Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hariphunchai's Queen Chama Thewi, and played an important part in the history of
the Hariphunchai Kingdom (8th to 13th centuries).
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century Lampang, along with
nearby Phrae, became an important centre for the domestic and international teak
trade. A large British-owned timber company brought in Burmese supervisors famili-
ar with the teak industry in Burma to train Burmese and Thai loggers in the area.
These well-paid supervisors, along with independent Burmese teak merchants who
plied their trade in Lampang, sponsored the construction of more than a dozen
temples in the city, a legacy that lives on in several of Lampang's most impressive
wát.
Sights
WAT PHRA KAEW DON TAO
Temple
( admission 20B; 6am-6pm)
From 1436 to 1468, this wát was among four in
northern Thailand to previously house the Emerald Buddha (now in Bangkok's Wat
Phra Kaew , see
Click here
). The main
chedi
(stupa) shows Hariphunchai influen-
ce, while the adjacent
mon·dòp
(the small square, spired building in a wát) was built
in 1909. The
mon·dòp,
decorated with glass mosaic in typical Burmese style, con-
tains a Mandalay-style Buddha image. A display of Lanna artefacts (mostly religious
paraphernalia and woodwork) can be viewed in the wát's
Lanna Museum
(admis-
sion by donation;
7am-6pm)
.
BAAN SAO NAK
( 85 Th Radwattana; admission 50B; 10am-5pm)
In the old Wiang Neua (North
City) section of town, Baan Sao Nak was built in 1895 in the traditional Lanna style.
A huge teak house supported by 116 square teak pillars, it was once owned by a
local
kun·yĭng
(a title equivalent to 'Lady' in England); it now serves as a local mu-
seum. The entire house is furnished with Burmese and Thai antiques, but the real
treasure is the structure itself and its manicured garden.
Museum
Activities
HORSE CARTS
Lampang is known throughout Thailand as Meuang Rot Mah (Horse Cart City) be-
cause it's the only town in Thailand where horse carts are still found, although
Guided Tour
