Koh Lanta Old Town, located on Koh Lanta’s East coast, was once the island’s main port for trade. Now Lanta Old Town is a charming place to visit which looks and feels like it’s stood still in time.
Lanta Old Town was originally a sea gypsy settlement. Over the decades it transformed into a village influenced by trade. Now you can enjoy many shops, restaurants and homes built on stilts above the sea. This is great when the tide is in and also overlooks other islands and the mainland allowing amazing views.
The Old Town has a distinct Chinese influence and a very slow, laid back feel. Walking around looking at the lanterns gives you a sense of days gone by. While still a fishing village for the locals, much of Old Town’s trade now comes through tourism with gift shops selling local goods.
Lanta Old Town also has a museum which traces back the life and times of Koh Lanta. The museum is free to enter and is ran by the locals as a way to showcase the 3 distinct communities that have...
Kong Khong Market, also known as Bowing Market or Talat Kong Khong is located about 15 minutes south of Ayutthaya.
This market has a weird name because in the past vendors would lay their merchandises on the ground or in their boats. People who wanted to buy the goods had to bow their heads down in order to take a closer look at the items for sale.
This market was opened in 2006. It is a private market with the objective to allow the locals to have some space to open their shops. The market has been successful and has grown bigger until it has becomes the most interesting market in Ayutthaya. This market is open Thursdays to Sundays. On Thursdays and Fridays, customers are the locals or people working in nearby factories. During the weekends, customers who are tourists from other places in Thailand stop here.
Even though this market is not a big one, it has its own charm. All vendors wear Thai costumes in magenta or purple like the color of the mangosteen. The highlight of this market is the ...
Ku Phon Rakhang กู่โพนระฆัง
Ku Phon Rakhang is a famous Khmer architectural archaeological site located in Roi Et Province, Thailand. It was constructed during the reign of Jayavarman VII of the Khmer Empire and served as a hospital or religious place, showcasing the transition from Hinduism to Buddhism.
It is a textbook arogyasala site, located in the southern section of the province, 500m or so east of Prasat Ku Ka Sing and corresponds to the Bayon-period settlement Muang Boran Ku Ka Sing.
The site today is largely intact, thanks to the restoration work by the fine arts department and consists of an east-facing laterite shrine on a platform, with a porch and cruciform-shaped terrace, enclosing wall, library and eastern gopura, all laterite, and a lined pond to the northeast of the enclosure.
The site is built from laterite bricks and features a main building facing east, with a library situated to the southeast, surrounded by a crystal wall in a rectangular shape. The middle...
Prasat Sra Kamphaeng Yai ปราสาทสระกำแพงใหญ่
The most substantial of Sisaket Province's Khmer sites, Prasat Sra Kamphaeng Yai consists of 4 standing towers and 2 libraries within a walled enclosure featuring 4 gopuras. 3 of the east-facing towers share a laterite terrace while a 4th sits behind the southernmost of the terrace shrines. It is likely that an additional tower was intended to be placed behind the northernmost of the 3. The central tower is a mixture of brick and sandstone elements while the remaining shrines, as well as the 2 libraries, are in brick. The gopuras and enclosing wall are of laterite.
Octagonal colonettes, a damaged pediment and several lintels are still in situ with the latter featuring Khleang-style designs. The central tower appears to be slightly older than the others while decorative elements on the libraries indicate a probably Baphuon period.
The doorjamb of the eastern gopura also features a lengthy inscription in ancient Khmer ...
