The most valuable statue in Thailand, in real worth, is the 5.5 tonnes of solid gold seated Buddha image at Wat Trimitr. Reaching to a height of 3 meters, the glittering golden image has come a long and wondrous way. Researchers theorise that the image was cast some 700 years ago during the Sukhothai period. The gleaming, apparently seamless body was ingeniously crafted in five interlocking parts with a master key to unlock the pieces.
When Sukhothai was succeeded by Ayutthaya as the capital, the image was transported to the new seat of government. As Ayutthaya was being beseiged by powerful Burmese invaders bent on sacking the city, the image was encased in stucco turning it into a homely looking piece of Buddha image. The ruse worked. When Ayutthaya fell, the Burmese looters did not bother to lay their hands on the stucco image.
When the new capital city was founded at Bangkok, a salvaging party shipped the stucco image to a remote riverside Bangkok temple where it was left in oblivion in for over a century. About half a century ago, the temple was relocated to make way for the present Port of Bangkok and the image was trundled off to the present Wat Trimitr. Twenty years later, Wat Trimitr's abbot decided to find proper housing for the outcast image and had it shifted to a temporary shelter. The crane slipped, dropping it to the soft ground, and opened a crack in the stucco image.
During the night, heavy rain struck. Worrying about the damage to the image, the abbot had a strange dream. He saw bright rays of light emitting from the stucco image. Early in the morning, he inspected the image closely and actually glimpsed through the crack the shiny metal sheen inside.
