naturally on the route between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and most tours of central and northern Thailand include both.

Just You's Thailand: a Land of Smiles, thirteen nights for solo travellers, includes Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, along with Phitsanulok, whose great temple houses one of the most revered Buddha images in Thailand. Its other places include Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Lampang, Chiang Mai and Krabi.

Explore Worldwide's Best of Northern Thailand, nine nights, includes Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai as well as Ayutthaya, with Chiang Mai, the Elephant Nature Park, Uthai Thani, Kanchanaburi and Bangkok.

Both sites are large and the heat can be intense, so the best plan is to see them early in the morning or late in the afternoon, by bicycle where possible, and to rest in the middle of the day. The cool season, from November to February, is the most comfortable time to go.