The royal city of Ayutthaya (ah-you-tah-ya) was a small kingdom in Siam (modern Thailand), and it was an unrivalled commercial and maritime power from 1350-1767 CE. Ayutthaya became the second capital of Siam in 1438 CE when it absorbed the Sukhothai kingdom in northeast Thailand.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://railwaycafe.travel.blog/2021/07/08/the-venice-of-the-east-ayutthaya/