Only outshone by nearby Bangkok for the last two-and-a-quarter centuries, for the last 400 years Nonthaburi was as a major regional source of power during the Ayutthayan Empire. Many of its temples and even some old wooden residences are resultantly hundreds of years old, and great embodiments of Thai history. Many of them are spectacularly positioned on the Chao Phraya River and can be viewed by a boat trip.