Surely, everybody has visited Lopburi's capital to take pictures of monkeys running around freely on the city's Khmer ruins. People may even, like me, have travelled to Lopburi to take pictures of blooming sunflower fields and visited the Pa Sak Cholasit dam and tried the train.
However, I think only few have thought of continuing north to visit Si Thep Historical Park, which is located in Petchabun, only a few dozen kilometers north of the Pa Sak Cholasit reservoir.
Si Thep is today's name of a Khmer town that – at the time – rivaled Phi Mai and Khao Phanom Rung in importance. Moreover, traces have been found of the area being populated as far back as 2,000 years ago, i.e., predating the Khmer settlement by more than 1,000 years.
The Si Thep Historical Park covers an area of almost 5 square km complete with remnants of walls and moats. Near the park are ruins of a tower and couple of Khmer monuments.
To be honest, what is left of the Khmer ruins is not all that impressive. Maybe that is one reason that - compared to famous Phi Mai and Phanom Rung - Si Thep does not have many visitors. It is thus possible to take leisurely strolls among the ruins and the ponds spread out across the park. At the same time, the service and the quality of the information offered from the park's officers are far better than at Phi Mai and Phanom Rung.
Si Thep is today's name of a Khmer town that – at the time – rivaled Phi Mai and Khao Phanom Rung in importance. Moreover, traces have been found of the area being populated as far back as 2,000 years ago, i.e., predating the Khmer settlement by more than 1,000 years.
The Si Thep Historical Park covers an area of almost 5 square km complete with remnants of walls and moats. Near the park are ruins of a tower and couple of Khmer monuments.
To be honest, what is left of the Khmer ruins is not all that impressive. Maybe that is one reason that - compared to famous Phi Mai and Phanom Rung - Si Thep does not have many visitors. It is thus possible to take leisurely strolls among the ruins and the ponds spread out across the park. At the same time, the service and the quality of the information offered from the park's officers are far better than at Phi Mai and Phanom Rung.
