The city of Ayutthaya was the capital of a mighty empire that once controlled large parts of Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Bagan, also known as the `City of a Thousand Pagodas', was the capital of a mighty empire that was first to unify the territory of present-day Myanmar under Burmese language and culture.

The Khmer civilisation was home to the world-famous city of Angkor, which flourished from approximately the 9th to the 15th centuries, and still attracts over 2.5 million visitors a year.

The Majapahit Empire, which unified Indonesia's islands into one nation, was the centre of the global spice trade that enriched it with luxury goods from around the world.