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Over the past 1,500 years Lop Buri has enjoyed the status of being an
important political and administrative center. Prehistoric settlements
were here at Ban Tha Khae and Ban Khok Charoen and from 7th – 11th C
the Mon people called the Kingdom Lavoh. The Khmer conquered the region
to incorporate it in to the Khmer Empire and it was called Lavapura.
For 300 year it was an important military garrison for the Khmers, a
cultural centre for art and religion.
In the 14th C the king of U Thong, Ramathibodi, installed his son
as governor, fortified the city with walls and moats to be a strategic
centre in the wars with Sukhothai. In 1388 it became a vassal of the
Kingdom of Ayuthaya. In the 17th C Lop Buri became the second capital
for the Ayuthayan Kingdom and a political center for visits by the
Kingdom of France, jesuits and others such as Constantine Phaulkon who
sought to convert Siam to Catholicism through influence over the
Monarchy of Siam.
In the 19th C Rama 3 restored it to this concept of an alternative
and second Capital to Bangkok. Today the ruins of these former
fortifications and palaces are available to be seen, as are the ancient
Khmer Temples.
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| Map of Lop Buri Kingdom 14th C |
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