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| Thailand Historical Parks |
Thailand has ten Historical Parks administered by the Thailand National Government through the Department of Fine Arts, a Division of the Ministry of Education. These are historical monuments of major significance in Thailand's history and as such are also major tourist attractions.
- These are;
- Sukhothai Historical Park, Sukhothai Province.
- Ayutthaya Historical Park, Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya Province.
- Phanom Rung Historical Park, Buriram Province.
- Sri Thep Historical Park, Phetchabun Province.
- Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park, Phetburi Province.
- Sri Satchanalai Historical Park, Sukhothai Province.
- Phimai Historical Park, Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
- Muang Sing Historical Park, Kanchanaburi Province.
- Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park, Kamphaeng Phet Province.
- Phu Phra Bat Historical Park, Udonthani province.
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| Phanom Rung Historical Park |
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| Four Thailand Historical Parks are also World Heritage Sites as list by UNESCO and another two are nominated to be also listed. |
- The four Thailand Heritage Parks which are also UNESCO World Heritage Sites are,
Sukhothai Historical Park, Si Satchanalai Historical Park, Khampheng Phet Historical Park and Phimai Historical Park. The new nominations for nomination are
Phu Phra Bat Historical Park and Phonom Rung Historical Park. Each is a major tourist location worthy of all tourists to travel to.
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| About Thailand's Historical Parks |
Sukhothai Historical Park
, Sukhothai Province.
- The 13th C fortified city of Sukhothai is a World Heritage Site as
nominated by UNESCO.
This together with the adjoining ancient wiang cities of Si Satchanalai
and Kamphaeng Phet are major tourist attractions in Thailand.
- Today
what remains of these three cities are the remains of city moats and
walls, ruins [ monuments ] in brick and laterite of palaces and
monasteries, lakes and waterways and military ramparts.
- Sukhothai Historical Park covers 70 square Kilometers with 193 ruins.
Ayutthaya Historical Park
, Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya Province.
- Ayutthaya Historical Park is the ruins of the former capital of
the Kingdom of Siam. It is the site of mass murder, rape and
enslavement of Siamese people and destruction of the Ayutthaya city,
its art and buildings by the Burmese in 1767. This destruction reshaped
Thailand and the Thai nation as we know them today.
- Ayutthaya
Historical Park is the most important tourist site for Thailand tourism
outside Bangkok in Central Thailand. Ayutthaya is a one hour drive
north from Bangkok. Also close for tourism are the ancient city of Lop buri and the Summer Palace.
- Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 by King Ramathibodi [ U Thong ] and
remained the capital of The Kingdom of Siam for 417 years until it was
destroyed by the Burmese invaders in 1767.
Ayutthaya is important as it was the centre of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
for 417 years, the creative centre for the Ayutthaya style of art, the defining kingdom in Southeast asia and
the start for the subsequent Bangkok Empire which was later founded by
the survivors of the Burmese sacking.
Phanom Rung Historical Park
, Buriram Province.
- Phanom Rung Historical Park is mounted on a volcanic hill 1,257 feet
high in Buri Ram Province and is perhaps the most beautiful and
important of the Khmer sites in Thailand.
- The location was originally a
main stopping centre on the ancient Angkor Thom to Phimai laterite
road. Built in the 12 C it was dedicated to the Hindu God, Shiva, the
supreme Hindu Deity.
- The design of the complex on the hill is intended
to symbolise Mount Kailasa, the Indian heavenly residence of Shiva. The
main tower is 23 meters tall and 9.5 meters wide and is made of pink
sandstone.
- It is understood that the complex was originally a
palace and the buildings were designed to house elephants.
Sri Satchanalai Historical Park
, Sukhothai Province.
- Si Satchanalai Historical Park comprises 45.14 square kilometers
located on the Yom River and bounded by forested hills in which are
located 204 ancient monuments. It is approximately 70 kilometres north
of Sukhothai. It originally
was an outpost of the Khmer Empire [ at Chaliang ] in North Thailand,
later a fortification for the Tai Sukhothai Kingdom, then the Ayutthaya Kingdom finally to be deserted in the 18 C after the sacking of
Ayutthaya by the Burmese.
Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park
, Kamphaeng Phet Province.
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The ancient chronicles tell us that in 1004 a city called Nakhon Chum
was constructed on the west bank of the Ping River where Kamphaeng Phet
was later constructed on the opposite east bank. By the 14 C Kamphaeng
Phet was a major city of the Sukhothai Kingdom.
It was an outer '' Wang '' or fortification to protect the inner
capital city of Sukhothai. It is surrounded by a trapezoid about 2.2
kilometers long of large city walls varying in length from 200 to 500
meters. Inside of which were houses, barracks, palaces and temples. It
was a significant medieval city, perhaps protecting 50,000 people.
- Khamphaeng Phet Historical Park is located 70 kilometers south of Sukhothai. Ruins survive today in laterite and stucco. The other original wooden buildings no longer exist.
- The
ancient city is now an outdoor museum [ historical park ] set amongst
magnificent trees and other plants. The City of Kamphaeng Phet was to
the west of the ancient city of Sulhothai as was Si Satchanalai to its immediate north.
- Both were fortifications on the west against Burmese invasions.
Phu Phra Bat Historical Park
, Udonthani province.
- Phu Phra Bat Historical Park nature reserve is situated high on a
mesa which is
million of years old and on which we can see dinasuar foot prints,
sandstone formations carved by glaciers millions of years ago, evidence
of the prehistoric age of human settlement, prehistoric rock paintings,
ancient man modified sandstone shelters, boundary pillars of the
Dvaravati period of the first milennium and stone Buddhist bas-reliefs
and shelters of the Khmer Empire of Thailand approximately 1000
years ago. Forest Parks are nature reserves, set aside
for conservation and protection from development and they are governed
by the Provincial administrations not the National Parks Department.
Phu Phra Bat is administered by the Department of Fine Arts together
with the other National Historical Parks.
- There are 68 ancient structures, which are classified as
prehistoric archeological sites, 45 places of prehistoric painting and
sheltered sites and 23 monastic sites. For tourists the sites are
divided into 23 locations.
Phimai Historical Park
, Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
- Phimai Historical Park is an ancient Khmer city of the Khmer Empire in Thailand situated in Phimai
District of Nakhon Ratchasima Province and is about 60 kilometers north
from Phimai, the Capital. The ancient Khmer city [ and earlier in
7 to 8 centuries part of Chenla Kingdom ] is surrounded by a moat adjacent to the Mun
River on the east and north boundaries. Phimai is the largest Khmer
ruins complex in Thailand and comprises an inner moated city, 565 by
1030 meters, which was built in the 11 to 12 centuries with further
additions in the 13 C.
- The Temple City was surrounded by a laterite wall 3,350 feet by
1,900 feet with the Temple enclosed by two walls, the outer measuring
900 feet by 720 feet and the innermost wall 272 by 243 feet. The complex
includes the usual structures, Naga terraces, Gopuras, pavilions, a
library. The key feature is the inner court yard which houses three
towers. The central and principal tower was built in 11 – 12 C and
is made of sandstone. The outer walls are decorated with lintels and
bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the Ramayana, illustrating battles
between Ravana and Rama. The southern side has bas-reliefs of Shiva and
its interior has bas-reliefs of Buddha, Bodhisattvas and Mara. The
Temple is Budhist, not Hindu and was part of the Mahayana school which
was prevalent in the Mun Valley from the 7 C onwards.
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| Kamphaeng Phet City Wall Fortification |
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| Chaliang Khmer Temple Design |
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