Old Buddhist monastery, built in an Early Rattanakosin Period

         Wat Yotha Nimit or Wat Bot is one of very old temples located in municipal area, west of Trat. No one knows the history of when this temple was built exactly, but there was a story passed on that when the King Taksin came gathering troop at Trat town around this area, during the fall of Ayutthaya. At that time, they excavated earthwork in order to build the temple, but not enough time, since the troops had to return to Chanthaburi first. After the king left, the Interior Department had asked Buddhist monks continued to stay at this place. Later in the reign of King Rama III, he ordered Minister of treasury and Phraya Bodin Decha to attack Vietnamese force, so they took rest at Trat province. At free time, the troop also build the temple until it finally done. However, when investigating the evidence as the story, there is no such sentence in any of the royal chronicle. The royal chronicle has no record that Minister of treasury and Phraya Bodin Decha took rest at Trat province. There is only one clear event involved, that is when Phra Aphai Pipit, Phra Rachawarin, and Phra Thep Songkram control Chantaburi, Trat, and Rayong with Phraya Soratcha, Phraya Sena Anshit, Ruler of Kampod attacked Vietnamese camp on Thursday March 10, 1841.

         For the sentence that mentioned earlier about Phraya Bodin Decha and Minister of treasury that appears in the royal chronicle on January 1834, King Rama IV ordered Minister of treasury to be responsible to build Wat Yotha Nimit (Wat Bot) temple at Chantaburi province, together with rebuild a new Chantaburi town. As the context in this evidence, It can be implied that Wat Yotha Nimit in Chantaburi, and in Trat province share the same names, that might cause confusion between those two temples that to build Wat Yotha Nimit in Chantaburi rather than to build in Trat province.¹

พระประธาน และภาพจิตกรรมฝาผนัง ในโบสถ์หลังเก่า

New Buddhist monastery.

ตู้พระไตรปิฎก สันนิฐานว่าอายุราวๆ สมัยต้นรัตนโกสิทร์

The King Taksin Shrine

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¹ Trat province, Office (1984) history of Ministry of Interior, Trat provincial area. Bangkok: Aksorn Samai Printing , 76